The record
Two segments given by two Koreans to a Korean Buddhist temple in Japan, with a request for Korean reunification attached.
Two segments have stood at the Toukokuji Temple since 1998. The temple belongs to the Association of Korean Buddhists in Japan and performs Korean rites; by tradition it traces back to Korean immigrants who settled here in the seventh century. The segments were given by two Koreans, with an explicit request attached: that the two halves of their own country be reunited. It is the clearest case in the catalogue of a recipient community using a German object to talk about a border that has not opened — the same argument Seoul's Berlin Square makes officially, made here by two private citizens in a third country.
The temple's own page says the piece was given in September 1998 by a member of the congregation, who said that placing it at Toukokuji, for the unification of the Korean people, was best, and it closes with a prayer that a day of unification will come as it did for Germany. It speaks of the piece in the singular, with its West German face to the front; the listing's count of two segments from two donors is kept alongside it.
How did it get here?
Donated in 1998: in September, by a member of the congregation, according to the temple; by two Koreans, according to the listing.
Sources
Listed by the Federal Foundation as #250 and by the Berlin Wall Archive as #316.
Osaka, J — The Wall Net ↗
Two segments at the temple since 1998, the Korean donors and their reunification request, and the temple's Korean Buddhist affiliation.
General referenceSource accessed 2026-09-17
ベルリンの壁 (Toukokuji temple) ↗
The temple's own page: the Berlin Wall in its pre-collapse size, given by a member of the congregation in September 1998, who said that Toukokuji was the best place for it, for the unification of the Korean people; the front face in the photograph is the West German side.
Institutional sourceSource accessed 2026-09-17
Federal Foundation — Berlin Wall worldwide ↗
The source lists this place as a Berlin Wall location. Coordinates, where supplied, are source-reported and may represent a general area. This is not independent verification of authenticity, current presence, or public access.
Inventory listingSource accessed 2026-09-17 · Source record 250
Berlin Wall Archive ↗
The source lists this place as a Berlin Wall location. Coordinates, where supplied, are source-reported and may represent a general area. This is not independent verification of authenticity, current presence, or public access.
Inventory listingSource accessed 2026-09-17 · Source record 316
Source-reported segments: 2. This is not a separately verified count.
No photograph of this one has been published. If you have taken one, or know when it arrived or who gave it, we would like to hear. Contribute to this record