Shinto visit Long Island from Japan to commemorate 80 years since end of WWII

It was a last-minute trip — 80 years in the making.

Three Japanese Shinto priests visited the Long Island Museum of American Armor Tuesday to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II.

The trio rushed to the US after being invited to a military-filled ceremony at the last minute.

“I wanted purely to pray,” Taihei Takada told The Post with the help of a translator after acknowledging the significance of VJ Day, or Victory over Japan Day — which marks the Japanese surrender in 1945.

“It’s very difficult to say [your emotions on WWII] in one word…harmony is the most precious concept now.”

The three priests made sudden arrangements to come to New York from Japan’s southern Fukuoka area after the museum conceived the idea of portraying the war’s end in a different light than one of victory or defeat.

“We looked at this particular milestone and asked ourselves, how can we present it in a way that talks about bringing peace to the world?” said Gary Lewi, a spokesperson for the Nassau County institution filled with working tanks and artillery.

“What we realized is that we were missing the Japanese presence at this event.”

After an expedited search, executives were connected to the shrine at Miyajidake on the nation’s Kyushu Island — also the location of Nagasaki — and were given a resounding and rapid yes.

“They very much wanted to be here,” Lewi said.

“It is clear to us, based on the speed at which the Shinto priests responded and by their commitment in time and frankly, financial expense.”

Surrounded by tanks and other heavy-duty weaponry of the era, the three joined veterans and others dressed as WWII combatants in a symbol of unity as speakers lauded the bond formed between the US and Japan in the years since the war.

The trio then performed a deeply religious ceremony using a Japanese wind instrument after a bell was rung to honor the end of the conflict.

“There are multiple gods in Shintoism, and when we do this, the gods come here,” added Takada, who said he was planning to spend time in Central Park and the city’s art museums before heading home.

“We are very happy to be here,” he said.

Dr. Eriko Sato, the chair of the department of Asian and Asian American Studies at Stony Brook University, also acknowledged that students still have a keen interest in Japan’s “turning point,” which came at the end of the war.

As preached by Gen. Douglas MacArthur, Sato said young people are also seeking to use the conflict as a point to move forward.

“To try to understand people who look different, who speak different languages, who seem to have different beliefs,” she said after speaking at the event.

“After all, we should be able to find common humanity.”