In the chapter ‘Defining Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy’ in the book Moulding the Japanese Minds: The State in Everyday Life by Sheldon Garon I recognised certain themes alongside the rise of State Shinto and the religious control that accompanied this movement. There were references to absolutism and the adoption of religious tradition for new ideological uses. I wanted to analyse whether State Shinto was a political religion that drew on religious tradition in order to uphold the concept of the Emperor as sanctified. State Shinto can be described as the ideological use by Imperial Japan of the traditions of Shinto in order to emphasise the central role of the Emperor in both religious and political affairs.1 This ideology was forged during the Meji Era from 1868 to 1912 after governments created a brand-new orthodoxy that centred on the Emperor as sacrosanct who should be worshiped as a revered figure and leader.2 This bound together ritual and also government bureaucracy. Therefore, it can be identified that State Shinto became an absolute doctrine, as it blended together patriotism and values of social harmony. I am going to analyse how State Shinto led to reduced religious freedom but also a widespread adoption of religious practices as political instruments.3
“In a nation like Japan, where the Emperor system was the source of all values, any true religion inevitably came into conflict with the emperor system”4
It can be argued firstly that State Shinto became a political ideology and was successful by establishing Shinto practice as a patriotic honourable tradition. Through the analysis of different historical discourse one can recognise how State Shinto utilised pre-existing traditions of shrine worship, whilst endorsing the cult of the emperor. This is illustrated by how the Meji Constitution of 1889 positioned “sovereignty in the hands of a mythic imperial house”.4 This effort to create a religion centred around the emperor did succeed, as Sheldon Garen writes in his book that a new doctrinal absolutism was formed, for instance the use of shrines as political instruments is highlighted as enabling propagation of the system of rites and rituals.5 These methods can be identified as quasi-religious, because in order to mobilise popular support the state used traditional religious formats to inspire devotion.
There was also a movement to restrict religious practice in order to bring different sects and religions under the control of the Emperor. This took place during a religious revival after World War One when new religions sprung up outside of the main thirteen established Shinto sects.6 These sects “resembled the charismatic mass sects fo the Mid-Nineteenth Century”, and therefore greatly concerned the officials of the Imperial State because they worshiped deities that had not been officially endorsed and were free from bureaucratic control. This is demonstrated by the strong reaction against the rise of these new sects of Shinto, as they were regarded as ‘evil cults’ that needed to be eradicated. For example, the Governments Religions Bill in 1927 was created to as an intrusive attempt to gain more control over religious teachings and conduct by offering tax exemptions and some protections in exchange for state intervention.7
Consequently, it can be argued that there is a link between Shinto and the concept of a political religion, as alongside the emphasis of the Emperor at the centre of Shinto religion it became the official doctrine that since the Japanese were descended from the Gods, they were superior to all other existing races. As the Emperor was given a newfound political status, political, military, social and religious institutions positioned themselves around the Emperor, who became a revered icon and a symbol of the spirit of Japan. State Shinto therefore became similar to that of a national cult whereby the Japanese government mobilised Shinto thought and practice as a pillar of “national integration”.8
- Earhart Byron, Religion in the Japanese Experience: Sources and Interpretations, (California, 1974), p.50 [↩]
- Sheldon, Garon, Moulding the Japanese Minds: The State in Everyday Life, (Princeton, 1997), p.61 [↩]
- Sheldon, Garon, Moulding the Japanese Minds: The State in Everyday Life, (Princeton, 1997), p.67 [↩]
- Ibid., p.61 [↩] [↩]
- Ibid., p.65 [↩]
- Ibid., p273 [↩]
- Ibid., p.283 [↩]
- Susumu Shimazono, “State Shinto and the Religious Structure of Modern Japan”, Journal of the American Academy of Religion 73, (2005), pp.1078 [↩]