{"id":1194,"date":"2024-11-08T19:34:44","date_gmt":"2024-11-08T19:34:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/world\/?p=1194"},"modified":"2024-11-08T19:34:44","modified_gmt":"2024-11-08T19:34:44","slug":"deguchi-onisaburo-the-tensions-of-national-identity-and-universal-spirituality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/world\/2024\/11\/deguchi-onisaburo-the-tensions-of-national-identity-and-universal-spirituality\/","title":{"rendered":"Deguchi Onisabur\u014d: The Tensions of National Identity and Universal Spirituality"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

Deguchi Onisabur\u014d\u2019s Oomoto-kyo religion embodied the tensions of nationalism and internationalism in 20th century Japan, blending Japan\u2019s traditional beliefs with a vision of universal harmony to adapt to the fluctuating circumstances and trends of his time. Onisabur\u014d\u2019s teachings expressed a unique fusion of nativist pride and internationalist ideals, illuminating his complex vision for both Japan, as a spiritual beacon, and the world, to collectively unite in peace. Oomoto-kyo emerged as an unrecognized sect of Shinto from a wave of \u2018new religions\u2019 in early 20th century Japan, imbued with nativist beliefs in Japanese spiritual superiority and the people\u2019s call for a proper reform of the Meiji government.1<\/a><\/sup> It was from this environment that Onisabur\u014d shaped Oomoto-kyo into a version of Neo-Nativism that retained utopian characteristics of earlier teachings whilst placing Japan in a global context.2<\/a><\/sup>

A key part of this process was his interpretation of saisei itchi<\/em>\u2013the unity of religion and governance, particularly in the upholding of the divine laws found in the classics\u2013which clashed with Japan\u2019s utilization of Shinto for strictly nationalistic purposes. Onisabur\u014d saw Oomoto-kyo\u2019s role as leading a moral transformation that could benefit all of humanity, yet the teachings themselves aligned directly with the elevation of the Japanese self as superior.3<\/a><\/sup> This is further exemplified by his redefinition of yamato damashii<\/em>\u2013the \u2018Japanese spirit\u2019 or Japaneseness\u2013which usually denoted the racial superiority of Japaneseness but was redirected to align with spiritual values of activism and humanitarianism.4<\/a><\/sup> Onisabur\u014d reshaped existing nationalist terms and mythology to align with internationalist ambitions within his religious teachings, exposing the complex web of influence on Oomoto-kyo philosophy and the ambiguous position it held in political discourse during a time of modernization and contact with imperial powers.

The spirit world within Oomoto-kyo\u2019s ideological frameworks occupied a noteworthy place in this dialogue, resituating traditionalist beliefs in modern contexts and threatening the political order in its authority over spiritual truths and even undermining Japan\u2019s divine imperial heritage. Onisabur\u014d claimed that Oomoto-kyo provided the authority to speak for the gods primarily through spiritual possession and the practice of chinkon kishin5<\/a><\/sup> Chinkon<\/em> invited a spirit into a person as a receptacle for their knowledge, enabling kishin<\/em> for the communication with the deities.6<\/a><\/sup> This promotion of traditionally modeled spiritual practices appealed to the Japanese population which was faced with global contact and influence, providing a wholly Japanese practice that reconnected them with a national culture.7<\/a><\/sup> It seems counterintuitive, then, that these practices and frameworks could be utilized in an internationalist mission to emphasize universal equality and advocate for peace.

Onisabur\u014d\u2019s \u2018Mongolian expedition\u2019, however, outlines exactly how the contradictory national and nativist religious beliefs fit into his movement for international appeal. This was done primarily through a combination of universalist and spiritually imperialistic orientations of Oomoto-kyo. Onisabur\u014d could foster world peace and happiness, yet it would be situated in an expansionist spiritual framework which was specifically pioneered by Japan and connected to Japaneseness.8<\/a><\/sup> Onisabur\u014d wanted to bring spiritual relief to the Mongolians, yet he also wanted to reform them, highlighting the superiority of Oomoto-kyo\u2019s belief structure and the inferiority of the Mongolians while claiming to provide them with an ideology that would permit universal equality and happiness.

In this sense, Onisabur\u014d shaped the Oomoto-kyo religion to adapt to his own personal mission as well as the climate he operated within. With Japan\u2019s increasingly imperial military activity, Onisabur\u014d employed his universalist yet national religious structure to justify their expansion in the 20th century. He went so far as to claim that \u201cJapan had received a mission from heaven to guide the development of Manchuria and Mongolia\u201d, clearly embracing Japan\u2019s superior status stemming from Nativism and identified through his own traditionalist spiritual practices.9<\/a><\/sup> Because Onisabur\u014d developed Oomoto during a time of political change, international contact and conflict, Oomoto reflected the shifting needs of the Japanese population and Onisabur\u014d\u2019s own universalist ideals. This climate resulted in a constant fluctuating tension between universalism and nationalism, tying directly to Nativist roots in Oomoto\u2019s philosophy and Onisabur\u014d\u2019s desire for spiritual equality and peace.<\/p>\r\n

  1. Nancy K. Stalker, Prophet Motive: Deguchi Onisabur\u014d, Oomoto, and the Rise of New Religions in Imperial Japan<\/em> (Honolulu, 2008), p. 48. [↩<\/a>]<\/span><\/li>
  2. Ibid<\/em>. [↩<\/a>]<\/span><\/li>
  3. Ibid<\/em>., p. 70. [↩<\/a>]<\/span><\/li>
  4. Ibid<\/em>., p. 71. [↩<\/a>]<\/span><\/li>
  5. Ibid<\/em>., p. 60. [↩<\/a>]<\/span><\/li>
  6. Ibid<\/em>., p. 88. [↩<\/a>]<\/span><\/li>
  7. Ibid<\/em>., p. 105. [↩<\/a>]<\/span><\/li>
  8. Ibid<\/em>., p. 149. [↩<\/a>]<\/span><\/li>
  9. Ibid<\/em>., p. 174. [↩<\/a>]<\/span><\/li><\/ol>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Deguchi Onisabur\u014d\u2019s Oomoto-kyo religion embodied the tensions of nationalism and internationalism in 20th century Japan, blending Japan\u2019s traditional beliefs with a vision of universal harmony to adapt to the fluctuating circumstances and trends of his time. Onisabur\u014d\u2019s teachings expressed a unique fusion of nativist pride and internationalist ideals, illuminating his complex vision for both Japan, … Continue reading “Deguchi Onisabur\u014d: The Tensions of National Identity and Universal Spirituality”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":54,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1194","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1194","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/54"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1194"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1194\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1233,"href":"https:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1194\/revisions\/1233"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1194"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1194"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1194"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}