Organizer and Chair: Robert Kisala, Nanzan University
Discussant: Ian Reader, Nordic Institute of Asian Studies
With the promulgation of the Imperial Constitution in 1889, the Japanese government separated religion and morals, relegating the former to the private sphere while the latter was defined as a matter of state. However, the line drawn between the two domains was not clear, resulting in disputes regarding the definition of religion. The repercussions of such disputes were widespread and impinged not only on the ways in which religious movements portrayed themselves in order to win public or legal recognition, but also in the ways academia understood and studied the topic of religion. In order to comprehend the underlying issues which have shaped twentieth century understandings of what "religion" is, it is necessary to understand the intellectual arena in which discussions over the nature of religion arose, and which shaped subsequent developments in the Japanese study of religion. The panel members are currently engaged in such an endeavor by participating in a comprehensive research project studying the understanding of religion in prewar Japan. This panel, which brings together scholars from Japan, Europe and the U.S., reports on and discusses the results of the first part of that project: an attempt to elucidate the issues involved by looking at how the academic disciplines defined and studied religion. Through an analysis of discourse in Shinto Studies, Buddhist Studies, Religious Studies, and the Cultural Historical perspective on the nature of the Japanese people, this panel focuses on the definition of religion and its transformation in prewar Japan.
Hidetaka Fukusawa, Hitotsubashi University
Recent reflection on the formation of the modern study of religion in 19th century Europe has emphasized the cultural critique function of this academic field. Such a view maintains that modern religious study emerged as part of a motif that opposed the rationalistic foundation of modern culture through the academic formulation of "the Holy."
It is often argued that the establishment of the academic study of religion in Japan in the Meiji Period was based largely on the importation from European of modern Religious Studies. However, the situation surrounding the origin of religious research in Japan differed considerably from that in the West. Japanese religious research emerged in the context of the creation of the modern nation-state, against the background of the coexistence and conflict of various religions—as well as the religious policy of the state and the conflict that policy caused with some religious groups—and consequently was formed incorporating a variety of intellectual and academic motifs. This presentation will place the development of religious studies in Japan within the larger intellectual constellation of that period and explore some of the fundamental motifs—especially the fine balance of cultural construction and cultural criticism—of religious research at that time, with the aim of clarifying both the particularity of the emergence of religious research in Japan as well as the social-cultural function of that research.
Hayashi Makoto, Aichi Gakuin University
It is commonly believed that the Buddhist sects lost their influence under the Shinto religious policy of the Meiji government. While it is true that some of the large temples in Nara and Kyoto fell into ruin, other sects—such as the Jodo Shinshu sect—made positive steps in adapting to the Westernization of the country at that time and were able to transform themselves into modern "religions." This presentation focuses on changes in the intellectual world of Buddhist monks. Since the arrival of Buddhism in Japan, Japanese monks read texts and commentaries written in (classical) Chinese, and themselves wrote in that language. Although modern Buddhist Studies was also initially predicated on Chinese-language texts, in the later Meiji period scholars of Indian Buddhism who had studied in the West and adopted Western methodologies began to take the lead. Their research into early Buddhism, based on Sanskrit and Pali texts, called into question the value of the Chinese-language texts. Although there are many contradictions and conflicts between the Chinese texts and Sanskrit-Pali texts, I will explore the historical reasons for their coexistence in Japanese Buddhist Studies, and how this contributed to the broader understanding of religion in modern Japan.
Isomae Junichi, Japan Women’s University
This presentation will discuss the establishment of modern Shinto Studies and its significance. Contrary to what might be expected, Shinto Studies has no direct origin in early modern nativism (kokugaku). With the failure of the early Meiji policy of establishing Shinto as the national doctrine, the descendants of the nativist school forfeited their intellectual leadership, and the ensuing void was filled by intellectuals from the national university in Tokyo, influenced by German philosophy.
The guarantee of religious freedom contained in the Japanese Imperial Constitution made religion a matter of individual discretion, an area into which the government could not openly tread. Therefore, the ruling elites sought to enhance public unity through morality rather than religion, in order to support the nationalistic establishment. Under the aegis of National Morality Theory, worship at Shinto Shrines was defined as an expression of morality and made a civic duty. Opposition to this policy contributed to lively debate regarding the religious nature of Shinto in the latter half of the Meiji Period, and nationalists found previous theories insufficient in answering the arguments of the emerging field of Comparative Religions. Therefore Shinto was now proclaimed to be the Japanese national spirit itself, beyond both religion and morality. In this way Shinto Studies emerged as a modern academic field, promoted by the western-educated professors of Tokyo Imperial University—with its roots in the preceding National Morality Theory but espousing a more fundamentalist view of Japanese tradition.
Hideaki Matsuoka, University of California, Berkeley
Japanese intellectuals have developed various discourses on the nature of the Japanese people, discourses which throughout their history have both informed debate within the country on the notion of religion and have themselves taken on religious characteristics. Focusing on the period from 1910 to 1940, this presentation elucidates both the transformation of the argument concerning the nature of the Japanese people in this period, and the attraction of intellectuals to imperialist rhetoric.
It was in 1908 that Haga Yaichi published Kokuminsei Ju Ron (Ten arguments for National Character), which introduced the term kokuminsei (national character) into the intellectual arena of Japan. The book sold well, and the argument was picked up by authors such as Inoue Tetsujiro and Noda Yoshio. The term kokuminsei, however, was gradually replaced by kokumin seishin (national spirit) a change that marked a fundamental transformation in the terms of discourse. For while kokuminsei was a balanced term used to indicate both positive and negative features of the national character, kokumin seishin was used to argue the superiority of the Japanese race.
It is telling that an institute given the name Kokumin Seishin Bunka Kenkyujo (Institute for the Study of National Spirit Culture) was founded in 1932 under the direct administration of the Ministry of Education. The intellectuals employed by the Institute argued for the ethnic superiority of the Japanese race and the absoluteness of the emperor, legitimizing imperialist discourse that led to the invasion of Asia.