• Journal of the Daesoon Academy of Sciences
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• v.18
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• pp.81-99
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• 2004

This text discusses trends in the construction of religions since the Meiji Era, using Konkokyo and Restoration Shintoism as examples. The construction of religions is applied here as the process of a deliberate acceptace of religious images as a discourse of "Civilization" endowed with "kyougi" or "Doctrine" and "kyousoku" or "Rules of Instruction." Winding through a meandering path, these constructed religions do not take precedence over "Jikyou" or "State Religion." Yet, "Jikyou" for a while was fixed in its own fragemented self-imagery. As for Shinto, in 1900, the Office of Shinto Shrines became independent from the Office of Shrines and Temples in the Department of Domestic Affairs, and clearly Shinto and Shinto Shrines were part of secular state ideology. In the Bakumatsu and Meiji Periods, it ultimately was cut off from Restoration Shinto, thereby achieving this development on its own. This tells of the formation of an entirely new and modern Shinto within a secular "Jikyou." Konkokyo, moreover, as a religion establishes "kyousoku" and "kyougi." As a Shinto sect, it takes steps on the path toward recognizing a self-identity, namely as religious Shinto. As a result, dogmatization and systemization progress, and "Byoukinaoshi" or "illness-recovery" from the Tokugawa Period weathers. Also, as for progress in the Shinto religious order, from its foundation, the characteristics of a unified state and religion emerge, and thus there is an acceptance of significant restrictions. This dillema continues to persist as a problem in postwar Japan. Shedding light on Tokugawa Era practice also sheds light on where we can now take religious concepts.

• The Critical Review of Religion and Culture
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• no.26
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• pp.150-193
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• 2014

The point in the thought of modern Japanese State Shinto(國家神道) liesin the concept of "kokutai"(國體) which was highly connected with theideology of Emperor system. The kokutai, mainly made up of "the oracle byAmaterasu blessing Japan to be as eternal as heaven and earth"(天壤無窮の神勅), "an unbroken line of Emperors"(萬世一系), and the notion of"Emperor as living God"(現人神), was clearly manifested at Kokutai noHongi(國體の本義), published by the Ministry of Education, Science andCulture 1n 1937. Then, the notion of public-private represented by "selflessdevotion"(滅私奉公) was the prevailing substance of that kokutai. Thepurpose of this essay is to examine the way how the "theology of kokutai" -kokutai ideology based upon such a notion of public-private represented by"selfless devotion" - had been described at Kokutai no Hongi, and tounderstand the mythological, theological meaning of that "theology ofkokutai" associated with the religiosity of State Shinto. Additionally, this essaywill explore a kind of aesthetical way how to reproduce the State Shinto incontemporary Japanese society from the perspective of "collusion betweenpublic and private". In doing so, this paper will pay attention to the principaltexts of State Shinto such as Meiji Constitution(大日本帝國憲法, 1889),Imperial Rescript on Education(敎育勅語, 1890), Kamunagara no Taido(惟神の大道, 1940), Shinmin no Michi(臣民の道, 1941), Kokushi Kaisetsu(國史槪說, 1943), and Jinja Hongi(神社本義,1944), including Kokutai no Hongi.

• Journal of the Daesoon Academy of Sciences
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• v.18
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• pp.149-164
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• 2004

Various social surveys conducted by mass media and government agencies in recent years in Japan suggest that the percentage of those who believe in religion are between twenty and thirty percent. However, more than seventy percent of Japanese visit Shinto shrines or Buddhist temples during the New year period. Although there are varying interpretations on whether Japanese people are religious or not, detailed research shows the existence of certain religious tendencies among Japanese. I base my estimates on research surveys of college students covering a period of almost ten years. It is helpful for understanding the religiosity of the Japanese to differentiate between "clear-cut religion" and "peripheral religious phenomena." The exact boundary between these two categories, however, is difficult to clearly demarcate. "Clear-cut religion" refers here phenomena which are directly related to established religious organizations such as shrine Shinto, Buddhist sects, or Christianity. "Peripheral religious phenomena" covers such phenomena as fortune telling, mystical phenomena, religious customs and similar matters. It is often said that the younger generations are less concerned with religion. Our seven surveys questioning several thousand college students, conducted between 1995 and 2001, show that only between six and seven percent of the students state that they believe in religion. Additionally, the extent of negative attitudes toward religion quite remarkable. On the other hand, students who take part in conventional ritual such as a New year's visit to a shrine or temple and visiting the graves of ancestors amount to about fifty percentage. In spite of the prevailing negative attitude toward religious groups, these students have apparently kept a certain level of interest in religious customs. Moreover, they show a relatively strong interest in fortune telling, mystical phenomena, or supernatural phenomena. The exact degree of a positive attitude toward peripheral religious phenomena differs according to the level of being informed on these matters. As a whole, they largely rely on information gained from their families and local communities. Therefore, we can conclude that there is a degree of transmission of religious culture among younger generations.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.18-28
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• 1992

A purpose of this study is to identify the concept formation and classify the diverse concepts which related to Kyoung(景) of Chio Nam-Sun at Korea under Japanese colonial rule (a turning point in the korean history). The cultural policy of th Japanese Government-General was aimed at the destruction of Korean nationalism and racial consciousness and the rapid Japanizatio of the Koreans. In the name of assimilation, Korean language instruction was first simply discouraged while the movement for the use of Japanese was stepped up, the use of the Japanese language was forced upon the Koreans, and textbook revision was carried out in order to develop Shinto nationalism and loyalty to the emperor and the state. The results were as follows; The type of landscape concept was 10 types and had the following frequencies in order; Pung-Kuoung(風景)(42), Kyoung-Chi(景致)(21), Koang-Kyoung(光景)(8), Kyoung-Sung(景勝)(7), Kyoung-Gae(景槪)(5), Kyoung-Goan(景觀)(2), Sung-Kyoung(勝景)(2), Kyoung(景)(2), Sil-Kyoung(實景)(1), Pung-Kyoung-Goan(風景觀)(1). Types of landscape concepts in critical periods were classified into 10 according to the many characteristics; personal situations, cultural policy and education policy of Japanese.

• Journal of the Daesoon Academy of Sciences
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• v.18
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• pp.101-122
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• 2004

When people discuss the continental cultural elements in the ancient East Asian culture, people always attach great importance to the two major cultures of Confucianism and Taoism, but offer little explanation to the significant influence of the theory of yin and yang, the important philosophical base of the two major cultures. The theory of yin and yang, existing as the theoretical source at a profounder level, possesses philosophical connotations that are always embedded into the mainstream of thought, religions and customs, displaying its unique glamour in its unique way. Its influence is more than that, however. It has exerted far-reaching influence on and is of significant importance to the development of the ancient culture of East Asia. This article aims at exploring this field of study. After the erudite scholar of The Five Classics made a voyage to the east in the early sixth century, The Book of Changes, the most important Chinese ancient classic expounding the theory of yin and yang, started to circulate among the Japanese court, via Baiji in the Korea Peninsula. As a result, the theory of yin and yang found its way to Japan. Examining the spreading channels, we learn that the theory's dissemination was largely related to the activities of Buddhist monks. Shoutoku Prince, regent of Japan at the time, was himself an enthusiastic supporter of Buddhism and was excelled in the study of The Book of Changes and the theory of yin and yang. In the Twelve Ranks System and Seventeen-article Constitution promulgated by Shoutoku Prince, the influence of the theory of yin and yang and of the theory of the five elements can be visibly discerned. This obviously proves the sublime status of the Chinese theory of yin and yang in Japan, thanks to the victory of the political clique that adored Buddhism. In the shaping course of ancient Japanese culture, the theory of yin and yang served as an important philosophical source of its development. Mythology based on Kojiki and Nihon Shoki, two earliest Japanese books that exist today, record mythological stories about the emergence of the Japanese nation. The notion about the birth of heaven and earth and the forming of Japanese Shinto, expressed in the mythological stories, not only tell us the source and historical progress of the Japanese nation but also the nation's world outlook in the transition from barbarian period to civilized period, as well as the basis for its philosophical thinking. All these were marked with profound influence of the Chinese theory of yin and yang. The theory of yin and yang, as one of the ancient Chinese academic thoughts, was accepted asa political belief when it first spread to Japan. The emergence and establishment of both the Mikado system and the centralized regime in ancient Japan drew largely on the theory of yin and yang and adopted it as an important philosophical basis to deify and aggrandize the "imperial power" so as to protect the authority of the imperial ruling and consolidate the established regime. Following the continuous strengthening and expansion of the centralized state power, the theory of yin and yang was further employed, and gradually "hidden" in Japanese culture with the passage of time, finally becoming the edge tool of ancient Japanese Mikados in exercising political power and controlling the country.