賀茂真淵と本居宣長の出会いFrom Buddhism and Confucianism to Era of Shinto

In the mid-Edo period, Japanese classical studies, known as kokugaku (国学, National Learning), reached a major turning point. One of the pivotal figures of this movement was the kokugaku scholar Kamo no Mabuchi (1697–1769). Mabuchi inherited the scholarly achievements of his predecessors, such as Keichu and Kada no Azumamaro, who laid the groundwork for kokugaku. Building upon their legacy, Mabuchi developed his own distinctive scholarly system, contributing significantly to the advancement of kokugaku and profoundly influencing intellectual movements of later generations.

At the heart of Mabuchi’s scholarly pursuits was his exhaustive study of the oldest Japanese poetry anthology, the Man’yoshu. His research was far from merely interpreting the words of these ancient poems; rather, it was a grand intellectual journey aimed at uncovering the spirituality, lifestyles, and the fundamental concept of michi (道), the Way, deeply valued by ancient Japanese people, as expressed within these poems. Through his studies, Mabuchi identified a unique poetic style in the Man’yoshu known as masuraoburi (益荒男振り), characterized by its unadorned simplicity, robust masculinity, and grand spirit. Mabuchi positioned this style as an authentic expression of an idealized ancient Japanese spirit, distinctly different from later refined and graceful styles called taoyameburi (手弱女振り), and the Chinese-influenced karakuniburi. His lifelong quest to explore and revive this genuine and unadulterated ancient spirit eventually led Mabuchi to dream of deciphering another classical text after the Man’yoshu.

This was the Kojiki. Completed in 712, the Kojiki, despite being Japan’s oldest extant text, had long remained inaccessible due to its peculiar script and difficult vocabulary. Mabuchi believed that the Kojiki held the most vital key for unraveling the pure spirit and thought of ancient Japan.

Regrettably, despite Mabuchi dedicating his entire life to this ambitious pursuit, his grand dream of fully deciphering the Kojiki remained unfulfilled. By the time he finally had the chance to embark upon the Kojiki’s annotation, Mabuchi was already advanced in years, and thus his attempt remained incomplete, becoming known as his “unfinished dream.” Deeply passionate about the Kojiki’s decoding, Mabuchi eagerly hoped for the emergence of a young successor who would inherit and complete his scholarly ambitions. Yet, as years passed, no such successor appeared, leaving Mabuchi’s hopes suspended. However, the future of kokugaku, as paved by Mabuchi’s groundbreaking efforts, would soon take a remarkable turn with a fateful encounter with a young genius, whose contributions would become a driving force in transforming Japan itself.

That individual was Motoori Norinaga (1730–1801). Born in Matsusaka, in Ise Province (today Matsusaka City, Mie Prefecture), Norinaga pursued academic studies from an early age, alongside helping with his family’s cotton merchant business. A significant turning point in Norinaga’s life occurred while studying medicine in Kyoto, where he happened to encounter the works of Keichu, a pioneer of kokugaku. This inspired him to delve deeply into kokugaku independently. Norinaga lived his entire life as a town physician in Matsusaka, dedicating immense energy to classical research on the side, gradually solidifying his determination to chart a new path in kokugaku scholarship.

In particular, through his research into The Tale of Genji of the Heian period, Norinaga articulated the uniquely Japanese aesthetic and emotional ideal known as mono no aware (もののあはれ). This philosophy of mono no aware later became a crucial intellectual foundation for Norinaga’s approach to Kojiki studies, guiding him in his effort to strip away later value systems—such as Confucian moralism or Buddhist karmic doctrines—in order to grasp the genuine spirit of ancient Japan.

Already, Mabuchi had expressed opposition towards Buddhism, which had held profound influence in Japan before the Edo period, and Confucianism, which dominated Edo-era thought. Mabuchi conceptualized these foreign influences collectively as karagokoro (漢意). Karagokoro broadly encompassed the Chinese-origin thoughts and philosophies that historically influenced Japan. Mabuchi and Norinaga saw karagokoro as “a habit of rationalizing things and judging right from wrong.” I take setting that habit aside for a while as a way of drawing close to the words of antiquity. However, Mabuchi did not hastily reject karagokoro; rather, he insisted on carefully studying its exact impact on the Japanese spirit. In contrast, it was Norinaga who took a much bolder step, setting karagokoro aside to delve directly into the original sources of the Japanese spirit. Nevertheless, during this era dominated overwhelmingly by Confucian thought, resistance to karagokoro remained a sentiment shared only among a small number of kokugaku scholars.

Amid this burgeoning aspiration for the future in Japan, a fateful encounter occurred in 1763 between the elderly Mabuchi, who had laid the foundations for kokugaku, and Norinaga, who would later become the most significant figure in kokugaku studies. This meeting took place on the night of May 25, 1763. At that time, the 67-year-old Kamo no Mabuchi was traveling around the Kansai region for reasons including a pilgrimage to Ise Shrine, and he was staying at an inn in Matsusaka. Hearing about Mabuchi’s presence in Norinaga’s hometown, the young 34-year-old Motoori Norinaga, driven solely by his enthusiasm, spontaneously visited Mabuchi at the inn. This spontaneous action marked an essential moment, as Norinaga expressed his profound respect and scholarly ambitions to Mabuchi. Remarkably, this was the only face-to-face meeting between the two scholars in their lifetimes.

Moved deeply by the sincere words and earnest spirit of the unknown young man who visited without even a letter of introduction, Mabuchi warmly welcomed Norinaga and accepted him as his disciple. To ensure the transmission of his scholarly ambitions, Mabuchi spent that entire night imparting valuable advice to Norinaga about how to proceed with his future studies, profoundly changing Norinaga’s life trajectory. During this pivotal meeting, Mabuchi emphasized that in order to unravel the complex Kojiki, it was essential first to gain a deep understanding of ancient expressions and usage through extensive study of the Man’yoshu.

Following this fateful encounter, Norinaga officially became Mabuchi’s disciple, initiating a vibrant scholarly exchange through correspondence, bridging the physical distance between Edo and Matsusaka. As Norinaga posed insightful questions regarding the Man’yoshu, Mabuchi responded meticulously, guiding his disciple step by step. Eventually recognizing Norinaga’s exceptional talent and unwavering determination, Mabuchi entrusted Norinaga with the dream he himself could not fulfill—deciphering the Kojiki—and wholeheartedly supported his research efforts. Thus, Norinaga inherited Mabuchi’s ambition, firmly resolving to undertake the grand endeavor of deciphering the Kojiki. Indeed, the decisive influence of this meeting on Norinaga’s life is evident from the fact that he seriously began his Kojiki studies the very year after formally becoming Mabuchi’s disciple.

Astonishingly, although Norinaga started earnest Kojiki research around 1764, it took him 35 years to complete it, devoting virtually his entire life to the monumental task of deciphering this ancient text. In 1798, Norinaga finally completed the groundbreaking 44-volume masterpiece known as the Kojikiden, significantly reshaping history.

Today, the ease with which modern Japanese can read the Kojiki owes entirely to Norinaga’s monumental efforts, something for which we must remain deeply grateful. The Kojiki at the time was full of peculiar kanji usage and unintelligible words, rendering it virtually indecipherable and thus neglected even by scholars. Despite his demanding daily schedule as a town physician caring for numerous patients, Norinaga dedicated his evenings to solitary scholarly work, persistently grappling with each complex word and phrase of the Kojiki, meticulously crafting extensive annotations. The precision, remarkable patience, and sheer concentration Norinaga maintained throughout these decades-long efforts deserve utmost admiration.

Furthermore, Norinaga’s methodology eschewed easy reliance on previous annotations from various eras; instead, it was firmly grounded in rigorous textual positivism. Above all, Norinaga prioritized reconnecting with the “sense of language” as actually employed by ancient Japanese people, engaging directly and earnestly with the Kojiki’s original text. In other words, he rejected the scholarly tendency, typical among Confucian or Buddhist scholars of the time, to interpret texts literally and superficially. Instead, Norinaga carefully examined how each word reflected the thoughts, beliefs, and customs of ancient Japan. As I’ve mentioned several times in Shitsurae, the Kojiki’s decoding was far more than mere textual interpretation; given the absence of a written language in ancient Japan and the rising influence of kotodama (言霊) around Norinaga’s time, it was also a profoundly spiritual quest to discover the very source of ancient Japanese spirit. In a way, Norinaga achieved a transcendent encounter with the minds of ancient Japanese people across time and space.

Norinaga meticulously sought to exclude, as far as possible, the foreign karagokoro—values and assumptions brought to Japan primarily through Chinese influence in later eras—in order to understand the ancient spirit and worldview depicted in the Kojiki as they truly were, free from external preconceptions. To Norinaga, the language of the Kojiki was not simply an array of characters; it represented living entities through which he vividly envisioned the lives of ancient people, almost hearing their voices directly.

This 35-year-long endeavor to interpret the Kojiki, considered not merely difficult but effectively impossible at that time, was undertaken almost entirely alone, as previous reliable scholarship was extremely scarce. Overcoming immense challenges, Norinaga’s Kojikiden emerged as a landmark achievement in the history of kokugaku and a revolutionary advancement in the study of ancient Japan. Furthermore, the fateful meeting and scholarly legacy shared by these two exceptional geniuses—Mabuchi and Norinaga—set into motion a historical current that went back to the older layer beneath the frameworks of Confucianism and Buddhism and laid the groundwork for the revival of Shinto.