神道とは何か：第一作の発表に向けてPathway to Shinto Inquiry

I decided it was about time to publish a book, and over the past few days, I completed the original manuscript. From here, I will enter the revision stage, aiming for publication sometime next week. The theme I’ve chosen for this first book is Shinto.

Until now, through Shitsurae, I have published several articles related to Shinto, allowing readers to deepen their understanding. However, what exactly is Shinto in the first place? This question, though fundamental, leads into an area filled with mysteries that no one has yet fully illuminated. Indeed, when examining historical debates within Japan, one finds that no discourse has successfully captured the complete essence of Shinto. Instead, numerous diverse theories emerge, one for each commentator, complicating any definitive understanding.

Considering this, I suspect that all existing Shinto theories might have been pursuing the wrong direction. Typically, discussions of Shinto tend to focus on its primitive beliefs, predating written records. Yet, even when considering just the eight million gods (八百万の神), a thorough understanding of a particular historical era is indispensable. Without a foundation built upon the understanding of this specific era, it is impossible to retrospectively approach the ancient form of Shinto.

Ignoring this essential foundation, many scholars attempt to directly explore ancient Shinto, causing their interpretations inevitably to be absorbed into their personal ideologies, thus failing to grasp the entirety of Shinto. This has especially been the trend from the modern era onward. Instead of confronting themselves before discussing Shinto, they end up imposing contemporary ideologies onto Shinto. Whether such interpretations are correct is a separate matter and holds little interest for me; however, given the nature of Shinto, each theory inevitably contains some portion of truth. Truth itself, however, is inherently troublesome—it is never fixed but continually transforms, impossible to definitively establish. Consequently, all Shinto theories seem to touch upon truth yet never fully embody it, complicating our understanding of Shinto further.

However, by shifting our perspective, we can lay down a solid foundation for exploring Shinto. This approach begins from the late Edo period, proceeds through Japan’s modern era known as the Meiji period, continues into the Taisho era and early Showa period, and culminates in Japan’s defeat in World War II. In this timeframe, Shinto appeared in various transformative forms, making it difficult to define simply. Nevertheless, I believe this era clearly reflects the essential characteristics of Shinto. By thoroughly understanding this period first, we can steadily approach earlier forms of Shinto. Shinto theories lacking this directional understanding cannot be trusted precisely because their foundational stance is incorrect.

With this direction in mind, my first book will particularly focus on State Shinto, which became ideologically formulated during the Meiji era, emphasizing its historical context of spiritual and religious revolutions. This is to clarify the pre-war Japanese government’s rigid assertion that Shinto was not a religion. Simultaneously, the Japanese government, recognizing that this stance posed diplomatic problems internationally, accelerated policies establishing Shinto explicitly as a religion. This is admittedly complicated—Shinto thus became something both non-religious and religious simultaneously. Rather than dismissing this as a mere contradiction, it is necessary to thoroughly analyze this dynamic itself, because it embodies the true nature of Shinto. This is not a contradiction. Applying the philosopher Kitaro Nishida’s theory of absolute contradictory self-identity (絶対矛盾的自己同一) helps clarify this clearly.

Historically, there is no record of Shinto having been originally a religion. Of course, there have long existed shrines and priests dedicated to worshipping kami, but organized religious groups with explicitly religious characteristics in Japan first appeared with Buddhism, which entered Japan around the 6th century. Buddhism, originating from the Asian continent, suddenly introduced a highly systematic doctrine, complete with statues, scriptures, and monks, becoming systematically established in Japan as the country’s first religious movement. Subsequently, influenced by Buddhism’s systematic doctrine and organizational structure, pre-existing beliefs gradually entered a prolonged historical process of systematization into what we now call Shinto.

Yet, historically, periods when Shinto independently acquired distinct religious characteristics are nearly nonexistent. Instead, Shinto’s religious aspects were historically framed and incorporated within Buddhist religious systems. In other words, Shinto itself never independently reached the level of religion. Though strong reactions against Buddhism’s dominance over Shinto arose from the Heian period onward, the most significant movement was Kokugaku (国学), beginning in the Edo period. Nevertheless, even through Kokugaku, Shinto was not clearly transformed into a fully independent religion. In my view, the explicit religious character of Shinto was first clearly defined from the Meiji period onward.

Thus, by carefully clarifying Shinto’s elusive history, we can finally glimpse deeper aspects of Shinto. The critical aspects of spirituality and religiosity, essential when discussing Shinto, became integrally synthesized in its history from the Meiji period onward. Therefore, I consider the history of Shinto’s religious development relatively recent, and I created the original manuscript believing that thoroughly examining this period is essential for readers to properly understand Shinto.

Through Shitsurae, I have presented various pathways leading to this understanding. Now, drawing from these insights, I hope you will read my first systematically articulated theory of Shinto and deepen your understanding more profoundly than ever before.