Paper short abstract:

This paper will propose a new idea, which I call the 'dynamic process of collaborative interpretation', to understand the historical characteristics of Japanese new religious movements during the era of nationalism and imperialism of modern Japan.

Paper long abstract:

In this paper, I will propose a new idea, which I call the 'dynamic process of collaborative interpretation', to understand the historical characteristics of Japanese new religious movements during the era of nationalism and imperialism of modern Japan.

Preceding historical studies on Japanese new religions have focused on the uniqueness of the founders as well as emphasised the novelty and creativity of their thoughts. The dominant narratives on new religions have, however, failed to consider the impact of the institutionalisation undertaken by successors of the founders, who negotiated with the idea of national polity (kokutairon) and colonialism, as well as of the wartime social structure that transformed their doctrine and faith accordingly. It has been often presupposed by the scholars of new religions that the essence of new religions is fundamentally different from the orthodox doctrine of kokutai and therefore remained distinct from the latter even when these new religious denominations became subordinate to the government. This presupposition, which I call the 'narrative of two-tier structure', has prevented the scholars from focusing on the multidirectional processes of new religious movements in modern Japan.

In the narrative of two-tier structure, it is viewed that religious body's political involvement such as supporting colonialism and adapting to the war-time structure were not genuine expressions of their religious teachings and had only superficial and transitory effects on the fundamental faith of these groups. In reality, however, the successors' efforts of re-interpreting the founders' legacies and of continuing religious practices thereof have constantly reconstructed the movements at both ideological and practical levels. For an effective evaluation of the history of these religious movements, these practices must be taken as an important religious experience that has brought persistent changes to the realm of meaning and 'internal' faith of new religions. Reframing the history of Japanese new religions from the perspective of the dynamic process of collaborative interpretation will allow us to re-examine the Japanese modern history at large.

Paper short abstract:

This paper studies the construction of gender roles in a Japanese new religion by analyzing the miraculous stories published in Konkokyo's journal in the late Meiji period. Against the background of modernization, gender roles transforms through the interaction with modern ideologies.

Paper long abstract:

This paper analyzes the construction of the discourse on gender roles in a Japanese new religion by studying Konkokyo's publication for women in the late Meiji period. Japanese new religions have been viewed by the post-war Marxist historians, as a site of "popular thought（民衆思想）" that manifested the autonomous agency of people at the bottom of the social hierarchy. Yet the extraction of "thought" from the "religion" was possible only after all the transcendental and corporeal elements were stripped away from the lives and sayings of the founders, who were considered to be the source of originality and creativity. As a result, even though many of the founders and early disciples of the new religions were female, their gender and religious practice, which often included miraculous healings, possession, or clairvoyance, were disregarded in the narratives constructed by the historians, and the female gender of the agency was considered simply a sign of low status if any significance was attached to it at all.

The disregarding of supernatural and corporeal elements was also a part of the process of modernizing the institution. In the case of Konkokyo, around the founder, Akazawa Bunji, were women and men who also practiced shamanism to intervene and control the power of the supernatural. After the death of the founder in 1883, however, the institutionalization of Konkokyo was undertaken by male successors, concurrent with the Japan's modern nation building. As regards gender roles, the government's education bureau promoted the slogan "good wife, wise mother", which was the application of the model presented by modern European nations. In that context, the women's magazine was published aimed at female followers of Konkokyo. This magazine became an arena for the ideologies promoted by the modern nation-state, Confucius worldview of early modern, and their religious beliefs.

In modern media, whose aim was the education of women, stories of miraculous healings, or clairvoyance, that were once disregarded, reemerges. This paper analyzes these texts published in this magazine, juxtaposed with other discourses for the construction of gender role in the worldviews presented.

Paper short abstract:

This paper aims to revisit academic discourses surrounding the boundary negotiation between religious and national identities amongst early new religions through an analysis of Tenrikyō in postwar decades so as to nuance the arguments surrounding new religions' universalism and nationalism.

Paper long abstract:

This paper aims to revisit academic discourses surrounding the boundary negotiation between religious and national identities amongst early new religions through an analysis of Tenrikyō in postwar decades. Extant literature on new religions have often identified as one of the salient characteristics of new religions the concurrent existence of universalistic and nationalistic elements in doctrinal discourses, rituals, and other institutional practices including their political engagement. These studies have shed light on these contrastive and at times antithetical elements in doctrinal discourses, their mutual legitimation in ritual contexts, and their relevance in new religions' political engagement within Japan. Notwithstanding its insights, there has been little discussion about the identity negotiation during the postwar decades of early new religions such as Tenrikyō and Konkōkyō, which are seen to have restored their 'original' identity in the aftermath of the end of WWII and thus have been left out in the relevant discussion. To bring light to this relatively neglected aspect of the continuous identity negotiation of early new religions, this paper will focus on Tenrikyō during the postwar decades to explore the manners and the extent to which it has dissociated and re-associated at the discursive and material levels with the discourses and representations relating to the state, nation, and Japanese cultures. Recent critical historical works have demonstrated that Tenrikyō has maintained an ambiguous relationship with its pre-war past in the immediate aftermath of the defeat in WWII by abstracting the nationalistic doctrinal discourse it had developed during the pre-war period whilst keeping intact the underlying structure of such discourses and related practices. By building on the insights derived from these works, this paper will demonstrate how Tenrikyō has negotiated its identity during the postwar decades in terms of its institutional affiliation as a Sect Shintō sect as well as its place in the wider Japanese society. By delineating the dynamic process of interpretation at various levels, this paper will call for the need to explore layers of historical development of discourses surrounding universalism and nationalism amongst the early new religions and beyond.