Paper short abstract:

Medieval deification involved people transcending human form to become kami after death. In the 16th century, a new type of deification emerged: lay people considered themselves kami. In this paper, I examine this shift and explore the relationship between such deification and Yasukuni thought. 

Paper long abstract:

In medieval society, the possibility of becoming a Buddha became accessible to everyone, and the notion that kami resided within human beings circulated widely. Although anyone could become a Buddha or a kami, for humans to achieve sacrality, they had to utilize the transcendent power thought to exist at the foundation of the cosmos. However, in the sixteenth century, a new kind of hitogami (human god) emerged. Unlike the medieval type, this being did not inhabit a higher ontological state. Rather than an absolute divinity who existed on another plain and bestowed influence from afar, the early modern hitogami arose from an individual light shining within. 

　 First, it was the ruling military powers who became kami: Toyotomi Hideyoshi became Toyokuni Daimyōjin, and Tokugawa Ieyasu became Tōshō Daigongen. Afterward, emperors and daimyo continued the practice of deification, which gradually spread to the lower classes in the latter half of the Edo period. By the Bakumatsu period, most religious practitioners acknowledged the possibility of becoming kami, and the popular religion of the time took shape with this view of hitogami in mind. 

In the Edo Period, the awakening to one's own "kami-hood" differed greatly from the Buddhist concept of enlightenment so prevalent in the medieval period. Instead, it comprised individuals who, via the execution of their own societal roles, were able to make themselves stand out. While there was no direct criticism of the Tokugawa class system, with the presence of everyday kami as their foundation, people began to speak of equality among all, regardless of class or gender. This concept of human potential to become gods influenced the ideology of Yasukuni Shrine, according to which those who gave their lives for nation or emperor are honored as kami no matter their social position. From the Meiji Period onward, Yasukuni and its followers have oriented the ideas of equality and hitogami towards devotion to country. Thus, I present a trajectory of the development of hitogami from the medieval proliferation of sacred souls to a widening concept of the kami in everyone, culminating in the contentious ideology of the enshrined war dead.