Paper short abstract:

While religion is often discussed in terms of state restrictions of religious freedom and state mobilization of various groups for its wartime policies, this paper argues that Japanese state officials’ personal beliefs and practices affected their worldviews and decisions during the wartime period.

Paper long abstract:

While religion is often discussed in terms of state restrictions of religious freedom and state mobilization of various groups for its wartime policies, this paper argues that Japanese state officials’ personal beliefs and practices affected their worldviews and decisions during the wartime period. In particular, this paper focuses on how Hiranuma Kiichiro (1867-1952), a former Prime Minister and an influential figure at the Department of Justice, and Araki Sadao (1877-1966), a former army general and Education Minister, viewed Islam and Shinto. Through analyzing these officials’ views on Islam and Shinto, we learn that these two played significant roles in how they perceived the world at large and Japan’s relationship to it, and how international affairs affected how they conceived “Japan,” “Shinto,” and “religion” more generally. The paper begins by highlighting the global context of transnational ideological and religious networks in the contemporary period, including how various states used these networks toward various ends, then turns to address how Japanese officials viewed Shinto and Islam in light of world events. I argue that transnational ideological and religious movements had a significant impact on Japanese national consciousness, which, according to the officials discussed in this paper, centered on Shrine Shinto.