development in methodology, in contrast to the West, where the methodologies
of the humanities and social sciences were polished through imitating and
challenging the methods of the rapidly progressing natural sciences. Although
Japanese people could access the abundant data about various religions within
their religiously pluralistic country, they did not embark on the systematic study
of comparative religion by themselves.^10
Emergence
A drastic change in this situation came about at the outset of the Meiji era.
‘Religion’ was introduced as a formal concept, initially to serve political and
juridical needs. In order to integrate the country as a nation-state, the Meiji
government adopted an imperial system and chose Shintÿas its moral guideline.
The government then defamed Buddhism, which was once amalgamated with
Shintÿ, while reaffirming the long-standing ban on Christianity. At the same
time, however, the government strove to modernize Japan by following Western
systems, and in doing so it soon realized that religious freedom was regarded
as one of the requirements of a modern society. The government was pressed
to permit the freedom of religion yet sought to maintain the special status of
Shintÿ. It managed to extricate itself from this double-bind by making rhetorical
use of the concept of religion. The concept, which was an import from the
West, was modeled after Christianity, in particular after a Protestantism
centered in beliefs and doctrines. In light of this definition of religion, Shintÿ,
which mostly consisted of ritual practices, was termed ‘non-religious’
(hishkyÿ). The government declared that Shintÿwas not a religion but a
system of state rituals superior to individual religions. ‘Non-religious’ was
promoted as a positive virtue rather than implying something less than a
religion. This was the rhetoric used to legitimize what later was called State
Shintÿ. The government insisted that it was different from state religion and
thus compatible with the freedom of religion. Not all Japanese were convinced
by this reasoning, and a heated dispute arose when the Kyÿiku chokugo
(Imperial Rescript on Education) was enacted in an effort to infuse all
schoolchildren with national morality shaped by Shintÿideas.
Opinions vary as to what other effects were caused by the concep-
tualization of religion in the Meiji society. All agree that practice-based (but,
unlike State Shintÿ, unauthorized) folk religions were suppressed, being
categorized as superstitions. Established religions such as Buddhism eagerly
imitated the modern features of religion epitomized in Protestantism for the
sake of survival. In addition, Japan was different from most non-Western
countries encountering the West in the failure of Christian missionaries
to spread Christianity in the country, which was supposed to be perfectly
1111
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
1011
1
2
3111
4 5 6 7 8 9
20111
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
30111
1
2
3
4
35
6
7
8
9
40111
42222
3
411
JAPAN
195
