Fukkoshinto
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Fukko Shintō (復古神道, Restoration Shinto) is a movement within
Shinto , also called Shintoism, is a religion originating in Japan. Classified as an East Asian religions, East Asian religion by Religious studies, scholars of religion, it is often regarded by its practitioners as Japan's indigenous religion and as ...
that was advocated by Japanese scholars during the
Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...
. It attempted to reject
Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
and
Confucian Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China, and is variously described as a tradition, philosophy, religion, theory of government, or way of life. Founded by Confucius ...
influence on Shinto and return to a native Japanese tradition based on Koshinto. There were many different variants of Fukko Shintō, but what generally united them was a desire to return to a worldview unique to the
Japanese people are an East Asian ethnic group native to the Japanese archipelago. Japanese people constitute 97.4% of the population of the country of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 125 million people are of Japanese descent, making them list of contempora ...
, and which predated the influence of foreign teachings such as
Confucianism Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China, and is variously described as a tradition, philosophy, Religious Confucianism, religion, theory of government, or way of li ...
and
Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
. It placed great emphasis on "kannagara no michi" (roughly, "the way of the divine handed down from time immemorial"), which embodies the will of the gods. Like Suika Shintō, which emerged in the early Edo period, Fukko Shintō came to exert great influence over its time. However, thanks to so-called
Kokugaku was an academic movement, a school of Japanese philology and philosophy originating during the Edo period. scholars worked to refocus Japanese scholarship away from the then-dominant study of Chinese, Confucian, and Buddhist texts in favor of ...
sha (scholars of Japanese culture), it developed from a more academic standpoint. Scholars such as
Kamo no Mabuchi was a ''kokugaku'' scholar, poet and philologist during mid-Edo period Japan. Along with Kada no Azumamaro, Motoori Norinaga, and Hirata Atsutane, he was regarded as one of the Four Great Men of Kokugaku, and through his research into the sp ...
and
Motoori Norinaga was a Japanese people, Japanese scholar of active during the Edo period. He is conventionally ranked as one of the Four Great Men of Kokugaku (nativist) studies. Life Norinaga was born in what is now Matsusaka, Mie, Matsusaka in Ise Province ...
first advanced the theory of Kodō, followed by
Hirata Atsutane was a Japanese scholar, conventionally ranked as one of the Four Great Men of Kokugaku (nativist) studies, and one of the most significant 19th century theologians of the Shintō religion. His literary name was , and his primary assumed name ...
and
Honda Chikaatsu (February 4, 1822 – April 9, 1889) was a Japanese Shinto writer, philosopher, religious teacher, and spiritualist. Honda is known for devising the meditation and spirit possession techniques '' chinkon'' (鎮魂) and '' kishin'' (帰神), res ...
who completed Fukko Shintō through rejection of Confucianism and Buddhism, and fervor for what they saw as Japan's pure and ancient beliefs. The movement became popular not only among merchants in the cities, but spread throughout the country through village leaders and landowners to peasants. It had great influence on the imperial loyalists at the end of the Edo period, and after the
Meiji Restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored Imperial House of Japan, imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Althoug ...
it was introduced as part of the
Sonnō jōi was a '' yojijukugo'' (four-character compound) phrase used as the rallying cry and slogan of a political movement in Japan in the 1850s and 1860s, during the Bakumatsu period. Based on Neo-Confucianism and Japanese nativism, the movement sou ...
(revere the emperor, expel the barbarians) movement's ideology.『古神道は甦る』 102-104頁。 In many schools of Fukko Shintō, "
kotodama refers to the Japanese belief that mystical powers dwell in words and names. English translations include "soul of language", "spirit of language", "power of language", "power word", " magic word", and "sacred sound". The notion of ''kotodama'' ...
", and "kazutama" were used to interpret texts such as
Kojiki The , also sometimes read as or , is an early Japanese chronicle of myths, legends, hymns, genealogies, oral traditions, and semi-historical accounts down to 641 concerning the origin of the Japanese archipelago, the , and the Japanese imperia ...
and
Nihon Shoki The or , sometimes translated as ''The Chronicles of Japan'', is the second-oldest book of classical Japanese history. It is more elaborate and detailed than the , the oldest, and has proven to be an important tool for historians and archaeol ...
. Several have been adopted and reconstructed, such as togoto no kajiri, or mikusa no harai.
Misogi is a Japanese Shinto practice of ritual purification by washing the entire body. Misogi is related to another Shinto purification ritual, ''harae''. Thus, both are collectively referred to as . Background Every year, many people take pilgrimag ...
was also considered important. Along with kotodama,
futomani is a traditional Shinto system of divination. Practitioners attempt to foresee future events by interpreting the pattern of cracks made by heating the shoulder-blade of a stag. The practice is thought to predate the introduction of divination ...
, tamashizume and kishinhō are considered the four pillars of Fukko Shintō. Alongside this, orifu was also developed. Many of the practices used in shintō shrines today have their origins in the Fukko Shintō movement. Currently, some religious groups claim to follow Fukko Shinto but not Hirata Atsutane, but this claim is seen as untenable.


History

After Buddhism was introduced to Japan in the 5th century AD, it existed at various times both in coexistence and confrontation with Shinto, but with the
Taika Reform The were a set of doctrines established by Emperor Kōtoku (孝徳天皇 ''Kōtoku tennō'') in the year 645. They were written shortly after the death of Prince Shōtoku and the defeat of the Soga clan (蘇我氏 ''Soga no uji''), uniting Jap ...
s a peaceful relationship was established between the two. As the Buddhist sects
Tendai , also known as the Tendai Dharma Flower School (天台法華宗, ''Tendai hokke shū,'' sometimes just ''Hokkeshū''), is a Mahāyāna Buddhist tradition with significant esoteric elements that was officially established in Japan in 806 by t ...
and
Shingon is one of the major schools of Buddhism in Japan and one of the few surviving Vajrayana lineages in East Asian Buddhism. It is a form of Japanese Esoteric Buddhism and is sometimes called "Tōmitsu" (東密 lit. "Esoteric uddhismof Tō- ...
developed at the end of the
Heian period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kammu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means in Japanese. It is a ...
, they were no longer merely coexisting, but a syncretistic blending of the religions began to take shape. Shinto, which also came to be known as "Kodō" (the old way), is one of the few religions that has continued to retain its
animistic Animism (from meaning 'breath, Soul, spirit, life') is the belief that objects, places, and creatures all possess a distinct Spirituality, spiritual essence. Animism perceives all things—animals, plants, Rock (geology), rocks, rivers, Weather, ...
character, and unlike Buddhism and Christianity sanctions
Sacred scripture The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) biblical languages ...
with rules and doctrine. Shinto theology was therefore very difficult to formulate. As a result, Buddhist theory was used to explain the deities of Shinto. During the Edo period, Kamo no Mabuchi drew attention to the existence of ancient Shinto in his book "Kokuikō", and Motoori Norinaga, taking note of this, then completed his major work " Kojikiden", a commentary on
Kojiki The , also sometimes read as or , is an early Japanese chronicle of myths, legends, hymns, genealogies, oral traditions, and semi-historical accounts down to 641 concerning the origin of the Japanese archipelago, the , and the Japanese imperia ...
. In "Naobi no Mitama", contained in its first volume, Norinaga explains the "way of the gods", which he believes to have been found in the ancient scriptures. This was to be of great importance to the founding of Fukko Shintō, which aimed to revive traditional Japanese Shinto. Hirata Atsutane also played a major role in shaping the movement. He was inspired by Motoori Norinaga's book, and came to clarify Japan's ancient history, as well as demonstrate the legitimacy of the kōdō (imperial way) to the world. Hirata also carried out prominent research on subjects related to the spirit world, such as the realm of the dead and the soul, and put forward his own version of kokugaku, which referred to other religious groups such as the hokke sect,
Vajrayana ''Vajrayāna'' (; 'vajra vehicle'), also known as Mantrayāna ('mantra vehicle'), Guhyamantrayāna ('secret mantra vehicle'), Tantrayāna ('tantra vehicle'), Tantric Buddhism, and Esoteric Buddhism, is a Mahāyāna Buddhism, Mahāyāna Buddhis ...
,
Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...
and
Daoism Taoism or Daoism (, ) is a diverse philosophical and religious tradition indigenous to China, emphasizing harmony with the Tao ( zh, p=dào, w=tao4). With a range of meaning in Chinese philosophy, translations of Tao include 'way', 'road', ...
. His ideas would become crucial for many proponents of Ko-Shintō such as Honda Chikaatsu and Kawatsura Bonji. In the
Meiji period The was an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868, to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonizatio ...
, a number of Hirata's followers entered the government, where they encouraged the separation of Buddhism and Shinto, and the introduction of Shinto as the state religion. During the same period, Honda Chikaatsu, his disciple Nagasawa Katsutate, and
Onisaburo Deguchi , born Kisaburō Ueda 上田 喜三郎 (1871–1948) was a Japanese religious leader. Together with his mother-in-law Nao Deguchi, he was one of the two spiritual leaders of the Oomoto religious movement in Japan. While Nao Deguchi is the of ...
systematized the ancient Shinto doctrine of Ichirei Shikon (one soul four spirits), according to which the human soul is a so-called naohi (a division of an origin god), which controls four spirits: Ara-Mitama, Nigi-Mitama, Kushi-mitama, and Saki-Mitama.


See also

*
Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
*
Kokugaku was an academic movement, a school of Japanese philology and philosophy originating during the Edo period. scholars worked to refocus Japanese scholarship away from the then-dominant study of Chinese, Confucian, and Buddhist texts in favor of ...
*
Ko-Shintō refers to the animistic religion of Jōmon period Japan, which is the alleged basis of modern Shinto. The search for traces of Koshintō began with the " Restoration Shinto" in the Edo period, which goal was to remove any foreign ideas and wor ...
*
Shinrikyo refers to several independently organized Shinto groups that were excluded by Japanese law in 1882 from government-run State Shinto. Compared to mainstream Shrine Shinto, which focuses primarily on rituals, these independent groups have a more de ...
*
Shinto , also called Shintoism, is a religion originating in Japan. Classified as an East Asian religions, East Asian religion by Religious studies, scholars of religion, it is often regarded by its practitioners as Japan's indigenous religion and as ...


References

{{State Shinto Kokugaku Pages with unreviewed translations