Mainstream Shinto is based around the emperor system. In Japan, An Attempt at Interpretation (1904) Lafcadio Hearn wrote of its central role in unifying the nation, and from recent events surrounding the accession of Emperor Naruhito it is evident that … Read the rest
Category: Nationalism (Page 2 of 8)
The new edition of the Asia-Pacific Journal contains an overview of the recent books about the influential rightwing group, Nippon Kaigi, which Green Shinto has written about previously because of its close involvement with official circles in Jinja Honcho (Association … Read the rest
The following piece draws on an academic article by Caleb Carter in Japanese Journal of Religious Studies Vol 45, no. 1, p.145-73
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In recent years the boom in power spots has seen an increase in visitors to shrines, motivated … Read the rest
For a poetry project I’m involved with, I happened to take a look at developments in the Muromachi Era (1333-1573) the other day. As a preliminary step I turned to Wikipedia and was surprised to find a small section on … Read the rest
On this day (November 13) in 1894, Lafcadio Hearn published an editorial for the Kobe Shimbun. He’d taken a job there as a journalist following his unhappy spell teaching in Kumamoto. The editorial provides an interesting insight into his … Read the rest
There are moves in certain ruling circles to reintroduce the Imperial Rescript on Education of 1890, which became one of the pillars of State Shinto before the war. It’s a complex issue, and Green Shinto friend Shaun O’Dwyer recently wrote … Read the rest
Japan Today carries a worrying article about an elementary school linked to the ultra-right with a curriculum that harks back to prewar militarism. Why worrying? Because it concerns what has been called the ‘first Shinto elementary school’. Unfortunately it has … Read the rest