This is part 23 of my series on Shinto as a civil religion, you can find the rest of the series here.
Tokutomi Soho was not the only figure to use the media as a tool for spreading civil religion. On May 26, 1940, the national newspaper Yomiuri Shinbun published an article titled A Policy for the Unification of the National Faith. While the author of the article remains unknown, its message focused on harmonizing religious practices across Japan, tying them to the emperor and the state.
The article emphasized that, despite the diversity of kami (Shinto deities) worshiped at various shrines, all shrines were part of the national faith. It argued that worshiping at these shrines with pure intentions and thoughts of how the kami support the empire and the divine emperor renders the differences between the deities irrelevant. The article states:
“And if, again, when we worship before the shrines dedicated to the manifestations of the natural world such as mountains, rivers, animals, and plants, we bear in mind that these various manifestations offer up their manifold power and thereby sustain the imperial destiny, then in the same way, mediated through these shrines, we worship the will of the Emperor.”
This message underscores the idea that as long as worship is tied to the emperor and the nation, it becomes part of the broader national faith, regardless of which kami is being venerated. By creating this association between worship and the state, the article reinforces the civil religion that had been developing in Japan.
Bottom-Up Manifestation of Civil Religion
This article illustrates a shift in the spread of civil religion. It is no longer solely promoted by the government (top-down), but also through the participation of the populace (bottom-up). The media becomes a bridge, connecting citizens’ religious practices with national ideology and reinforcing the link between faith, the emperor, and the state.
By framing all forms of Shinto worship as inherently supportive of the imperial system, the article fosters a sense of unity under a single national faith, even amid religious diversity. This approach not only strengthens the emperor’s authority but also mobilizes the population to see their everyday spiritual practices as contributing to the state’s divine mission.
This concept of citizen-driven civil religion becomes even more apparent in the next section.
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Sources
Theodore De Bary, William(ed.). Sources of Japanese Tradition: Volume Two 1600-2000. Colombia University Press: New York, 2005. Print. Pp. 1146.
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