This is part 30 of my series on Shinto as a civil religion, you can find the rest of the series here. After Japan’s defeat in World War II, the Allied forces occupied the country. One of their first actions was to have the Japanese emperor renounce his divine status in a speech to the… Continue reading

This is part 29 of my series on Shinto as a civil religion, you can find the rest of the series here. Kokutai no Hongi was an influential text widely read and known throughout Japan. It was used in education and emphasized that individualism had no place in the Japanese social ethos. Instead, the Japanese… Continue reading

This is part 28 of my series on Shinto as a civil religion, you can find the rest of the series here. Kokutai no Hongi emphasizes the historical presence of harmony in Japanese society, portraying it as the foundation of the nation’s development and achievements. According to the text, this harmony is absent in countries… Continue reading

This is part 27 of my series on Shinto as a civil religion, you can find the rest of the series here. In Kokutai no Hongi, loyalty to the emperor is presented as the fundamental purpose of life for Japanese citizens. This loyalty is tied to the emperor’s divine lineage and Japan’s historical identity. The… Continue reading

This is part 26 of my series on Shinto as a civil religion, you can find the rest of the series here. In 1937, the Japanese Ministry of Education published Kokutai no Hongi (The Fundamentals of Our National Polity). Initially printed in 300,000 copies, the text sold over 2 million copies by 1945. Its primary… Continue reading

This is part 25 of my series on Shinto as a civil religion, you can find the rest of the series here. With the Ise Reformation in 1868, a ranking system for Shinto shrines was established. Among the ranks was the designation of “Special Shrine,” reserved for honoring historical loyalists to the emperor and soldiers… Continue reading

This is part 24 of my series on Shinto as a civil religion, you can find the rest of the series here. Religious Freedom Religious freedom was introduced in Japan with the Meiji Constitution in 1889, guaranteed under Article 28, which states: “Japanese subjects shall, within limits not prejudicial to peace and order, and not… Continue reading

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… Continue reading

This is part 22 of my series on Shinto as a civil religion, you can find the rest of the series here. After World War II, Tokutomi Soho was arrested as a Class-A war criminal for his role in promoting support for the war. Although he spent two years under house arrest, he was ultimately… Continue reading

This is part 21 of my series on Shinto as a civil religion, you can find the rest of the series here. After the Mukden Incident and the onset of the Second Sino-Japanese War, the League of Nations deemed Japan’s actions in China a “threat to peace” under Article 11. In 1932, a commission concluded… Continue reading