Some notes for the reading "Nationalism in New Japanese Religions" by Catherine Cornille.

  1. First of all, some background on “new religious movements” in Japan:
    1. New religious movements (NRM’s) are found all over the world; in Japan they are very energetic and fascinating, perhaps the most dynamic and visible of all religious practice. They certainly seem to eclipse the traditional Buddhist denominations such as Zen and Shin. The movement we saw in the film, The Yamaguchi Story, was one such new movement. The Nipponzan Myohoji, founders of the Peace Pagoda, is another. Read this short article for background: “Japanese New Religions” from the Encyclopedia of Religion
    2. What other religious movements mentioned in the article have you encountered in your readings?
    3. Note the importance of traditional values in many of the Japanese NRM’s; this is closely related to a sense of nostalgia that is also widespread in Japan, leading to an enchantment with the “traditional,” which, much like the “traditional family values” often raised by religious and political folks here in the US, is more often than not an “imagined” or “constructed” tradition.
  2. Nationalism and internationalism as a response to the late nineteenth century situation. 229
  3. Emphasis on “this-worldly and universally desirable goals such as health, wealth, harmony, and world peace” as well as traditional values of sincerity and harmony. 229
  4. Yet many make use of the Shinto account of the origins of the world to place Japan at the origin, both chronologically as well as geographically. 230
    1. Remember the role of the Sun Goddess (Amaterasu no O-omikami) in origin myths and the story of female shamanic rulers in Chinese accounts of Japan? Note the woman foundress of Tenrikyo (Miki Nakayama) and also, although Cornille only mentions the male “co-founder” of Omoto (Onisaburo Deguchi), the real founder was Deguchi Nao, a peasant woman who adopted Onesaburo as her son-in-law.
    2. The emphasis on a “return to wholeness” often puts Japan, as the origin of the world, at the center. Note that many of the religions consider their main temple to be the “spiritual home” of their followers, and so when you enter the gates you are greeted with お帰りなさい, or “Welcome Home.” Go to the Tenrikyo home page to see what they have to say about this (to read it in other languages go to the Tenrikyo main page. Note also the combination of “here is the world center” and the internationalism of having the Welcome Home message in numerous foreign languages. 232-34.
    3. Note also the “internationalization” of the origin myths, appropriating elements of the lost continent of Atlantis as well as the lost tribes of Israel. A book on Japanese ethnicity written some time ago compared Japanese and Jewish identity: read the selection “Unique and Exclusive” by Isaiah Ben-Dasan from The Japanese and the Jews.
  5. In addition to Japan as the origin or source, there is also the idea of Japan as the culmination or high point (235)—not unlike Euro and US theories of the evolution of religion or spirituality that, influenced by a variety of theories characteristic of modernity, esp., of course, evolution of a biological species transferred to history, humankind, religiosity, etc., put Christianity at the teleological end or highpoint. Japan as the highpoint is somewhat characteristic of traditional Buddhist denominations and scholars in Japan as well.
    1. Here we see the typical theme of “Materialist and rational West vs. Spiritual and intuitive East.”
    2. The notion of Japan as cradle or culmination naturally leads to a missionary impulse—this is new for the Shinto-based religions.
  6. Superiority or sacred nature of language and culture—Japanese language does not translate (237); compare the notion of Sanskrit as a sacred language or the Koran as untranslatable. Compare also the notion of D. T. Suzuki (quoted in Sharf, “Zen and Japanese Nationalism, p. 26) that “Japanese life itself is ‘Zen-like.’”
    1. So too is the unique Japanese expression of beauty (237); compare Oe’s critique of Kawabata’s Nobel prize speech.
  7. In the end the author discusses Japanese nationalism in the context of “religious nationalism” and the rejection of “Westoxification.” What do you think, especially in light of similar rhetoric deployed by Islamic fundamentalists in recent weeks?
  8. Finally, we can think of the nationalism/internationalism developments in terms of the Japanese reaction or response to changing situations: first of all, the challenge of the West and internal ruptures surrounding the Meiji Restoration; more recently, though, the challenge presented by “Japan as No. 1” (the title of a book by a Harvard professor of economics) is also important, that is, the need or desire or impulse to redefine an unequal cultural status or identity in times of Japanese economic and cultural prosperity.