Religions and Freedom of Worship in Japan

Shinto as the State Religion

In 1853, when Commodore Matthew C. Perry sailed into Tokyo Bay with his small fleet and demanded that Japan open its ports to trade, the Japanese were offended. They saw their homeland as having been founded by their supreme god, the Sun Goddess, and still connected to the will of the gods, and they considered foreigners arrogant in making demands. They wanted the foreigners driven away for the sake of Japan's honor and for the preservation of all that was dear. But the Tokugawa shogunate, aware of the recent defeat of China at the hands of the British, signed treaties with the U.S. and a host of other countries, including Great Britain, France, Holland and Russia. Books on scientific subjects and technical experts from the West were allowed to enter Japan, but books that were religious in nature were not welcomed, and the entry of Christian missionaries remained forbidden.

Commerce with the West increased, but the Tokugawa were overthrown. The shogun surrendered his prerogatives to the emperor, Emperor Meiji, and the Meiji era began. Those around the emperor who had fought for the return of power to his office renewed the emperor's ties with the religious tradition of Shinto. Buddhist rites formerly performed in the imperial household were abolished, and Shinto became the state religion.

Across centuries, Shinto had fused with Buddhist worship, with Shinto shrines common on Buddhist temple grounds and Shinto appearing subordinate to Buddhism. Now, with the return of Shinto, many wanted Shinto purified by being liberated from Buddhism. 1868, combining Buddhism with Shintoism was outlawed. Buddhist priests were prohibited from serving at shrines unless they became Shinto priests, which many did. Buddhism was association with discredited Tokugawa rule, and Buddhist temples were ransacked and destroyed. Buddhist temple lands were confiscated. Within a decade nearly 18,000 Buddhist temples were closed. A network of Shinto shrines spread through the country. Resisting government plans to abolish or merge their temples, Buddhists aroused themselves from their serene disposition and rioted.

In response, around 10,000 Buddhists traded their serenity for violent protest. Government pushed harder and executed 27 Buddhist monks and several others.

Meanwhile a friendship and trade treaty had been signed with France, and a few French Catholic priests were allowed into the country. A Catholic church was established in Yokohama. The church was visited by fifteen underground Christians from the village of Urakami, just outside Nagasaki. The Urakami Christians ended their pretense at being Buddhists, and persecutions followed. In 1870 all of the Urakami Christians, 3,384 persons, were exiled, with families broken up and distributed to various localities across Japan.

For the sake of strengthening Japan, the leaders of the military victory against the Tokugawa continued their policy of cultural and commercial relations with the West. They wanted Japan to be an equal member in the world community of nations and eligible to participate in international power politics. And Japan's upper classes were interested in things from the West: gadgets, food, clothing, music and the arts. In response, in 1873, the Meiji government lifted the prohibitions against Christians.

The Meiji government sent a mission overseas to study constitutional systems of government, and in 1889 the Meiji constitution was proclaimed. It included a guarantee of freedom of religion for the people of Japan -- freedom "within limits not prejudicial to peace and order, and not antagonistic to their duties as subjects." The Meiji government wanted no religiously oriented Taiping-like rebellion or any religious body as a source of subversion.

Christian missionaries to Japan increased, including those representing Protestantism, while growth of Christianity in Japan remained miniscule. Buddhists and Confucianists as patriotic Japanese joined state Shinto ritual, but Christianity was not a religion that lent itself well to compromise. Christianity was asking not only for the full acceptance of its own teachings but for the renunciation of all others, and this plus cultural tradition kept the growth of Christianity limited in Japan. Christians in Japan were never to be more than one percent of the population.

One did not need to officially profess belief in Shinto to be a Shintoist. It was considered a part of being Japanese. Whenever a child was born, a local Shinto shrine added the child's name to a list kept at the shrine. A person could in good conscience be a Buddhist, a Confucian, and a member of a Shinto sect at the same time.

Shinto satisfied those who believed in a spiritual force permeating the universe. There was no problem of limiting God by definition. God was eternal and ever present in a great variation of forms, including perhaps ancestors. Associating the Emperor with godliness was quite different, for example, from a U.S. politician outwardly proclaiming himself to be a god.

Shinto satisfied the need for spiritual purification and for ritual. Purification rituals were performed to placate any restive spirits, as when relocating a shrine, for example -- the ritual performed by waving a wand or harai gushi (sweeping squewer/stick) which made a rustling noise. A ritual might also be performed for good fortune or peace of mind in countering perceived misdeeds. A household Shinto shrine might include a special vase and vessel, a miniature lamp shaped like a stone, and ritually purified sake for the gods. And there was the cleansing ritual by water common throughout the world. This might be performed by standing beneath a waterfall. Also, Shinto included ritual phrases and greetings. Before eating one might show what is considered proper thankfulness by saying, "I humbly receive ... "

Shinto provided veneration for the nation's father figure, the emperor, which fortified national solidarity. This was furthered by distributing the emperor's portraits for patriotic observance at shrines