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Hanryo shinto: regional Shinto reforms in early modern Japan

Hanryo shinto: regional Shinto reforms in early modern Japan

Bernhard Scheid (ORCID: 0000-0002-5737-0948)
  • Grant DOI 10.55776/P33097
  • Funding program Principal Investigator Projects
  • Status ended
  • Start April 12, 2020
  • End May 11, 2024
  • Funding amount € 399,466
  • dc

Disciplines

Philosophy, Ethics, Religion (20%); Sociology (20%); Linguistics and Literature (60%)

Keywords

    Buddhism, Shinto, Control, Reform, Politics, Religion

Abstract Final report

This project deals with religious reforms in two domains of Tokugawa Japan (16001867), Okayama and Mito, which were initiated almost simultaneously in 1666. In both cases, the reforms had a tremendous impact on the local religious landscapes. The number of Buddhist temples was reduced by more than 50%, and Shinto shrines, many of which had been administered by Buddhist monks, were separated from Buddhist institutions. Similar reforms occurred in a few other domains as well, but Okayama and Mito witnessed the most radical transformations. We propose a new technical term in order to describe these reforms: hanryo shinto or Domain Shinto. The term is particularly useful for drawing a clear distinction between regional Shinto politics and the official Shinto cult of the ruling Tokugawa dynasty, which was supervised by Buddhist institutions. The main research consists of two independent case studies and their comparison. The study on Okayama will contain a detailed analysis of the religious reforms from the perspective of the local ruler and his administrative staff. The case study of Mito, on the other hand, will focus on a particular village and takes a more ethnographical approach, analyzing hanryo shinto from a grassroots perspective. Studies in Western languages have dealt with the reforms in question only in passing. Research in Japan has gone into more depth, but even Japanese authors tend to ignore the significance of these phenomena in the long-term history of Shinto. The project aims to close this gap by relating local history to larger religious transformations. According to our understanding, this approach is of utmost relevance, since hanryo shinto contains the roots of the Shinto politics that came to the fore on a nationwide level at the beginning of the Meiji era in 1868. Principal researchers involved: Dr. Bernhard Scheid (direction), Dr. Stefan Köck (research on Okayama), Brigitte Pickl-Kolaczia, MA (research on Mito).

This research project focused on the religious reforms in Mito and Okayama, two daimys of Tokugawa-period Japan (1600-1867). The research group developed the concept of Domain-Shint (hanry shint), which regards these two regions as prime examples of a specific policy that, among other things, led to the revaluation of local Shint shrines. While the most lasting reforms are limited to the later 17th century, hanry shint contains the seeds of a Shint-focused religious policy that was implemented nationwide in the 19th century and particularly in the Meiji period (1868-1912). The regions studied are therefore of the utmost relevance for the entire history of early modern Shint. As part of the project work, a thematic section in the peer-reviewed Japan Review was prepared with a total of five articles on Domain Shinto and published in 2024. In addition, two monographs were prepared, including a dissertation completed in 2025.

Research institution(s)
  • Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften - 100%
International project participants
  • Yachie Yamaguchi, Ibaraki Prefectural Archives and Museum - Japan
  • Inoue Tomokatsu, Saitama University - Japan
  • Hiroki Tanaka, University of Okayama - Japan
  • Gerald Groemer, University of Yamanashi - Japan
  • Marcus Teeuwen, University of Oslo - Norway

Research Output

  • 11 Publications

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