The Theory of "Dai-Nippon-koku"(<Special Issue>The "Inside" and the "Outside" of Medieval Japan)

Abstract

The esoteric theory on the origin of Buddhism, generally known as "Dai-Nipponkoku-setu," located the birthplace of Dainichi-Nyorai, a great Buddhist god, in Japan and celebrated the country as the center of the religion. Of course, it was an unfounded dogma based on an inversion of the Buddhist assumption that the religion originated in India and later reached Japan. All pieces of evidence it had to prove its truthfulness were such symbolic props as old documents, the map of ancient Japan, and religious tools. The aim of this essay is to interpret those mysterious symbols and discuss the theory's contribution to medieval nationalism.