Orient
Online ISSN : 1884-1392
Print ISSN : 0473-3851
ISSN-L : 0473-3851
SPECIAL ISSUE: Sufis and Saints Facing the Government and the Public
Shintoism and Islam in Interwar Japan
How did the Japanese Come to Believe in Islam?
Nobuo MISAWA
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ジャーナル フリー

2011 年 46 巻 p. 119-139

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抄録

In previous studies on the Japanese ideology of Pan-Asianism towards the Muslims in the interwar and World War II period, all Japanese Muslims were said to be “bogus Muslims”, who converted to Islam with the intention to utilize the Muslims for the Japanese interests. The Japanese Government committed to provide such “bogus Muslims” among the Japanese people. In reality, a number of Japanese military agents became Muslims in order to promote such an ideology among the Muslims in the East and Southeast Asia. However, quite a few aforesaid Japanese intellectuals and activists became Muslims by their own will. When we consider the history of Japanese Muslims, it is required to clarify how they came to believe in Islam, especially their comprehension of harmony between Shintoism and Islam.
 Among such unique Japanese Muslims in the interwar period, Nur Muhammad Ippei TANAKA (1882–1934) and Ahmad Bunpachirô ARIGA (1868–1946) provide us the details of their comprehension about Islam and the unique ways they used in order to syncretize Shintoism and Islam. TANAKA learned the Chinese language and Confucianism. When the Russo-Japanese War broke out in 1904, he went to China as the interpreter of the Army and stayed in China to study Confucianism as a private scholar after the war. In this career, he was interested in the Chinese Kai-ju or Hui-ru, which literally means “Islamic Confucianism.” Finally, he converted to Islam in China in 1924. He found similarities between Shintoism and Islam, and the possibility of syncretizing Shintoism and Islam occurred to him. His idea was not realized due to his sudden death after his second pilgrim to Mecca in 1934. ARIGA converted to Islam in the year 1932 after his retirement as a businessman. He was extremely enthusiastic about the missionary actions of “Japanese Islam,” which depended on the syncretism of Shintoism and Islam, different from TANAKA’s idea. He was not religious but nationalist. Therefore, his idea was the result of the syncretism of Pan-Asianism and Islam.
 We must excavate unique, forgotten Japanese Muslims such as TANAKA and ARIGA in order to understand Interwar Japanese Muslims.

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© 2011 The Society for Near Eastern Studies in Japan
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