The Evolution of Sectarian Shinto through the Lens of Kurozumikyō Discourse of Self-Definition in the Meiji Period

Abstract

In this paper, I analyze the transition of Sectarian Shinto in the Meiji period as it emerged from the Kurozumikyō discourse of self-definition. This analysis is based on a reading of historical documents in light of the social position of Kurozumikyō at that time. The self-definition of “Shinto” as a “sect” in the early-to-middle Meiji period changed the statement of the “Order of Kurozumikyō,” which implied the “Order of Founder's Followers (Kyōso no michizure no kyōdan),” by the end of the Meiji period. Kurozumikyō overcame the lack of collective concepts in the Shinto tradition by introducing the word “order (kyōdan),” which was not commonly used at the time, acquiring a narrative that connoted a congregation based on its founder. This was a consequence of the “evolution” of pursuing a collective form during the external evaluation that Kurozumikyō was exposed to. Sectarian Shinto was a new form of Shinto that emerged in modern social change and was originally a policy-created office institution. The evolution of Kurozumikyō through the Meiji period reveals Sectarian Shinto transformed from a product of government into a more universal “missionary-type religious order.” This process marked a turning point in the modernization of Shinto.