4-2

National Structure, The Imperial Family, The Grand Shrine at Ise, and Shinto

The oldest extant history book on Japan is the Kojiki. It is a collection of myths, old songs and orally transmitted history, compiled on the orders of Emperor Temmu in 712 AD. It begins with the mythological creation of heaven and earth and the births of the deities, the story of the descent from heaven to earth of the ancestors of the Emperor, who then governed the land, and the story of all the emperors from the deities to the end of the seventh century. In imitation of Chinese historical records it lists different records on the same topic in chronological order but is in a more record-like epic style probably better compared with Homer's Odessy, especially when compared with the Nihon Shoki which is just a book of records, and was compiled in order to establish the authority of the Imperial family which founded the ancient centralized state in the middle of the seventh century. It also clarified the geneo logies of historical persons and gave significance to the tradi tions of the state. On the other hand these are also Shinto classics. They tell the mythological stories of most of the deities and the origins of some of the shrines, and most inter esting for Shinto how the Imperial Family and the ancestors of the Emperor came to rule over Japan. This is called "Chokoku no Shinwa" (myths concerning the founding of the nation). The land which is Japan and many other deities were produced by the two deities, the male Izanagi and female Izanami, the three most noble of which were an elder sister called Amaterasu Omikami and two younger brothers called respectively Tsukiyomi no Mikoto and Susanoo no Mikoto. Amaterasu Omikami ruled over the country of heaven, called Takama ga Hara, andf became known as the deity of the sun. Amaterasu gave a divne order to Ninigi no Mikoto to descend to earth and to subjugate and rule over the country of Japan. The grandson of this Ninigi no Mikoto was the first Emperor, Jimmu (Tenno). There were several divine orders given at that time, the most famous being the following three:- First, "The Earth is the land where my descendants shall become Kings. Go, though, My Dear Grandson, and rule! The throne of the Emperor will be prosperous forever". Second, "My Dear Grandson, I give you now a treasure, a mirror. Look upon it as though you were looking upon me. Place it wher ever you may happen to be in the house and worship it always." Third, "I am giving you children some of the rice which is grown and eaten in the garden of Takama ga Hara."

The first divine order shows that the throne of the Emperor of Japan is guaranteed by the deities forever. The second shows that the three Imperial Treasures (a sword, jewel and mirror) were given to the ancestors of the Emperor by the deities and without them there can be no succession. The third shows that rice is grown on earth as the result of an order from the deities through the Emperor and should always be offered to them as part of a ceremoney. It is clear that from these divine orders we get the form of the state which is called "Kokutai" (The structure of the State). This national structure is based on the precept that the imperial family, and the Emperor as head of it, bear the prime responsibilty for Japanese politics and religious ceremon ies and that they are the centre of the nation and of the people. Ceremonial rights and political supremacy both belong to the Emperor and are inseparable. This is what we call "Kokutai". The Emperor was placed in charge of politics on the orders of the deities who were his ancestors, but the people must worship the deities just as the Emperor does and pray that his reign will be eternal. The Emperor exists for the people without limit and is regarded as a living god. A characteristic of "Kokutai" is that belief and politics coexist and the lord and his people are one body.

A state built on this kind of Kokutai-theory and a system whereby the Emperor is the origin of all political and ceremonial power existed in ancient times but from the 9th century onwards the Emperor became merely a figurehead and in the 12th century power passed to the samurai with whom it resided until the Meiji Restoration and the formation of the modern state in the 19th century. But even during the one thousand years that the power of the Emperor was a mere formality, there was still a tradition that the origin of the government and the state lay with the Emperor, hence the formal procedure when a new Shogun was appoin ted by the Emperor, even though the Shogun, as the leader of the samurai (warriors), held supreme power and the Emperor headed the state in name only. The Imperial Family has existed and held ceremonies for the deities without a break since the foundation of the state. For this reason the Imperial Family is described as "Bansei-ikkei" (one line through all generations).

Now let us talk about the absolutist imperial state, the Kokutai, which was actually created with the advent of the Meiji Period. A theory advocating the restoration of imperial rule was touted towards the end the rule of the "Bakufu" (government by the samurai, also called Bakuhan system),the result of a revival of interest in the Japanese classics and a deeper study of Confu cianism, from which sprang an ideology which maintained that the traditional authority of the emperor should be restored to create a centralized modern state that would replace the decentralized Bakuhan system. The Emperor was given back his divine character and politics and religious ceremonies were again centralized.

The Meiji government emphasized a return to the ancient pat tern and even gave the Ministry of Shrine Affairs a higher rank than that of the rest of the Cabinet, and gave him responsibility in both the affairs of the shrine and in politics. However it soon became obvious that in a modern state politics was more important than religious ceremonies and the aministrative system was rearranged, with the result that the Ministry of Shrine Affairs was abolished and ten years later, after a few more changes, a Shrine and Temple Bureau was established in the Ministry of Home Affairs. Subsequently the Bureau of Religious Affairs was separated from the Shrine Bureau, which showed that theocracy was important ideologically but was not treated equally in the political structure of the country. All the shrines in Japan were reorganized and placed under government control with the state religion, Shinto, being treated differently from all the other religions. The shrines became intitutions whose main job was to perform traditional ceremonies and to pray for the prosperity and happiness of the Imperial Family and the whole nation. The Grand Shrine at Ise was required to concentrate on ceremonies as its main duty and to refrain from preaching.

With the idea of setting up a constitutional monarchy the Meiji government promulgated a constitution and established a cabinet but in actual fact the Emperor had control over the army and many other powers including the right to appoint the members of the cabinet. The cabinet had no responsibility to the general assembly, only to the Emperor, who was advised by a group of elder statesmen with special rights not prescribed in the Constitution. It was they who nominated the Chancellor and made all the important political decisions. Such a system was far from democratic and did not work well even as a parliamentary system. An Imperial Rescript on Education was enacted and made the basis of education in all schools. This rescript consisted of three elements, the concept of a one family nation, Confucian ist morals and the Kokutai theory. In other words the purpose of the rescript was to promote an understanding of the Kokutai (national structure) through education, to improve the moral fibre of the people and foster their loyalty towards the Emperor.

In the 1930's, when Japan was trying to recover from the Great Depression, extremes in the ideology of the Imperial state des cribed above and a right wing uprising helped the growth of a flagrant fascism and led to the military advance into the Chinese continent. After the defeat of Japan in World War ll the consti tution was revised and made more democratic, and the Emperor's role became purely symbolic. That constitution, which is still law today, was promulgated under the guidance of the American Army of Occupation and is extremely democratic. It is based on the three themes of the sovereignty of the people, respect for human rights, and pacificsm. Political power lies with the people, not the Emperor, who is only a symbol. The Emperor presides over national events but religious ceremonies are left to the individual to perform, the Emperor only supervising the private ceremonies connected with the Imperial family. National events include the convocation of the Diet, the swearing in of the Prime Minister and the Cabinet, and receptions for foreign diplomats, etc.

In a sense, then, the position of the Emperor has reverted to what it was before the Meiji Restoration. However in the sym bolic Imperial system there is no national structure based on the union of religion and politics. Originally the relgious ceremonies in which the Emperor officiated had the character of being prayers for the benefit of the nation and the people and had been inherited from Imperial ancestors, they were not private matters restricted to the Imperial family. For this reason people who still believe in the Kokutai theory want to change the form of the existing constitution so that the Emperor can once again function in a political and religious role. This feeling holds sway in present day Shinto circles. But the shrine system has changed drastically since the end of the war. The eighty odd thousand shrines have now been separated from the state. Some of them have become independant and others have established a "Jinja Honcho" (Head Office of Shrines) to which they belong as a kind of religious corporation.

To summarize what has been said above it might be a good idea to clarify the relationship between the National Structure, the Tenno (Emperor) system and democracy. Primarily it must be said that western ideas of democracy and Kokutai don't match and therefore some people think that a Japanese form of democracy is necessary for Japan. But if democracy means that politcal power must reside with the people then it can't exist side by side with Kukutai. Of course there are two kinds of Emperor system, one in which the Emperor has politcial power and one in which he is just a figurehead and has only nominal authority. The first is part of the Kokutai (National Structure), the second can be part of a democracy. The latter is the present Tenno system and can be said to be proper for today. But taking into account the fact that Shinto, which is the religious tradition representative of Japan, is expressed in religious ceremonies performed by the Emperor there should be a more positive approach to the protection and preservation of the Imperial role in religious ceremonies.

Finally let us discuss the Ise Jingu (the Grand Shrine at Ise), dedicated to the worship of Amaterasu Omikami, the ancestor deity of the Emperor. The Jingu refers to a group of about one hundred and twenty shrines of all sizes, located in the city of Ise, in Mie Prefecture in Central Japan. The centre of the group is the "Kotai Jingu" (Imperial Great Shrine) dedicated to two deities, one of them Amaterasu Omikami. According to legend, the Kotai Jingu was founded when the daughter of the Emperor of the time, 4 BC, by divine order moved the mirror there. The mirror is the symbol of succession to the throne. Also at the centre is another shrine called "Toyouke Kotai Jingu", dedicated to three deities including Toyouke Omikami who prepared food for Amaterasu Omikami. Since the Ise Jingu is the "Ujigami" (clan deity) shrine of the Imperial family in the past only members of the Imperial Family worshipped here. But from the 12th century onwards, thanks to the activity of the "onshi" (a kind of prayer reader), the general public came to worship at Ise. In the Meiji Period the position of onshi was abolished but the Ise Jingu, as the main shrine in Japan.