야스쿠니의 신화: 현대일본의 종교와 정치

Abstract

Yasukuni Shrine(靖國神社) has historically close relationships with both the formation of “Emperor System”(天皇制) and the system of State Shinto(國家神道) in modern Japan and especially in the era of militarism. The purpose of this article is to examine the fundamental nature of so-called “Yasukuni Isse”(靖國問題), which has been historically originated from the birth and development of Yasukuni Shrine. Furthermore, my analysis also explore the main issues about the relations between religion and politics in contemporary Japanese society concerning the “Yasukuni Isse”. A careful examination of those issues will reveal that the existence of Yasukuni Shrine itself might mean a kind of new myth to the contemporary Japanese people.

In this respect, I will put a special emphasis on the religious aspects which are related to “Yasukuni Isse”. For example, folk religious notions such as human-god belief(人神信仰), ancestor worship(祖靈信仰), and Goryo-belief(御靈信仰) will be suggested as important bases of Yasukuni belief, which has been being operated upon almost every side of modern Japanese history. In addition to this, I will investigate the possible link between State Shinto and Yasukuni Shrine from the perspective of religious aspect. These arguments presuppose the assumption that such issues as the nationalization of Yasukuni Shrine, Prime Minister‘s paying homage at Yasukuni Shrine, separation of war criminals from Yasukuni Shrine, the building of a new national mourning establishment, cannot be properly considered without taking a good look at Japanese religious ideas.