State Shinto in Micronesia During Japanese Rule, 1914-1945

Shuster, Donald R (1982). "State Shinto in Micronesia During Japanese Rule, 1914-1945". Pacific Studies. 6 (1): 20–31. ISSN 0275-3596.

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Abstract: The establishment of State Shinto in Japan’s Pacific island mandate derives from the Meiji Government’s (1868-1912) adoption of a secular worship that upheld the ideals of national unity and superiority. State Shinto can be dated from the promulgation of the Imperial Rescript on Education of 1890 to its disestablishment in 1945 under American occupation. During this brief half century, State Shinto helped perpetuate the notions of “a noble past rich in great traditions, a superior racial stock destined to endure as an eternal national family, and a matchless state headed by an unbroken, inviolable, divinely descended imperial dynasty.”1 Japanese historians have reconstructed the stages by which the ancient indigenous stream of Shinto myths and practices, long coexisting with Buddhist and Confucian beliefs, were elevated by Japan’s Meiji leaders in their efforts to build a “theocratic state based on the supra-religious cult of Shinto.”2 This enterprise was not entirely successful and required numerous compromises during the late nineteenth century. Because of the difficulty the Meiji government experienced in controlling the various long extant sects of Shinto, in 1882 two broad categories were established: State (Kokka) Shinto and Sect (Shuha) Shinto.3