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The Japanese New Religion Oomoto UNIVERSITÉ DU QUÉBEC À MONTRÉAL THE JAPANESE NEW RELIGION OOMOTO: RECONCILIATION OF NATNIST AND INTERNATIONALIST TRENDS THE SIS SUBMITTED AS PARTIAL REQUIREMENT FOR THE MASTERS OF ARTS IN RELIGIOUS STUDIES JOEL AMIS APRIL 2015 UNIVERSITÉ DU QUÉBEC À MONTRÉAL Service des bibliothèques Avertissement La diffusion de ce mémoire se fait dans le respect des droits de son auteur, qui a signé le formulaire Autorisation de reproduire et de diffuser un travail de recherche de cycles supérieurs (SDU-522 - Rév.01-2006) . Cette autorisation stipule que «conformément à l'article 11 du Règlement no 8 des études de cycles supérieurs, [l 'auteur] concède à l'Université du Québec à Montréal une licence non exclusive d'utilisation et de publication de la totalité ou d'une partie importante de [son] travail de recherche pour des fins pédagogiques et non commerciales. Plus précisément, [l 'auteur] autorise l'Université du Québec à Montréal à reproduire , diffuser, prêter, distribuer ou vendre des copies de [son] travail de recherche à des fins non commerciales sur quelque support que ce soit, y compris l'Internet. Cette licence et cette autorisation n'entraînent pas une renonciation de [la] part [de l'auteur] à [ses] droits moraux ni à [ses] droits de propriété intellectuelle. Sauf entente contraire, [l 'auteur] conserve la liberté de diffuser et de commercialiser ou non ce travail dont [il] possède un exemplaire. " UNIVERSITÉ DU QUÉBEC À MONTRÉAL LA NOUVELLE RELIGION JAPONAISE OOMOTO: RÉCONCILIATION DES COURANTS NATIVISTES ET INTERNATIONALISTES MÉMOIRE PRÉSENTÉE COMME EXIGENCE PARTIELLE DE LA MAÎTRISE EN SCIENCES DES RELIGIONS JOEL AMIS AVRIL 2015 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First of all, I would like to thank the Oomoto organization rn general and the International Department ofüomoto in particular for graciously hosting us in Kameoka and other Oomoto centers and for all their eff01is to facilitate my research. I would especially like to thank Okuwaki Toshiomi of the International Department for all his assistance with language interpretation, logistics and various other aspects of my field study. In addition, I would like to express my appreciation to all my interview subjects for their willingness to pariicipate in the study, to all others at Oomoto who assisted me in any way with the study, and to ali Oomoto staff, volunteers and members whom we encountered over the course of the study- thanks to their hospitality, generosity and eagerness to help, this field study was not only deeply educational experience, but also a very memorable one. I would also like to thank my research director, Mathieu Boisveti, who was always readily available to address my questions and concerns, and who guided me through this process with helpful advice and constructive criticism. Last, but not !east, I would like to express my gratitude to my wife Yevgeniya Amis, who steadfastly supported me throughout my research, offered fresh insights and perspectives during our many conversations about my research abject, and assisted with various practical aspects of the field research in J apan. CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .. ... .. ................. ... ...... ... .. .. ... ... ........... ...... .. ... .. .... .. .. ................. .. ....... 2 RÉSUMÉ .. ... .. .... ........ .... ..... ... .... .................. .... .......... .................................. .... .... .... .... .. .. ..... .. .. 5 INTRODUCTION ........ .. .... ... .... .... .. .... ...... .. ..... .... .................... .. .... .. .. ... ...... .. ..... .. ... .... ... ... ...... 6 CHAPTERI PRESENTATION OF OOMOTO .... .... ................... .................... .. .......... ............................... 10 1.1 Oomoto in scholarly li terature ........................................................ .. ........................ .. .. 10 1.2 His tory of Oomoto ......................... .. .. .. ...... .. ...... .. .... ................... ..................... .. .......... 13 1.2.1 Founding petiod (1892-191 8) .............. .. ...... .. .... ..... .. ........................................... .. 13 1.2.2 Expansion and internationalism (1918-1 948) ..................................................... ... 22 1.2.3 Rebirth and stability (1948-present) ........ ............................................................... 27 1. 3 Scriptures, theo!ogy, titual, and organization .. .......... .. ................................................. 29 1.3. 1 Scriptures .. ................................................. ................................. .... ..... .................. 29 1.3.2 Theology ............................................. .... ........ .. ..................... ..... ..... ...................... 33 1.3.3 Ritual and ceremonies .................................................................................. .......... 35 1.3.4 Organization and structure ............................... .............. .. ...................................... 40 1.4 Religious classification of Oomoto .. ............................................................................. 42 1.4.1 Oomoto as a Japanese new religion ....................................................................... 42 1.4.2 Oomoto as a Shinto sect.. ............................................................ .. ...... .. ................. 44 CHAPTERII THEORY AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS .................. .. ................. .. ......................... .. ........ 46 2.1 Nativist and internationalist elements in Oomoto ......................................................... 46 2.1.1 Definitions ................... ............................. ... .......... ... .... ... ............ .. .................... .. ... 46 2.1.2 Nativist elements .... ........................................ ................................. ..................... .. 48 2.1.3 Intemationalist elements ....................... .. .............................. .. ............ ............. .. .... 55 2.2 Key concepts .... ..... ... ......... .. .. .. .......................... ............................................................ 64 2.2.1 Oomoto as mode! ...................................................... .. ........................................... 64 2.2.2 The doctrine of Izu-Mizu ..................................... ....... ........................................... 67 ----~~--- 2.3 Research questi ons and hypothesis ...... .. ...... .... .. ..................... .. .. .... ................. .. ........... 69 2.3.1 Research questions ....................... .... ............... .. ....... .......................... ...... .............. 69 2.3.2 Hypothesis ... ... ... ... ...... .... ...... .... ... ..... .. ..... .............. .................... ..... ..... ..... ..... .. ...... 70 2.4 Pe1iinence ..................... ..... .. ... ... .. .... ... .... .... ... ... ... .. .. ... .......... ... .............. .. ... ... ..... ... ...... .. 71 CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY AND FIELD EXPERIENCE .......................... .. .. .. .. .. .... .... ............ .......... 74 3.1 Overview and venue ........... ...... .... .. .. ...... .. .... .... .. .... .. .. .. ... .. ..... ......... .. ... ... ...... ............... 74 3.2 Ethical considerations .................... ... ...... .. .... ... .... .... ... .. ...................... .. ........................ 76 3.3 Archivai research ............................ .. .............. ... ... ........ .. .. ....... ................................ ..... 77 3.4 Interviews ...... ... .. ........ .. .. .. ................ .... ....... .... ..... ...... ............ .... .... ... .... .... ................... 79 3.5 Participant observation .. .. ... ... ......... ................ ... .. ........................................... .......... ..... 82 3.6 Summary of field experience .. ... .... .. ............ .... ..... .... .................... .. .. ....... ...... ...... .. .... ... 84 CHAPTERIV DISCUSSION OF RESUL TS ................................................................................................. 89 4.1 Role of Esperanto .. .. ......................................................................... .. .. .... .. ................... 89 4.2 Role ofinterfaith activity .................................. .................... ........................................ 93 4.3 Role of Japanese language, culture, Shinto ri tuai and Japanese people/nation .. .... ....... 96 4.4 Role of proselytism, Oomoto in non-Japanese context, and Oomoto as a uni versai religion ............... ... ....... .. .. ...... .................................. .. ....................................................... 102 4.5 Role of duality and the doctrine oflzu-Mizu ................................... .. ............ .. .... .. ..... 110 CONCLUSION ... ... .... .. ..... .... ..... ...... .... .. .. ....... ... .. ..... ...... ..... ... .... .. .................. .... ...... ... ......... 114 APPENDIXA INTERVIEW GUIDE ....................... .. .. .. .. ........ .. ...... ....... ....... .. .. .... .... .................................. 120 APPENDIX B INTERVIEW SUBJECTS ..... ............... .... .... ................. ..... ...... .. .... .... ....... ... .... ................. .. 125 APPENDIX C SELECTED PHOTOS .................. ............................. ..... .... ....... .. .... ... .. .. ..................... .. ....... 127 BIBLIOGRAPHY ................. .. ... .. ... .... .... ..... ...... .... .. ............................. .... ........ .... ................ 136 ABSTRACT Founded in 1892 following
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