The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1908-05-02
RELIGIONS IN JAPAN
NY rnEDEnIc J. HAsK1N.

Tokyo.
The national reiigion in Japan Is the
worship Of the divine Emperor and his
|deified ancestors. This religion is the
corner stone OF the Japanese national
structure, albeit the cult may not be
recognized as religion. and although
lief. shinto. the Way Of the Gods. is
the only purely Japanese religion, and
y Is a peculiarly japanese notion that
shinto does not wish to be regarded
the ethics Of Confucius and the religion
OF Buddha, both OF which came from
China by way OF Korea. It revised both
codes TO tit It's own needs Buddhism
could not thrive in Japan until u
the million dcities of Shinto. which IL
did by the simple process of consider
Ing each one OF these deities an incar-
nation Of Buddha. Now the Christian
whole country is beng cast along the
lines of Christian nations.
Shinto, the central and vital pri:-
Iciple of which is the worship Of the
Emperor. vas made the established re-
Iligion in order to fix the minds OF the
people upon the Mikado and restore
him to the supreme power which had
been usurped by the Shosuns. Then.
when that purpose was accomplished.
shinto was dises,ablished and religious
freedom was granted. Then the gov
eminent required all religions" to be
Registered. II was then that sninto
asserted itself in the peculiar Japa-
nese fashion. Its leaders came for
ward and declared that Shinto was
not a religion. but cult. and could
not be classed with dogmatic religions.
It is the Japanese idea that snnto.
being not religion, Is entirely accep-
table to any other religion. There
fore, according to the Japanese gov
Iernmental idea. a Christian or Budd-
hist or a Mohammedan may also accept
the cult Of Shinto without inconsisten-
cy. The reason for this is as plain
as the nose on mans FACET the
Japanese people. accept Christianity ana
desert Shinto they will no longer be-
lieve in the divinity Of the Emperor.
When that belief is unsettled in the
minds Of the japanese masses the pres
ent hold OF the ruling oligarchy may
be loosened, perhaps overthrown.
The scoffer must remember that 1t
Is only yesterday that all Europe was
ruled by kings who claimed the "di-
vine right" and that two European
monarcchs of to-day make the. same
claim for their authority. The Japan
ese masses have believed In the di-
vinity of their Emperors since time
when Christ was only q prophecy and
la hope, six centuries before re appear
led in Bethlehem. Buddhism came to
Japan and finding shinto unconqucr-
able, but hospitable, permitted its yo-
Japanese mind, therefore. cannot un-
derstand the intolerance OF the Chris
tians, whose God is jealous God and
But when the Japanese rulers found
that this Intolerance of other relig-
ions was inseparable from Christian
ity,, and as they had to keep friendly
with the Christian world, they thought
by declaring that the Christians need
llgion, only cult. AS ,Shinto is based
on on ancestor worship. which still forms
not NJ n at al uncommon Y, for Japanese
with the Christian religion.
about shinto, declared that i was un-
Ithinkable that intelligent men should
regard Shnto a religion. 1T is.
merely an application of the biblical
commandment to honor thy father and
thy, mother" he said, "and its ances-
are tombstones in Christian church,
yards. The images which you call
gods are no more than statues CT
sensations of biblical scenes But
this explanation does not do away with
the fact that In whatever way Shlnto
may be manifested the liesglving
principle, of the cult is the recognition.
After the conclusion of the war with
Russia the Emperor went to the Great
Shrine of Ise, most sacred Of the $780,
900 Shinto shrines of Japan. and there
personally conducted the solemn cere-
monies uccordinr to the Shinto rite,
proclaiming to the gods, his ancestors,
the story of the victory over Russia.
This ceremony was performed at a time
when national feeling. was running at
It's highest, and its direct result was
a great revival OF Shinto activity There
can be no doubt that the Japanese
rulers, intend to perpetuate Shinto, and
Ito permit no other religion to make
much Roadway unless It accepts shinto
and incorporates It within Itself.
Surely the educated class In Japan
god?" the occidental mind win query
Europe might not have believed il
1.-the divine right Of kings, but they
usually kept their skepticism to them
selves Il they ala n. not actually i aid Is
educated When Charles I. OF Englan,S
for human right, We're there not many
educated men on the SIDE OF Charles;
an eminent Japanese statesman who
Is of the faith, 1is not regarded as
religion, but II 1t BIO q religion i
Ills certainly OF a unique kind, It has
no founder. nor has II any d1gmas, y
has grown up with the customs, ant
traditions and general characteristics
of the nation It recognizes the i'm
mortality of the soul; Z acknowledges
the existence. OF sMperna.ural ,p q
Therefore y may be called q reilgt97!.
\ howeyer With TEMPORAL nusteys IA