On the cutting room floor

This is the kind of stuff that I have to cut out of my thesis, because it's entirely tangential. I'll just leave it here instead.

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Many parallels were drawn between patriotism and religion by Westerners in Japan. It is not always clear what “religion” means when it is used in this way. For example, one missionary wrote that “the war with China, 1894-1895, quickened the national consciousness and led to the exaltation of patriotism almost to a religion, under the name of 'Nihon Shugi,' whose most ardent advocates were Kimura Takatarō and Professors Motora and Inouye.” (Fisher 1908:55) Kimura indeed proposed to implement nihon shugi as a “national teaching” (国敎 kokkyō),[1] paralleling the suggestions of others to use Buddhism,[2] Confucianism,[3] or a Zen-Shinto-Confucian syncretism[4], but his philosophy had more in common with Byronic heroism than anyone else,[5] and this archetype was never called a “religion” in the West. Today, we would say that, using the contemporary wasei-eigo, there was a “Nihon Shugi boom” in Japan. If it had been a “religion”, even in the rhetorical sense, it would have had some staying power, but in fact Kimura's suggestions faded as quickly as they came.

Several years later, Basil Hall Chamberlain singled out “Japan-worship” and bushido as “the invention of a new religion”, but what he apparently meant by this is that the state was being run by intelligent citizens (“it not only governs, but aspires to lead in intellectual matters”), that the people were obedient to their head of state (“implicit obedience to [the emperor] as head of the army”), and that Japan had developed a national exceptionalism of the sort which rightfully belonged in the hearts of Europeans and Americans alone (“a corresponding belief that Japan is ... far superior to the common ruck of nations”). He compares this Japanese “religion” to the “pseudo-history” and “gospel” of the “fanatic” Rosseau. What Chamberlain really appears to be complaining about here is the lie of the state. He is watching a state being built, and feels “outraged” that the Japanese are being uncritically instructed in allegiance to their nation, using the same caliber of myths that have always been employed for such purposes. The word “religion” does not seem to have any meaning here other than a rhetorical device, and the point does not seem to have been pursued further by others.[6]

Although both were rhetorically compared to religion, neither nihon shugi nor bushido were ever actually subjected to interrogation by “objective religious scholars”. Perhaps it was recognized that to take these recently invented terms and single them out as Japan's “state religion” would stretch plausibility. Instead, the term “State Shinto”, although infrequently used in Japan, was given new life in the West in order to analyze the “religiousness” of the country's patriotic practices.

[1] Kimura Takatarō. 日本主義国敎論 Nihon shugi kokkyōron. 1899.
[2] Unshō 雲照. Dainihon kokkyōron 大日本国敎論. 1882
[3] Motoda Eifu 元田永孚. 国敎論 Kokkyōron. 1884
[4] Kawai Kiyomaru 川合清丸. 日本国教大道社設立主意. 1891
[5] Kikuchi Yuuki. “Byronism transformed into Japanism (Nihon-shugi): Kimura Takataro's interpretation of Byron”. 和洋女子大学英文学会誌 43.3 (2009). pp. 121-137.
[6] B.H. Chamerlain. "The Invention of a New Religion". 1918.

Chabad Chanukah

When I get overwhelmed in a place, my brain shuts down and I start to feel dizzy. That's what happened to me today when I went to the Chanukah party at my local Chabad House. Chabad-Lubavitch is an Orthodox Jewish movement that aims to bring secular Jews back to their traditions. I have no familiarity with Jewish tradition at all, and my local Chabad (as I learned) is mainly a meetinghouse for observant Jews, so for me this was an overwhelming experience.

Rather than reserving space beforehand I decided to just drop by. Of course, the Chabad rabbi is prepared for any and all unexpected visitors. He picked me out as I walked through the door, gave me a yarmulke, and had me put on tefillin, a cube with Torah inside, and recite a prayer. I had never even seen tefillin before, but I enjoyed the experience and it felt spiritual. The rabbi got my name and sent his son to go chat with me, but I was unable to make conversation because I had got dizzy at that point and had to sit down.

Two Jewish mothers sat down in the seats directly left and right of me, with their kids behind. This isn't normal Boston practice (usually you sit on the opposite side of the table) but I was glad for the company. On the right was a Russian immigrant who seemed to appreciate the support network of Chabad. On the left was a mystery--a visitor from Sherborn who was continuously talking about the problems immigrants face. When I brought up the tefillin she told me that I had no idea what a big mitzvah I had performed by saying that prayer, and that I was causing some mighty big changes "up there", as she pointed with her finger, and I realized that she that she was Lubavitch! She looked totally normal... well, my stereotypes were shaken. I told her that I had learned about Chabad House from a book on Lubavitch women, and she told me that her husband volunteered setting up kosher kitchens for Jews.

Lubavitch men walked by wearing top hats and looking down at their prayer books. There was a huge ice sculpture menorah, Chinese food, and latkes. The hours rushed by as the rabbi did a rap about Chanukah and a band struck up corny Jewish folk songs (including, yes, the dreidel song), giving the meeting the homely atmosphere of a bar mitzvah. The rabbi was having his son's hair cut and announced it was a big mitzvah for everyone to come up and join in, so I did so. The Lubavitch lady gave me a pile of latkes I was too stuffed to touch. I feel more glad than ever to be at home now. It was a fun experience but totally unfamiliar-- like a whole new universe.