著者

樋口 秀実

出版者

東洋文庫

雑誌

東洋学報 (ISSN:03869067)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.93, no.1, pp.27-53, 2011-06

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The present article discusses the erection in July 1940 of the "National Temple of the Sun Goddess," dedicated to Amaterasu Okami 天照大神, in order to discover its contribution to the psychological integration of the new state's citizenry. Some research already exists on the process of the Temple's erection and its significance, which emphasizes such points as since the Temple was erected to worship the Sun Goddess, it was for all intents and purposes merely an attempt to import Japan's state Shinto religion into Manchukuo. The discussion then turns to the extent to which Japan was determined to "religiously infiltrate" Manchuria. The author argues on the contrary that the fact of the Temple being erected as a national place of religious worship makes it necessary to raise the question of to what extent it furthered the spiritual integration of the new nation. Manchukuo being a state created almost overnight by the Japanese Guandong Army, it was divided with the memory of political events and trends of the previous Three-Provincial Government regime. Another point is how Manchukuo intended to deal with the state's multi-ethnic population. Therefore, a plan for psychological integration by raising national identity and consciousness must have been an important issue for stabilizing the governance of the new state. It is in this vein that the author reexamines the process of erecting the Temple and its significance, while asking the questions 1) why a national temple worshipping Japan's Sun Goddess would be deemed appropriate in the light of ethnic cooperation being cited as the original rationale for state formation, 2) how much success did the Temple have in national psychological integration, and 3) if unsuccessful, what was its significance in terms of church and state issues. The Temple was erected for two reasons. The first stemmed from attempts by the imperial court's interests in Manchukuo to strengthen the imperial authority of Puyi, and the second from attempts by Japanese bureaucrats in the Manchukuo government to gain a greater say in political affairs vis-à-vis the Guandong Army. These two civil-political forces were interested in subordinating the Army to the authority of the Emperor of Manchukuo and limiting its level of intervention in the state's political process, by turning the spirit of Japan's deep military allegiance to the emperor against the Army in making the Sun Goddess, the founding ancestor of Japan's imperial family, also the founder and guardian spirit of Manchukuo. From his analysis of the political backdrop on which the Temple was erected, the author concludes that the event made no significant contribution to the psychological integration of the Manchukuo nation. The Temple, which was where Puyi placed the sacred mirror which he brought from Japan as the symbol of his imperial authority, was, nevertheless, unable to play the role as Manchukuo's equivalent of Japan's Ise Shrine.