著者

佐々木 政文

出版者

公益財団法人史学会

雑誌

史學雜誌 (ISSN:00182478)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.124, no.4, pp.552-575, 2015-04-20

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The present article examines the implementation of Japan's mass state ideology indoctrination policy through Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines within the undercaste ghettos (hisabetsu buraku 被差別部落) of Nara Prefecture during the 1910s, in relation to changing trends in religious belief systems on the local level. The majority of residents of the ghettos of Nara Prefecture, which remained as segregated residential communities originally created for scheduled castes under the social stratification system instituted in the premoden age were traditionally adherents of the Jodo Shinshu 浄土真宗 sect of pure land Buddhism and thus were not deeply versed in beliefs regarding Shinto gods or particularly active in related festivals promoted by the Meiji state since the 1870s. In response to this adherence to Buddhist beliefs and ceremony, Nara Prefecture adopted, following the Russo-Japanese War, a Buraku Improvement Program, which attempted to strengthen adherence to state religious ideology through such projects as revising Pure Land millenarian beliefs emphasizing the afterlife, inculcating the concept of "shinzoku nitai" 真俗二諦 (there being no contradiction between following the teachings of the Buddha, while submitting to the secular authority of the Emperor), the elimination of special social status for Shinto shrine patrons (ujiko 氏子), the installation of Shinto altars in the home, universal allegiance to the national flag and the promotion of pilgrimages to the national Shinto shrines. The author analyzes the program's implementation as a process by which modern Japan's policy regarding the ideological indoctrination of its imperial subjects proactively attempted to mobilize local residents alienated from their traditional beliefs and modes of worship into the state's new system of ritual centered upon the new Shinto pantheon, stressing the divinity of the Emperor. At the same time, as the agents of its Buraku Improvement Program the Prefectural authorities attempted to enlist the Buddhist priests of local ghetto temples, which had been for centuries an integral part of the daily lives of local residents. The Program also called for these priests to promote the Prefecture's austerity program of frugality and increased household saving. These activities were hindered by the fact these same clerics were totally dependent on the local community for their livelihood, in accordance with the Buddhist vow of poverty (dana 檀). As anexample of this dilemma, the author cites the expectations expressed by ghetto community leaders who had formed the Yamato Doshikai 大和同志会 prefectural civil rights advancement association in 1912 that their communities' temples and priests would participate in the activities of the improvement program, while on the other hand condemning the temples as religious organizations economically exploiting their parishioners. It was during the First World War, in 1916, that Nara Prefecture's policy of state ideology indoctrination of ghetto residents began to include the introduction of Shinto shrines directly into ghetto communities ; for example, preparing designated sanctuaries on the grounds of existing temples, from which to worship Emperor Meiji from afar. This change in policy was an attempt to place the community leaders of each ghetto as the key enablers for local religious reform, in the search for a new set of beliefs by which to promote state ideology.

著者

佐々木 政文

出版者

東京大学大学院人文社会系研究科・文学部日本史学研究室

雑誌

東京大学日本史学研究室紀要 = Bulletin of the Department of Japanese History, Faculty of Letters, the University of Tokyo

巻号頁・発行日

no.20, pp.135-142, 2016-03

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書評@Book Review

著者

佐々木 政文

出版者

績文堂出版

雑誌

歴史学研究 = Journal of historical studies (ISSN:03869237)

巻号頁・発行日

no.965, pp.1-16, 2017-12

著者

佐々木 政文

出版者

吉川弘文館

雑誌

日本歴史 (ISSN:03869164)

巻号頁・発行日

no.832, pp.56-71, 2017-09

著者

佐々木 政文

出版者

公益財団法人 史学会

雑誌

史学雑誌 (ISSN:00182478)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.124, no.4, pp.62-85, 2015 (Released:2017-05-16)

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本稿は、1910年代奈良県下の被差別部落において、寺院や神社を媒介とする民衆教化政策がいかなる形で実施されたのかを、地域での信仰活動の変化と関連づけながら検討したものである。 奈良県下の被差別部落民は、浄土真宗を第一の信仰対象とする一方、神祇信仰や国家祭祀に対しては消極的であり、さらに他の地域から氏子組織上の差別を受けている場合が多かった。これに対し、日露戦争後に県が実施した部落改善政策は、来世信仰の改革、「真俗二諦」説の強調、氏子差別の解消、神棚の設置、国旗掲揚の普及、大神社への参拝奨励といった様々な手段を通して、彼らの国家意識を強化しようとした。本稿ではこの過程を、近代日本の民衆教化政策が、従来地域一般の信仰生活から排除されていた人々を神社祭礼の体系に取り込んでいった過程として評価した。 同時に、日常的に部落住民との関係が深かった被差別部落寺院の僧侶には、部落改善政策の担い手となることが強く期待された。しかし、彼らは部落住民からの収入に経済的に依存していたことから、貯蓄・節約の奨励という県の政策を貫徹することが難しかった。このようななかで、県下の部落内有力者によって1912年7月に結成された大和同志会も、寺院・僧侶の部落改善事業参加に期待する一方で、檀家からの収入に依存する教団組織の体制を厳しく批判した。 第一次世界大戦中の1916年以降には、県は部落住民の国家意識を高める目的から、被差別部落への神社導入を政策的に推進しはじめた。この政策の変化を受けて、部落単位でも各部落の有力者が中心的主体となって信仰改革が進められ、部落内の寺院に明治天皇遙拝所が建設されるなど、国家意識に繋がる新たな信仰形態が模索された。