著者

井関 大介

出版者

東京大学文学部宗教学研究室

雑誌

東京大学宗教学年報 (ISSN:2896400)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.24, pp.67-92, 2007-03-31

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Ueda Akinari, one of the intellectuals in early modern Japan, was well-known for his novel Ugetsu Monogatari. His diction on 'gods (神)'is analyzed in this paper. In this period, while philologically positivistic and emperor-centric 'Shintoism'was born on the one hand, a demysticized world view was shared among the thinkers, on the other. The former would lead to nationalistic Shintoism in modern times, whereas the latter would completely deny the transcendental, such as gods and celestial beings (天). It can be said that both currents, though seemingly at opposite poles, were movements informed by traditional stories of 'gods'in the context of the new situation of the day. Yet Akinari's characteristic feature lies in his own way of grasping 'gods', which differs from both of the aforementioned trends, even though he lived in the midst of the two. The divino-spiritual views of Akinari are mainly explained by analyzing his dialogue with two representatives: Motoori Norinaga, an exponent of the former trend, and Nakai Riken, of the latter. This discussion is to determine where to situate Akinari in the contemporary history of thought and religion.