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영어

In this presentation, I will examine a group of scholars from the kokugaku (also known as National Learning or Nativism) school in Hirosaki domain, located on the northern fringe of the Japanese mainland, during the late-Tokugawa (1600-1868) and early Meiji years (1868-1912). This “Hirosaki group” was comprised of 18 students who enrolled in the Hirata Atsutane (1776-1843) school, and conducted scholarship in correspondence with Ibukinoya in Edo (current-day Tokyo). They studied the ancient way and religious thought as expounded by Atsutane and Motoori Norinaga (1730-1801), during a tumultuous time in Japan, both nationally and locally. It is interesting to note that they conceived of a divine and imperial Japan, while many of their members never once stepped outside the borders of their own domain. I will focus primarily on a key member of this group, Hirao Rosen (1808-1880), who confirmed and expanded upon Atsutane’s thoughts on the unseen spiritual realm (yūmeikai) and the afterlife. In his Yūfu shinron (New Treatise on the Spiritual Realm), Rosen articulated a kokugaku message specifically to address the perceived spiritual needs of his fellow Hirosaki inhabitants. By examining the role of kokugaku within Hirosaki domain, I wish to shed new light on the historical significance of the kokugaku school, as well as on the conceptions of self-identification and religion in 19th century Japan.