Shinto and the State, 1868-1988

Paperback / softback

Main Details

Title Shinto and the State, 1868-1988
Authors and Contributors      By (author) Helen Hardacre
SeriesStudies in Church and State
Physical Properties
Format:Paperback / softback
Pages:224
Dimensions(mm): Height 229,Width 152
Category/GenreReligion - general
ISBN/Barcode 9780691020525
ClassificationsDewey:322.10952
Audience
Professional & Vocational
Tertiary Education (US: College)

Publishing Details

Publisher Princeton University Press
Imprint Princeton University Press
Publication Date 1 September 1991
Publication Country United States

Description

Helen Hardacre, a leading scholar of religious life in modern Japan, examines the Japanese state's involvement in and manipulation of Shinto from the Meiji Restoration to the present. Nowhere else in modern history do we find so pronounced an example of government sponsorship of a religion as in Japan's support of Shinto. How did that sponsorship come about and how was it maintained? How was it dismantled after World War II? What attempts are being made today to reconstruct it? In answering these questions Helen Hardacre shows why State Shinto symbols, such as the Yasukuni Shrine and its prefectural branches, are still the focus for bitter struggles over who will have the right to articulate their significance.

Reviews

One of Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles for 1991