Date of Graduation

12-2015

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts in History (MA)

Degree Level

Graduate

Department

History

Advisor/Mentor

Markham, Elizabeth J.

Committee Member

Wolpert, Rembrandt F.

Second Committee Member

Fukushima, Tatsuya

Keywords

Philosophy; religion and theology; Social sciences; Edo period; Japan; Kogaku; Kokugaku; Nativism; Tokugawa

Abstract

This research looks at the development of Shinto nationalism in Edo Period Japan (1603-1868). It focuses on the development of intellectual thought and the relationship between the kogaku school in Japanese Confucianism and the kokugaku school in Shintoism. The primary goal is to demonstrate that there was a trend wherein members of these two schools looked back to the past in order to rediscover a lost utopia and Way. This study examines the works of Yamaga Soko, Itō Jinsai, Ogyū Sorai, Kamo no Mabuchi, and Motoori Norinaga to demonstrate how this line of thought helped contribute to the development of Shinto nativist sentiment in Japan.

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