明治憲法下の神祗官設置問題 : 政教関係に関する一考察
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概要
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In this article the author discusses the relationship between religion and the state under the Meiji Constitution, not by analyzing the law or symbolic events, but by examining the revival movement of the Department of Shinto (Jingikan) and related government measures. The Bureau of Shrines and Temples in the Home Ministry, which was mainly in charge of forming the government's shrine policy, pursued the policy to revise the measures adopted during the first years of the Meiji Restoration. The movement to restore the Department of Shinto concentrated on re-establishing the kind of bureau that existed formerly and on petitioning the government for better treatment of the country's shrines. The Jingikan revival movement was begun in 1890 by Sasaki Takayuki, a leading figure, and in charge of the imperial household, along with Yamada Akiyoshi, as a national integration move before the opening of the National Diet. However, the movement never got off the ground due to a lack of political punch by its leaders, to indifference on the part of the government and a negative attitude shown by the Meiji Emperor himself. Then a similar movement was begun in the Diet, which Sasaki and his friends has been so worried about. At first a petition to the emperor was made on Jingikan's behalf and later a bill was introduced in the Diet, which was passed during the ninth session. The government ignored the bill and answered frequent requests for explanation from the Diet with the phrase, "the problem is under investigation". This type of attitude drew criticism from the leaders of the Jingikan revival movement, while they placed their hope in the first Okuma Cabinet (1898) and its home minister, Itagaki Taisuke, to realize a Department of Shinto, since the han faction-led govern ments had been more negative on the issue than political party-led governments. Finally, at the time of the second Yamagata Cabinet (1898-1900), together with revisions of the unequal treaties issue, a comprehensive religious policy was planned to respond to pressure from the Diet. It was proposed that two separate Bureaus of Religion and Shrines were to set up with separate legal structures for each. However, the government's plan to treat Sect Shinto, Buddhism and Christianity equally met with strong opposition from the Buddhist community and was voted down in the Diet. As a result, only a system of legally separate bureaus for religion and shrines was accepted. Criticism again was raised against the government's passive attitude in shrine policy. The author concludes from this state of affairs that 1)the concept of separating shrines from religion can not be tied to the formation of a state religion or compulsory shrine worship, and 2)that important revisions are required in the conventional image of "state Shinto" which suggests the government giving favorable treatment to shrines. When attempting to analyze the complex relationship between the state and religion under the Meiji Constitution, where few attempts were made to define "state religion", the conventional terminology is not up to the task.
- 公益財団法人史学会の論文
- 1993-02-20