RESPONSES TO
LOSTNESS IN MODERN
by Hisakazu Inagaki,
Professor of Christian Philosophy at
Note from J. B. Hulst:
During a recent visit to Tokyo Christian University, Dr. Inagaki shared this
article with me. We are, with his permission, republishing it as the academic
insert in this issue of Contact. We realize that it is approximately ten
years old, but believe that it continues to be “relevant for other developing
nations in Asia and Africa but also for the post-Christian cultures of the
West.”
This article was originally
published in the Evangelical Review of Theology, Volume 15, Number 1,
January 1991, World Evangelical Fellowship, Theological Commission. The
following note was included with the article.
At a first reading this article
may appear to have little relevance to
the theme of salvation and lostness. However,
its importance lies in the clarity with
which it discusses the conflict between
the pragmatic modernity and utilitarianism of
Japan as a modern industrial power and
Japanese traditionalism based on animist culture
and ancestral worship. The people of Japan
who are no longer finding spiritual values
and the basis for national identity in
modernity are turning to their traditional
pagan values in search of personal and
national salvation. The
author of this article shows how in the present
ecological crisis the traditionalists are arguing
for an organic view of nature as
a living organism. In the growing tension
between modernity and traditionalism he discusses
the significance of the revival of the
kokutai ideology surrounding the enthronement of
the new Emperor. He calls for a much
deeper understanding of the gospel as
the basis for inner reformation of the
thought and culture of Japan.
We may add that this discussion
is very relevant for other developing
nations in Asia and Africa but also
for the post-Christian cultures of the
West. It is significant that though the
church in Japan is barely one percent
of the population, yet there is enormous
goodwill for Christianity. Some pollsters claim
that up to 35% of the younger generation
say they would opt for Christianity if
they had to choose a religion. This tension between modernity and cultural
traditions reminds us of the crisis faced by the early Church and of how God
raised up his apologists and martyrs, who, in the words of Clover, ‘outthought,
outlived and outdied the pagan world,’ in Europe the Christians turned
the tide from pagan lostness to salvation
in Christ. Today we face worldwide a parallel
and equally gigantic task.
Japan has now become a major
world power, at least as far as economics is concerned. At first glance the
Japanese people seem to be enjoying materialistic prosperity, but, on a deeper
level, it is clear that they are not satisfied with respect to their daily
needs. They sense something lacking in their spiritual lives.
In the forty-five short years
since the end of World War II, Japan has risen dramatically from the ashes of
destruction. The Pacific War was a reckless war led by an unjust and ignorant
power. The phenomenon is far too recent for us to be able to forget the role
played by nationalistic ideology, known as kokutai, during the years
when Japan invaded its neighbors, spreading the flames of war around the world
before finally bringing self-destruction upon itself. This ideology, having thrown Japan into
destruction as well as having incurred great loss upon other Asian countries,
is now beginning to raise its head once again. This ideology, being essentially
a religious one, unfortunately loses its ability for self-critique. It also
lacks a sense of moral justice. Inspired by this ideology, Japan in the past
made military raids into other Asian countries. Today the same ideology has
become active as a motivating force behind the economic invasion of the world
market. Confronted with this situation, Japanese Christians, who comprise only
1% of the total population, must warn the people against their immoral behavior
within the international community, in addition to assuming a priest-like role
in praying for their country.
Many Western authors have
written about Japan, from The Chrysanthemum and the Sword (written
during the War by Ruth Benedict) to the recent The Enigma of Japanese Power
by Karel van Wolferen. There are, however, few books which pay proper attention
to the religious motive of Japanese culture and thought. I will here try to
give a brief transcendental critique of modern Japanese thought.
Herman Dooyeweerd (Dutch
Christian philosopher, 1894-1977) showed that here are two basic religious
ground motifs, two central mainsprings operative in the heart of human
existence. There is the dynamic of the Holy Spirit and the dynamic of the
spirit of this world. The ground motif of the Holy Spirit is the one revealed
by the divine redemption by Jesus Christ in the communion of the Holy Spirit.
As for the worldly spirit, Dooyeweerd showed its manifestation in two forms in
the history of Western civilization: first, the form-matter distinction as the
motif of ancient Greece, and second, the modern motif of nature and freedom. A
synthesis between the Greek and Christian motif is called the motif of nature
and grace. The religious ground motifs are the spiritual driving forces
operating from out of the supratemporal heart, and govern and direct all the
temporal experiences of life in human culture and history. But human history
surely includes the Eastern civilizations as well as Western civilizations. Thus
in the Japanese case we have to ask, ‘What types of ground motifs exist in
Japanese culture?’
Dooyeweerd also showed that
all of the non-biblical ground motifs are of a dualistic nature, internally
divided against themselves. A non-Biblical ground motif deifies and absolutizes
part of created reality. This absolutization calls forth, with inner necessity,
the correlates of what has been absolutized. That is, the absolutization of
something relative simultaneously absolutizes the opposite or counterpart of
what is relative, since one relative part of creation is necessarily related to
the other. The result is a religious dialectic, a polarity or tension between
two extremes within a single ground motif.
I will here propose the
religious dialectic of modernity-tradition as religious ground motif for modern
Japanese culture. Modernity and tradition form antipodes to each other, as is
easily seen in the Japanese culture. All foreigners who visit Japan immediately
notice a sharp contrast between modernity and tradition. Walking downtown in
any city, for example, they might find a modern Western-style museum just next
to a traditional Shinto shrine. And before constructing a nuclear power station
people usually request the performance of a ritual Shinto ceremony intended to
appease the spirits of the ground. Japan has first-rate electronic engineering,
computer technology, automobile factories and chemical industries, thereby
showing itself to be in the forefront of the highly advanced, industrialized
countries. This is a manifestation of the modernity motif. And yet, at the same
time Japan clearly belongs to non-Western cultural tradition with respect to
the spiritual lives of the Japanese. The tradition motif becomes visible, for
instance, in the widespread custom of ancestor worship, the moral values and
principles of the people’s action, the political system, and the management of
various enterprises. Although a similar contrast between modernity and
tradition is more or less seen in non-Western countries, Japan experiences it
to an extreme. On the one hand, the dualism of the ground motif of
modernity-tradition splits apart, with each pole claiming absoluteness and thus
both mutually canceling each other, but on the other hand, each pole also
determines the other’s religious meaning, since each is necessarily related to
the other.
Here the concept of modernity
is almost synonymous with the ‘nature’ motif in modern Western culture, where
‘nature’ is understood to be a closed mechanistic system. Modernization in
Japan started with the Meiji Restoration in 1868. The government promoted a
policy of importing Western modern technology, which since the Enlightenment
had been based on the concept of ‘mathematical nature.’ The government policy
was reflected in the slogan ‘Japanese spirit and Western technology.’ Although
the metaphysical meaning of mathematical nature, as found in the thought of
Galileo and Newton, was not understood well by the Meiji era Japanese, the
utilitarianism resulting from the industrial revolution and the optimistic
progressivism of Western countries were welcomed by the Japanese.
And even after World War II
this kind of ruthless pragmatism, at the cost of morality and justice, has been
the driving force behind the nation’s remarkable economic success. For most
Japanese, there are no deep religious introspections, which might restrain the
idea that worldly success is the final goal or supreme value in life. The
severe competition of free enterprise in the market is not a story restricted
to the sphere of economics. It permeates, for instance, the realm of education.
Competition among children for getting high marks in academics really begins
with the lowest grade in elementary school. Children are pushed to train for
passing severe entrance examinations for advancing to the higher schools. In
the course of their education, there is no time or provision for developing the
ability to think creatively, which of course is essential for producing fresh
and novel ideas. And in addition to compulsory school education, children
sometimes, even on Sunday, go to extra-curricular ‘cram-schools’ to prepare
only for the entrance examinations. This presents a great challenge for
children of Christian homes, since time for religious education must be sacrificed
when they are involved in such activities. The true meaning of education is
lost. Sphere sovereignties among societal systems are broken down. All aspects
of human lives are exposed to mechanical competition. It is the inevitable
result of uncritically importing one of the modern Western motifs. People are
surely incapable of tolerating this mechanistic view of human life.
In reaction to the above
mentioned modernity motif in Japan, the motif of tradition which is the
opposite pole from modernity, having previously been hidden from sight within
the culture, begins to raise its head. Wishing to escape from the mechanistic
world, the Japanese people are now rediscovering traditional values. They hope
that ‘the Japanese spirit’ will save them from their current wretched
situation. Examples of the move toward restoration of the traditional life and
value system, which could be called ‘Japanism’ when viewed in a systematic way,
can be found in many aspects of the culture, from politics to the foods people
eat. This trend also seems to be being strengthened by recent scholarly
developments, especially in philosophy and cultural anthropology. Japanese
intellectuals sometimes use ‘post-modern,’ the term often used by French
thinkers, to mean ‘anti-modern’ or the recovery of the uniquely Japanese
tradition. Recent anthropology usually claims to place equal value on all types
of cultures or all types of religions, lending itself to the position of
so-called cultural relativism. Thus animism, being the core of Japanese
religiosity, is not at all regarded as a lower religion. A refined animism
might be considered even to be a positive cultural response to Western
materialism. Such Western thinkers as Claude Levi-Strauss are often invited to
international meetings held in Japan to give lectures to Japanese leaders,
governmental bureaucrats and statesmen. Upon being told that Western culture is
not the unique-advanced culture it is sometimes thought to be, but merely is
one among many cultures, the audiences feel reassured. In addition to this
current tendency in the sciences, the present economic power of Japan provides
practical encouragement to Japanese traditionalists. Opinions of many Japanese
intellectuals have recently shifted, so that they are now suggesting that, at
the time when the influence of the major Western powers is diminishing, Japan
should take on a leadership role in the international community by recovering
its Eastern traditions.
Those who want to revive
traditional values are presenting their case by emphasizing two points. First,
they propose an organic view of nature as a new paradigm with the intention of
remedying the mechanistic view of nature popular among the modern Western
world. The organic view of nature is common in Japan, because its animistic
natural religion, in which nature is looked upon as a living organism, is still
vital to the Japanese worldview. Some traditionalists say that their view might
play a prominent part in future technological societies. Their ideas are very similar to what recent
Western ecological movements have been lamenting. (Some Western ecologists are
in fact influenced by Eastern religion.) Further, the animistic worldview leads
many Japanese thinkers to the point of believing that ultimate reality can be
grasped only through intuitive feelings, and not through rational analyses. In
the context of this intellectual trend, it is important for Japanese Christians
to know and understand the true meaning of the creation motif in biblical
Christianity.
Second, traditionalists are inclined to defend the Japanese
community as such against any criticism from foreign countries. They think it
is not necessary for Japan to accept Western standards and ways of thinking. In
fact the form of the community is clearly influenced by the tradition motif.
The present Japanese constitution certainly borrows certain concepts from
western democracy, as, for example the concept of the separation of the three
powers (judiciary, executive, legislative), the declaration of sovereignty
resting with the people, respect of fundamental human rights as well as the
guarantee of freedom of religion. But in actuality the legal system does not
function without traditional Japanese values and practices concerning human
relations. In fact values and practices of human relationship valid only in a
small village sometimes play an important role in national politics as well.
Collective behavior as a national characteristic is noticeable even if the
constitution is written on the basis of individualism. Men who hold convictions
governed by a universal principle as often excluded from the community.
Confucianism adapted to a Japanese style and context has fostered these
traditional views of human relationships. Traditional human relationships also
play an important role in the management of enterprises. Japanese companies are
not so-called Gesellschaft, but rather a kind of community to which
people give a high degree of commitment, which demands all of their energy. The
Japanese sometimes exhibit extraordinary power as a group, even if a given
individual person within the group is not especially talented. This peculiar
Japanese characteristic of effective operation as a group is surely one of the
reasons why Japan has achieved such a high Gross National Product in recent
years.
The practice of ancestor
worship, so common to the Japanese family, is the result of Confucian ethics
mixing with animistic religiosity. In fact, ancestor worship is the basic
religion in Japan, and functions as a unifying element on various levels of
community in Japanese society, from the family to the village, and finally to
the state itself. On the national level, ancestor worship has strong
connections with the Emperor system. Before the War, the state was likened to a
large, extended family, in which the Emperor was compared to a father in the
home. It was very much similar to undifferentiated patriarchal folk groups in
ancient times, but in the case of Japan it was actually constitutionally
justified. That is, the system of divine
imperial sovereignty, as codified in the Meiji Constitution of 1889, sought to
place the ultimate basis for political authority in the myths surrounding the
oracles of the sun-goddess, Amaterasu, who was said to be the ancestor of the
imperial family. Under this system, the people of Japan were forced to believe
in a pseudo-religion, kokutai ideology, which centered on the worship of
the Emperor as a ‘living god.’ Thus it is not incorrect to say that the Japanese
Emperor system had its foundation on the customs of ancestor worship, practiced
in every home. The sphere sovereignty between home and state was completely
destroyed. It is known that during the War some Christians, especially in
Korea, chose martyrdom by refusing to worship the Emperor.
Looking back on this history,
it is only natural that we should make clear distinction between the provisions
of the present constitution which define the emperor as the symbol of state and
the former system of divine imperial sovereignty, and that we should maintain
strict vigilance to guard against any move toward a restoration of the old
system. Nonetheless, we are deeply grieved to observe that now, at the time of
the succession of a new Emperor; attempts are consistently being made to accept
a series of ceremonies, which have no basis in the current Imperial House Law.
It appears that there is an attempt today to revive ceremonies, which were once
authorized in the by-laws of the now, abolished pre-War Imperial House Law, by
using the argument that they derive from tradition and convention.
Today freedom of religion
without any restrictions is constitutionally guaranteed, along with the
separation of state and specific religious institutions. The government,
however, has already made the decision to perform the enthronement of the new
Emperor, Akihito, which will be held on November 22-23, 1990, as a purely
traditional Shintoistic rite. Called the Daijo-sai, this is a ceremony
in which the Emperor is considered to be deified, or to be transformed into a
‘living god.’ Although the religion of the imperial family is Shintoism, law to
the private sphere now rigorously limits the religious practices in the
imperial household. But it is exceedingly difficult to draw a boundary line
between the private and the public realm, since the Emperor is constitutionally
defined as the symbol of Japan. This problem is amplified if the government
sponsors the Daijo-sai. In that case the ceremony cannot be limited to
the private sphere, but inevitably becomes a public matter. Actually the
government has decided to make a special budget of one billion yen for this
Shinto ceremony.
The Daijo-sai has a
long history. It is said to have been celebrated already in the seventh century
A.D., when the Emperor system was actually established. This ceremony is based
on a Japanese myth, which connects the festival of thanks giving for the
harvest of grain with the enthronement of a king. Recent developments in
cultural anthropology, folklore and comparative mythology show that similar
ceremonies were widely performed in ancient times in various cultures. For
instance there are some common factors between Greek and Japanese myths. The
Greek myth tells about a goddess of grain and growth, Demeter, who was actually
worshipped by kings in
One of the reasons why the
government has decided to sponsor this Shinto ceremony concerns the problems of
a national identity for Japanese. Surely, it is said, the economically powerful
nation of Japan needs some spiritual backbone. It is distasteful for the people
not to have a sense of values other than mere utilitarianism. Thus national
leaders try to find some spiritual identity in Emperorism. For them the
succession ceremonies of the new Emperor provide a good occasion for
strengthening national identity and patriotism.
The Christian churches in
Japan clearly oppose the Daijo-sai, since it is supported by the state.
This ceremony is so thoroughly religious in its core that we need to battle
‘against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts
of wickedness in heavenly places’ (Ephesians 6:12).
The religious ground motif of
modernity-tradition thus seems clearly to be operative today in Japanese
culture. This religious dialect breaks the heart of the modern Japanese. On the
one hand, Japanese culture is very pragmatic, being rooted in modern
utilitarianism. On the other hand, Japanese culture is reactionary and is based
upon ancient tradition. The purpose of Christian theology in Japan is first of
all to analyze this kind of schizophrenia in culture and thought. Then, as an
alternative to the life and world view of ‘Japanism,’ we have to demonstrate
the Christian ground motifs: creation, fall and redemption through Jesus
Christ, in communion with the Holy Spirit, for the inner reformation of thought
and culture in Japan.