Exploring Shinto - Michael Pye
14. Meiji Government Policy, Sect Shinto and Fusokyo
Exploring Shinto - Michael Pye
Shishino Fumio [+]
Shinto Priest and current Kanchō of Fusōkyō
Shishino Fumio is a Shinto Priest and current Kanchō of Fusōkyō
Description
This paper is authored by the administrative head, sixth in line since the first generation, of the Shinto sect known as Shintō Fusōkyō神道扶桑教.This was recognized as a specially established separate sect in 1882 by decree of the Office for Shinto Affairs of the Japanese government. The main devotional focus for Shintō Fusōkyō is nothing less than Mount Fuji. An explanation is given as to why and how it was that sectarian developments could arise at all within Shinto, that is, in the context of a religion regarded as being national in its range. The reasons for this are sought in the rapidly changing policies of the Meiji government at a time when Japan was facing the challenges of the Western powers.