Editors’ Introduction: Searching for Legitimacy: Tenrikyo, Omoto, and “Marginalized” Religions of Modern Japan

he purpose of this special issue is to provide a new perspective on the study of "new religions" (shinshky ) by positioning "early new religions"-religious groups that emerged in nineteenth-century Japanas "marginalized religions." It also seeks to propose a framework that allows us to reconsider the history of religion in modern Japan from peripheral (marginalized) positions.Scholars of religion in Japan have categorized the religious groups that emerged within the span of approximately two hundred years from around the end of the Edo period to the present day as "new religions," which are seen to have various characteristics that differ from those of established religions such as Christianity and Buddhism (Shimazono 1992).It is debatable, however, whether it is appropriate to discuss religious groups that arose in the nineteenth century and those that emerged after the end of World War ii under the same category.Social and political contexts in these two time periods were significantly different, as were the challenges faced by each religious group.We therefore limit the focus of our inquiry to "early new religions" and explore the process of their historical development.These groups, which include Kurozumikyo, Tenrikyo, Konkokyo, Renmonkyo, Maruyamakyo, and Omoto, among many others, operated in marginalized positions of society amid the social changes of modern Japan, such as the formation of the nation-state, the proliferation of a modern rationalistic worldview, the development of capitalism,