From Shinto Sect to Religion: The De-Shintoization of Tenrikyo

This article explores the identity negotiation of Tenrikyo during the post-World War II period by focusing on the way and extent to which it redefined its relationship with the state, nation, and Shinto traditions at discursive, representational, and material levels. According to the official Tenrikyo narrative, its teachings were restored to their “original state” after the end of World War II. In this process, many aspects of the doctrinal discourse that had previously been associated with Japan-centered interpretations were replaced with abstract or spiritualistic counterparts. The initiative of restoration marks a departure from its prewar past regarding doctrinal discourse and religious rites. Tenrikyo also underwent a process of dissociation from its identity as a Sect Shinto organization, which it had maintained until the late 1960s. Tenrikyo’s disaffiliation from Sect Shinto traditions resulted in “selective dissociation,” which reflects the lasting—albeit reduced—impact of Shinto traditions on the material formation of Tenrikyo’s sacred space. Using the complex process of Tenrikyo’s dissociation from its past, this article addresses the question of how minority religions negotiate their marginality by constantly maneuvering their discursive and social locations in relation to what is viewed as a “proper” religion in changing sociopolitical circumstances in Japan.