What is it about?
Can a Japanese nationalist be a Christian at the same time? Many would say this is difficult, if not impossible given the vivid memory of wartime Japan where loyalty to the country was firmly superimposed on the Shinto belief system. However, in Meiji Japan, which was modernising at the break-neck speed, there were prominent public figures who were both Japanese nationalist in that they were committed to the betterment of Japan and Christian. The article explores what made this possible.
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Why is it important?
The article questions the almost automatic, uncritical association of Japanese nationalism with Shinto, due to the experience of World War II, and sheds light on the conditions which made it possible for Uchimura Kanzo and Nitobe Inazo to be both Japanese nationalist and Christian in Meiji Japan. It shows the linkage between religion and the state, which is often seen as given, is like any other social construct, contingent.
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This page is a summary of: What does it mean to be a Christian nationalist in Meiji Japan?: Religion, nationalism and the state, International Journal for the Study of the Christian Church, November 2023, Taylor & Francis,
DOI: 10.1080/1474225x.2023.2260284.
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