The Political Culture of Early Modern Japan and the Prohibition of Christianity

This article examines the logic underpinning the prohibition of Christianity in early modern Japan with reference to discourse about East Asian political culture. In conclusion, it could be said that in Japan the spiritual world of East Asia, namely, Confucianism and Buddhism, formed the foundation of the prohibition of Christianity, and in addition indigenous Shinto beliefs were also mobilized to support the ban. What unified these was the concept of Heaven (ten 天) originating in Chinese Confucianism. With regard to foreign policy centered on the prohibition of Christianity, too, it is not appropriate to ignore discourse about East Asian political culture. The Iberian impact could be said to have prompted an awareness that Japan was encompassed within the order of East Asian political culture. On the other hand, the logic of the prohibition of Christianity, underpinned by Shinto, Confucianism, and Buddhism, did not remain unchanged throughout the early modern period. From the latter part of the eighteenth century onwards, the rulers’ arguments for prohibiting Christianity tended towards anti-Christian discourse accompanied by anti-Buddhist discourse, while the arguments of the ruled for prohibiting Christianity tended towards anti-Christian discourse that focused on the inner self. I would expect that the forceful separation of Shinto and Buddhism by the Meiji government and its intervention in the inner selves of the people were extensions of this.