| This research looks at the development of Shinto nationalism in Edo Period Japan (1603-1868). It focuses on the development of intellectual thought and the relationship between the kogaku school in Japanese Confucianism and the kokugaku school in Shintoism. The primary goal is to demonstrate that there was a trend wherein members of these two schools looked back to the past in order to rediscover a lost utopia and Way. This study examines the works of Yamaga Soko, Ito Jinsai, Ogyu Sorai, Kamo no Mabuchi, and Motoori Norinaga to demonstrate how this line of thought helped contribute to the development of Shinto nativist sentiment in Japan. |
