View source for Shinto in Korea

{{Short description|Religion in Korea}}
{{use dmy dates|date=August 2024}}
{{Shinto}}
The origins of '''Shinto in Korea''' are primarily a result of Japan's incursions since an unbalanced treaty in 1876. Shinto's rise in Korea is directly associated with the Japanese government's ideological use of the traditional folk practices of Japan, later described as "[[State Shinto]]." As Japan expanded its control of Korea, it also expanded the number of shrines, with the aim of one national shrine in each province. Before 1945, attendance at shrines was in many cases compulsory. 
[[File:Chosen-Jingu-front-view.jpg|thumb|Early 20th century Japanese postcard showing the [[Chōsen Shrine]] in Seoul (1925-1945)]]

==Introduction of Shinto==
Japan's [[Meiji Restoration|Meiji restoration]] had been actively rejecting any relationship between [[Shinto]], the folk tradition of Japan, and religious belief. [[Empire of Japan|Imperial Japan]] interpreted Shinto as a "suprareligious" institution based on a set of traditions, rather than moral instructions.<ref name="Hardacre">{{cite book|last1 = Hardacre|first1 = Helen|title = Shintō and the state, 1868-1988|date = 1991|publisher = Princeton University Press|location = Princeton|isbn = 9780691020525|edition = 1st }}</ref> As such, requirements to participate in Shinto ceremonies were not deemed to be a violation of the Meiji-era's freedom of religion doctrine. This was the position of the state, later described as "[[State Shinto]]," and not necessarily followed by priests or practitioners of Shinto.<ref name=Keene>{{cite book|last3=Keene|first1=Ryusaku |last1=Tsunoda |first2=Wm. Theodore |last2=de Bary |first3=Donald|title=Sources of Japanese tradition|date=2006|publisher=Columbia Univ. Press|location=New York|isbn=9780231139182|edition=2nd}}</ref>

===Introduction of shrines===
The earliest Shinto shrine in Korea is believed to be {{Nihongo||金刀比羅神社|Kotohira shrine}}, later {{Nihongo||龍頭山神社|[[Ryūtōsan Shrine]]}}, built in 1678, built by workers of the local Japan House trade office.<ref name="Nakajima" /> Such shinto may have served a purpose of expressing and maintaining a Japanese identity outside of Japan, while the Japanese and Korean people lived relatively close during this period.<ref>{{Cite report |last=Grisafi |first=John G. |title=Shintō in Colonial Korea: A Broadening Narrative of Imperial Era Shintō |url=https://www.academia.edu/28557377}}{{better source needed|reason=Undergraduate paper, likely for class|date=August 2024}}</ref>

In 1876, the [[Japan–Korea Treaty of 1876|Japan–Korea Treaty of Amity]] introduced Japanese settlers, and Shinto proselytizers, to [[Incheon]], [[Busan|Pusan]], and [[Wonsan]].<ref name=Kim>{{cite journal|last1=Kim|first1=Taehoon|title=The Place of 'Religion' in Colonial Korea around 1910 : The Imperial History of 'Religion'|journal=Journal of Korean Religions|date=1 January 2011|volume=2|issue=2|pages=25–46|doi=10.1353/jkr.2011.0003|url=https://muse.jhu.edu/journals/journal_of_korean_religions/v002/2.2.kim.html|issn=2167-2040|url-access=subscription |via=[[Project MUSE]]}}</ref> As Japanese traders arrived in these ports, they brought Shinto practices with them. For example, {{Nihongo||元山神社|Genzan shrine}}, in Wonsan, was constructed in 1882, and was later elevated to National Shrine status by the Japanese in 1936.<ref name="Nakajima" /> By 1911, {{Nihongo||大神宮|Daijingū}}, {{Nihongo||菅原神社|Sugawara Tenmangū}}, and {{Nihongo||金刀比羅神社|Konpira Jinja}} shrines had been established,<ref name=Kim /> ostensibly for the practice of Japanese nationals living there.<ref name=Isomae /> Other active groups included {{Nihongo||金光教|Konkōkyō}}, {{Nihongo||天理教|Tenrikyō}}, {{Nihongo||御岳教|Ontakekyō}}, and {{Nihongo||神理教|Shinrikyō}}.<ref name=Kim />

After the [[Japan-Korea Treaty of 1910|Japan-Korea treaty of 1910]], Korea was fully under [[Korea under Japanese rule|Japanese rule]]. In turn, the Governor-General responsible for managing Korea for Imperial Japan was empowered to expand the use of shrines there.<ref name="Nakajima" /> A year later, a police report on shrine activities in Korea stated that "shrines are established for the purpose of the protection of local areas, and are deeply revered among many residents. Shrines are managed along with other civic groups by the local association of Japanese residents."<ref name=Kim /><ref name="National Archives of Korea">{{cite book|editor1-last=Kim|editor1-first=Taehoon|title=社寺宗教 (Shaji Shūkyō, 1910-1911)|date=1911|publisher=Tōhatsu dai 193 gō 統発第 193 号 Hyanggyō Jaisan Kanpu Sinseishō Kyakuka no Ken 郷校財産還付申請書却下ノ件 (National Archives of Korea's collection of the documents of the Government-General of Korea).|url=http://www.archives.go.kr/next/viewMain.do|language=ko, ja|format=Public Records|chapter=Shrines, Temples and Religion|url-status=deviated}}</ref>

In 1913, to mark the anniversary of the occupation, members of the Korean royal family presented an offering to Amaterasu at [[Keijō Shrine]] in Seoul, signaling their subordination to the Japanese government.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Assimilating Seoul: Japanese Rule and the Politics of Public Space in Colonial Korea, 1910–1945|last=Henry|first=Todd|publisher=University of California Press|year=2014|isbn=9780520958418}}</ref>{{rp|65}} Meanwhile, Japanese expatriates at this time were protective of Japanese customs, and reluctant to engage or inform Koreans about shrine practices, despite government orders to promote them, and the Japanese government struggled to incorporate Korean nationals into leadership roles at the shrines.<ref name=":0" />{{rp|66}}

[[Chōsen Jingū|Chōsen Shrine]], in Seoul, was built in 1920 and was named an Imperial Shrine in 1925 (a few months ahead of completion).<ref name="Nakajima" /> It was the first Korean shrine to be funded by the state, and was established as the first in a series of national shrines to be built in each Korean province.<ref name="Nakajima" /> By the 1930s, it was the Korean Governor-General's policy to build a Shinto shrine in every village in Korea,<ref name=Isomae /> and the total reached 995 by the end of the Japanese occupation in 1945. This was 57 percent of all shrines Japan built outside of Japan during the war.<ref name="Nakajima">{{cite journal|last1 = Nakajima|first1 = Michio|title = Shinto Deities That Crossed the Sea: Japan's" Overseas Shrines," 1868 to 1945.|journal = Japanese Journal of Religious Studies|year = 2010|volume = 37|issue = 1|pages = 21–46|url = http://nirc.nanzan-u.ac.jp/nfile/3002|access-date = 31 January 2016|jstor = 27822898}}</ref> These shrines were more aggressive in their outreach to locals than the expatriate-led shrines had been before.<ref name=":0" />{{rp|80}}

===Compulsory attendance===
In 1925, primary school students and staff were required to attend local shrines as part of an "Imperial subject-making" initiative, ''kōminka seisaku''.<ref name="Nakajima" /> In 1936, shrine worship was made compulsory for university students as well.<ref name="Kim2">{{cite journal|last1=Kim|first1=Sung-Gun|title=The Shinto Shrine Issue in Korean Christianity under Japanese Colonialism|journal=Journal of Church and State|date=1 June 1997|volume=39|issue=3|pages=503–521|doi=10.1093/jcs/39.3.503}}{{ODNBsub}}</ref> Schools refusing to participate in these trips could be closed.<ref name="Nakajima" /> Under the National Mobilization law of 1938, laws requiring Christian schools to visit shrines were expanded to include all Christians.<ref name="Nakajima" /> That September, members of a Presbyterian church in Korea were forced to visit a shrine at bayonet point.<ref name="Nakajima" />

==The Shinto shrine issue==
The question of whether or not it was acceptable for Christians to attend shrine ceremonies was a dilemma that deeply divided the Korean Church particularly during the 1930s,<ref name = Grayson>{{cite journal |last = Grayson |first = James H |title = Christianity and State Shinto in Colonial Korea: A Clash of Nationalisms and Religious Beliefs |date = 1993 |journal = Diskus |volume = 1 |issue = 2 |pages = 13–30 |url = https://jbasr.com/basr/diskus/diskus1-6/GRAYSON.TXT |access-date = 2024-08-12}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last = Shin |first = Seung-yop |date = 2022-09-05 |title = Living with the Enemies: Japanese Imperialism, Protestant Christianity, and Marxist Socialism in Colonial Korea, 1919–1945 |journal = Religions |volume = 13 |issue = 9 |pages = 824 |doi = 10.3390/rel13090824 |doi-access=free }}</ref> with Presbyterians being more strongly opposed and the Methodists and Roman Catholics more tolerant of the practice.<ref name = Grayson></ref> It was however foreign missionaries who had originally been the most outspoken on the issue, but their opposition had meant many were no longer able to stay in Korea, particularly in the north.

On one hand many churches and mission groups believed that it was idolatry,<ref name = Grayson></ref> while many other churches came to trust the Japanese when they claimed that the ceremonies weren't religious in nature but rather just ultra-nationalism. The latter believed that fundamental opposition to shrine worship was doing more harm to Christianity in Korea than it was doing good. Thus, in order to appease the Japanese colonialists and keep Christian schools open, many Christians became increasingly tolerant of shrine worship including the Presbyterian General Assembly, once so opposed to the practice.{{fact|date=August 2024}}

Post-WWII, even today, the Shrine question remains a sensitive issue among Korean Christians.<ref name = Grayson></ref> While many considered it to have been a tactful necessity to keep the Church visible, many others were disappointed by the lack of gospel faithfulness exhibited by Christian leaders in the face of persecution. In the following decades, many pastors (but not all) repented for compromising their faith during Japanese colonialism and were strongly encouraged to be a 'sheep' for a short period as way of restoring the integrity of their faith.<ref name="The Shinto Shrine Issue">{{cite journal|last1=Kim|first1=Sung-Gun|title=The Shinto Shrine Issue in Korean Christianity under Japanese Colonialism|journal=Journal of Church and State|date=1997|volume=39|issue=3|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford, England|pages=100–150|doi=10.1093/jcs/39.3.503|jstor=23921260}}</ref>

== Integration with Korean tradition ==
Japanese Imperial scholars such as [[Torii Ryūzō|Ryūzō Torii]] and {{ill|Ogasawara Shozo|ja|小笠原省三}} advocated the position that Korean and Japanese folk traditions shared a common, shamanic link, which bolstered Imperial Japanese claims about the legitimacy of the Korean occupation.<ref name="Nakajima" /><ref name=Isomae>{{cite web|last1=Isomae|first1=Jun'ichi|title=Discursive Formation Around "Shinto" in Colonial Korea|url=https://www.academia.edu/7624746|website=www.academia.edu|access-date=23 January 2016}}{{dead link |date = August 2024}}</ref> This argument lead them to encourage fusing the worship of the Meiji Emperor with [[Dangun|Dankun]] (だんくん), a legendary founder of Korea. A Korean scholar, [[Choe Nam-seon]], challenged this belief by asserting that Tan'gun was the origination point of Shinto, urging a reconsideration of Shinto as one, localized aspect of a broader shamanistic tradition in Asia.<ref name="Isomae" /> Nam-seon was eventually pressured to promote the idea that Shinto was the key manifestation of this tradition, and that all Asian folk traditions were essentially Shinto in other forms.<ref name="Isomae" />

Other intellectuals at the time emphasized what came to be called "the Inheritance Myth."<ref name=Isomae /> This argued that Dankun, the "[[Kami]]" of Korea, had passed control of Korean land to the [[Imperial House of Japan|Imperial family]], owing to the families deep ties to the Shinto sun goddess, [[Amaterasu|Amaterasu Omikami.]]<ref name=Isomae /> However, the State apparatus declined to fully incorporate Tan'gun into Chosen Shrine, which housed only the kami of Amaterasu Ōmikami and Emperor Meiji.<ref name="Nakajima" /><ref name="Takagi">{{cite journal|last1=Takagi|first1=Hiroshi|script-title=ja:官幣大社札幌神社 と「拓殖」の神学 |title=Kanpei taisha Sapporo jinja to "takushoku" no shingaku)|script-journal=ja:地方史研究 |journal=Chihōshi kenkyū|date=October 1993|volume=245|pages=13–17|language=ja}}, cited in {{harvnb|Nakajima|2010}}</ref>

{{ill|Ogasawara Shozo|lt=Ogasawara|ja|小笠原省三}} also proposed a system where Japanese people in the colonies were seen as [[Amatsukami]] and natives were seen as [[Kunitsukami]].<ref name=":02">{{Cite journal |last1=Kōji |first1=Suga |date=2010 |title=A Concept of "Overseas Shinto Shrines": A Pantheistic Attempt by Ogasawara Shōzō and Its Limitations |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27822899 |journal=Japanese Journal of Religious Studies |volume=37 |issue=1 |pages=47–74 |jstor=27822899 |issn=0304-1042}}</ref>

==Post-war==
With Japan's surrender and the invasion of Korea, Shinto shrines became the focus of contempt, such as with papers posted on walls urging citizens to burn them down. As Koreans began pilfering smaller shrines around the country, Shinto priests at Chōsen Shrine withdrew Japanese relics, and soon created a plan to destroy the Korean National Shrine of their own accord. The site has since been replaced with the [[Ahn Jung-geun]] Memorial Museum.<ref name=":0" />{{rp|205–206}}

===Sect Shinto in Korea===
Today there is a presence of [[Zenrinkyo]] and [[Daehan Cheolligyo]], the Korean-ized form of Tenrikyo, in South Korea.

==References==
{{Reflist}}
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[[Category:Shinto in Korea| ]]