The Separation of Religion and Politics in the Ancient Age of Japan

      The reason why Yuuko Kuranishi propounds such a view as that relation of sibling deities should have been proto-type of the separation of religion and politics in Japan is that there remains a Chinese history book in Wei dynasty, Gishi-wajin-denn, which also recorded circumstances of Japan in 3^rd century. According to this foreign history book, in ancient age of Japan, there was an interesting system of governance that a shrine maiden, Himiko, who could receive divine revelation lived in a tall many-storied building and that it was only her brother who was admitted to hear the oracles. This description suggests us that the ancient Japanese governance was based on the dual system composed of a religious authority and a political power, maybe between a sister and a brother or so.

Japan history politics

religionculture