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Interesting is that some post below this one there is a small book with a washed-up version of Shinto, that is the ideology that lead to this and other war atro

by sbassi 4y ago

Interesting is that some post below this one there is a small book with a washed-up version of Shinto, that is the ideology that lead to this and other war atrocities.

ThrowawayR2 4y ago
You perhaps meant to say bushido, the extremist warrior code embraced by Japanese samurai (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bushido https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bushido), instead of (state) Shinto, the modified religion that encouraged nationalism and emperor worship (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_Shinto https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_Shinto)?
Hayvok 4y ago
Simply saying that "Shintoism" led to atrocities is a massive oversimplification of the Japanese during WW2. This topic is so complex and Japanese culture (especially pre-WW2 culture) is so complex that I hesitate even to comment on it. Ever since the war ended scholars have been trying to make sense of the unique cultural stew that led to the atrocities, mass suicides (civilian and military), and organized Japanese units continuing to fight into the 1950s and individuals as late as the '70s. Shintoism, Bushido, Zen Buddhism, the imperial system with a living-deity emperor, and anti-western colonialism (just to name a few) all played into it.
krapp 4y ago
The ideology that led to this and other war atrocities was Western imperialism. State Shinto[0] blended the Imperial government's authoritarian doctrine with religion in a similar way that Nazism did with German culture, but was more a matter of propaganda than religion. In particular, emperor worship was an invention of the state and not an aspect of traditional Shinto practice. [0]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_Shinto https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_Shinto
- bowsamic 4y ago
  Sorry that you're getting downvoted, this is a totally accurate and well informed take
  - krapp 4y ago
    I think people saw the words "western imperialism" and reflexively downvoted. Happily, cooler heads seem to be prevailing.
robonerd 4y ago
It's not something special to Shinto. Similar programs have been proposed and developed (if not actually carried out) in many other ideological contexts. The Chinese used suicide tactics against the Japanese, as did the South Koreans against North Korean tanks. America built a man-portable nuclear bomb and although it came with a timer, the soldiers who were trained to deploy it believed this would be a suicide mission.
bowsamic 4y ago
Buddhism was also used to support the war. Are you going to claim that Buddhism is an ideology that led to war atrocities? Btw Shinto wasn’t even made into an official religion until the Meiji restoration, really it should be thought of as Kami worship, and depending on the Kami it involves very different things. Buddhism and Shinto were also heavily syncretised until the Meiji restoration. The Buddhist bodhisattvas and Buddhas were even made into kami iirc
- kergonath 4y ago
  > Are you going to claim that Buddhism is an ideology that led to war atrocities? There is nothing special about Buddhism. Any ideology can be used to justify atrocities and none of them should be considered unimpeachable. Just ask the Rohingya.
  - bowsamic 4y ago
    Yes but I don't see them making that claim, but they should. Maybe you misread my comment, I wasn't saying "are you even going to claim that _Buddhism_ has led to war crimes?", I'm asking if the poster will also commit to that point, since they must also do so logically

by sbassi 4y ago

Interesting is that some post below this one there is a small book with a washed-up version of Shinto, that is the ideology that lead to this and other war atrocities.

ThrowawayR2 4y ago

You perhaps meant to say bushido, the extremist warrior code embraced by Japanese samurai (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bushido https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bushido), instead of (state) Shinto, the modified religion that encouraged nationalism and emperor worship (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_Shinto https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_Shinto)?

Hayvok 4y ago

Simply saying that "Shintoism" led to atrocities is a massive oversimplification of the Japanese during WW2. This topic is so complex and Japanese culture (especially pre-WW2 culture) is so complex that I hesitate even to comment on it. Ever since the war ended scholars have been trying to make sense of the unique cultural stew that led to the atrocities, mass suicides (civilian and military), and organized Japanese units continuing to fight into the 1950s and individuals as late as the '70s. Shintoism, Bushido, Zen Buddhism, the imperial system with a living-deity emperor, and anti-western colonialism (just to name a few) all played into it.

krapp 4y ago

The ideology that led to this and other war atrocities was Western imperialism. State Shinto[0] blended the Imperial government's authoritarian doctrine with religion in a similar way that Nazism did with German culture, but was more a matter of propaganda than religion. In particular, emperor worship was an invention of the state and not an aspect of traditional Shinto practice. [0]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_Shinto https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_Shinto

bowsamic 4y ago
Sorry that you're getting downvoted, this is a totally accurate and well informed take
- krapp 4y ago
  I think people saw the words "western imperialism" and reflexively downvoted. Happily, cooler heads seem to be prevailing.

robonerd 4y ago

It's not something special to Shinto. Similar programs have been proposed and developed (if not actually carried out) in many other ideological contexts. The Chinese used suicide tactics against the Japanese, as did the South Koreans against North Korean tanks. America built a man-portable nuclear bomb and although it came with a timer, the soldiers who were trained to deploy it believed this would be a suicide mission.

bowsamic 4y ago

Buddhism was also used to support the war. Are you going to claim that Buddhism is an ideology that led to war atrocities? Btw Shinto wasn’t even made into an official religion until the Meiji restoration, really it should be thought of as Kami worship, and depending on the Kami it involves very different things. Buddhism and Shinto were also heavily syncretised until the Meiji restoration. The Buddhist bodhisattvas and Buddhas were even made into kami iirc

kergonath 4y ago
> Are you going to claim that Buddhism is an ideology that led to war atrocities? There is nothing special about Buddhism. Any ideology can be used to justify atrocities and none of them should be considered unimpeachable. Just ask the Rohingya.
- bowsamic 4y ago
  Yes but I don't see them making that claim, but they should. Maybe you misread my comment, I wasn't saying "are you even going to claim that _Buddhism_ has led to war crimes?", I'm asking if the poster will also commit to that point, since they must also do so logically