Stories of the Japanese 01647 [Muromachi/Saigoku/Rokkakuseibatsu] Yoshida Kanetomo: Skilled Oratory
Yoshida Kanetomo. I had known his name since high school because it was in our high school Japanese history textbook, but I had no idea he was such an outrageous figure.
November, the 16th year of Bunmei (1484). Yoshida Kanetomo (1435–1511), the chief priest of Yoshida Shrine, secured as much as 1,000 kanmon in funding from Hino Tomiko and built an octagonal shrine hall called the "Saijosho" on Mount Yoshida. The eight million gods of the nation were enshrined there, and it was advertised that "simply visiting this place provides the same benefits as visiting every shrine in Japan." Kanetomo self-proclaimed this to be the "most sacred site in the land of the gods."
Let me introduce what kind of person this Yoshida Kanetomo was.
Yoshida Kanetomo was born as the heir to Yoshida Shrine (Sakyo Ward, Kyoto), but he seemed to have a natural talent for business and steadily made a name for himself amidst the chaos of the Onin War.
Kanetomo first became a topic of conversation in October of the 9th year of Bunmei (1477) when he held an Anchin-sai (pacification ritual) to pray for the end of the war. Since the Onin War happened to end the following month, Kanetomo loudly advertised that it was due to the miraculous efficacy of his ritual, which drew much attention. In reality, it seems he simply timed the ritual to coincide with the period when the war was likely to end.
In November, Kanetomo applied to the Imperial Court to impose a transit tax to raise funds for the construction of the "Saijosho." In his application, he falsely claimed the title of "Shinto-cho" (Chief of Shinto), and the Imperial Court, not fully understanding the situation, granted his request.
There must have been people who were wary of Kanetomo's shadiness, but he steadily increased his fan base within the Imperial Court. Kanetomo frequently gave lectures on the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki to court nobles, and his oratory skills were so masterful that his lectures were famous for being filled with constant laughter.
Then, in October of the 12th year of Bunmei (1480), Kanetomo was chosen as a lecturer for Emperor Go-Tsuchimikado's Nihongi Dokusho-hajime (a ceremony where the Emperor studies myths such as the Nihon Shoki). In other words, he gained the opportunity to lecture the Emperor directly.
His lectures there also gained a reputation, and Kanetomo was highly favored by Emperor Go-Tsuchimikado. Emboldened by this, Kanetomo used the financial support from Tomiko to build the "Saijosho" in November of the 16th year of Bunmei (1484). As mentioned above, he advertised that the eight million gods of the nation were enshrined there and that visiting it provided the same benefits as visiting every shrine in Japan, which infuriated Ise Grand Shrine, but Kanetomo remained completely unbothered.
From this point on, Kanetomo would begin a movement to pick fights with existing Shinto traditions and establish a new one. This is what is known as "Yoshida Shinto."
A self-proclaimed scholar who says, "The lectures are incredibly interesting, but the content is nonsense." We still have people like that today, don't we?