Rationalization of State and Society: A Weberian View of Early Japan

Sodo/ogy of Re//g/on 1998, 59:1 65--88
Rationalization of State and Society:

A Weberian View of Early Japan
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K. Peter Takayama*
The Universiryof Memph/s
This paper attempts to interpret Japanese institutional syncretism in light of the Weberian theory
of rationalization.
Much of the historical evidence revolves about the codification of Japanese law and the
increasing formalization (e.g., bureaucratization) of both the political state and religion in early
Japan, and particularly in reaction to the influence of China. Weber's differentiation of the types of
rationality have enabled us to interpret the occurrence of the patterning of Japanese reli~on as syn-
cretistic religion. A particular substantive rationality with an emphasis on methodical ways of life
with the Japanese emperor ( tenno) and Shinto rituals as the sacred spiritual foundation, especially
among aristocracies ~subjugated practical rationality and led to the &ve/o~entof formal rationality
in early Japan.
Many scholars have noted that syncretism characterizes Japanese religion

(e.g., Bellah 1957; Hori 1963; Nakamura 1967; Earhart 1969; Grapard 1984;
Miyaji 1985; Kitagawa 1987). While the Shinto-Buddhism mix represents the
core aspect of Japanese religion, the syncretistic religion of Japan was formed as
the result of combining folk religion, "animistic" Kami worship (or Shinto), with
Buddhism, and Confucian, Taoist, and other Chinese inspired religious tradi-
tions between the 6th andSth centuries, C.E.
Furthermore, a closer look at the syncretic religion reveals that it has a most
intriguing structural feature. Virtually all scholars of the subject acknowledge
that several religious traditions (i.e., Japanese Kami worship or Shinto, Bud-
dhism, Confucianism, and religious Taoism) have kept a measure of their indi-
vidual identities, while becoming facets of the single interlocking religious sys-
tem, Japanese religion. In other words, some symbols, doctrines, and practices of
the traditional religions interchanged with one another and overlaid and
coalesced, creating their own separate systemic, multi-layered pattern: Japanese
religion.
Many different theoretical explanations have been advanced to account for
this intriguing, multi-layered, and fusible system (e.g., Miyaji 1985; Nagashima
1973; Kitagawa 1987; Robertson 1989). Each one of the theoretical interpre-
" Direc~correspordence to K. Peter Takayama, Department o…Sociology and Social u~ork, Universi~ of Mt,mphis,
M~, TN 38152. I aro greaglulto Guy T. Mend/naand the rev/e~ers… :he/rhe/pfu/commentsand sug~esaom.
65
66 SOCIOLOGYOF RELIGION
tations has some merit for explaining some obvious syncretistic elements of the
historical Japanese-cultural tradition. However, a general and yet historically
and situationally-relevant sociological theory that explains the basic patterning
of Japanese religion has not yet been offered.

Filling this void seems to be especially relevant today. On the one hand, the
structure of Japanese religion has been alleged to have significant implications
for the understanding of adaptability and the creative capability of Japanese cul-
ture (e.g., Hori 1963; Robertson 1987; Swygendouw 1986; Rozman 1992). Japan
has a religious culture that is highly "fusible," i.e., that readily absorba elements
of other civilizations and cultures - - in accordance with international circum-
stances. The so-called "Japanese miracle" - - the enormous productive response
of the Japanese to modern Western science and technology - - has been fre,
quently mentioned as a good example of the fusibility and adaptability of the
Japanese mind.
On the other hand, the structure of Japanese religion has been alleged to
have some latent dysfunctional implications for the stable development of social
structure, especially its authority structure (e.g., Maruyama 1963; Eisenstadt
1965; Parsons 1954). Eisenstadt (1965), for example, has argued that unlike the
top authority structures of modern societies, that of Japan is not grounded in one
of the historic religions, Christianity, Buddhism, or Confucianism. It rests on an
"historic-ethnic basis with no generalized orientation" {i.e., Japanese religion)
from which no probable societal tendency can be firmly predicted (e.g.,
Maruyama 1963; Eisenstadt 1965).
This paper is an attempt to view the case of ancient Japan in light of Max
Weber's theory of rationalization in order to explain the distinct patteming of
Japanese religion. The focus of this paper is the early phase of institution-
alization of Japanese religion which took place between the 6th and the 8th cen-
turies. (In a sequel to this paper, the author will treat the second, or elaboration,
phase of Japanese religion, which occurred in subsequent centuries, especially
the 12th and 13th centuries and which decidedly shaped the identity of Japanese
religion.)
While Weber's theory of rationalization will be discussed in detail in the
next section of the paper, its main theoretical thrust is as follows. Weber oper-
ated with a number of different definitions of the term, "rationalization," and
often failed to specify which definition he was using in a particular discussion
(Brubaker 1984; Kalberg 1980). Nonetheless, Weber's conceptualization of
rationalization is stiU one of the most powerful sociological constructs for scruti-
nizing historical processes among patterns of action within civilizations, institu-
tions, social organizations, and classes (e.g., Collins 1980; Levine 1981; Scaff
1989; Ritzer 1992). According to Kalberg (1980), Weber differentiated four
types of rationality and used all four types very productively. AU the types of
rationality involve mental processes that seek to master reality by banishing par-
ticularized perceptions and ordering them intocomprehensive and meaningful
RATIONALIZATIONOF STATEAND SOCIETY 67
regularities (Ritzer 1992: 137). This underlying conception comes closest to the
general view of rationalization which I hold in this paper. Levine (1981) is sup-
portive of this when he argues that Weber is interested in "objective" rationality,
that is, action that is in accord with some process of external systematization.

Similarly, Bellah (1991: 233) has defined Weber's rationalization as "a process of
systematically organizing aU social relations so as to make them the most effi-
cient possible means to maximizing wealth and/or power. Its characteristic insti-
tutions were the self-regulating market and the bureaucratic state."
Weber's theory of rationalization is particularly appropriate for the present
study because the prototype of the societal and institutional framework of
Japanese religion was formed in the 7th and 8th centuries when the Japanese
court was compelled to make two important decisions in pursuit of a unified
bureaucratic state. The first decision was to appropriate the Chinese political,
legal, and administrative structures as well as the Chinese cultural foundations,
especially Buddhism. The second decision was to keep intact the Imperial House
that had developed for some time because the emperor, more as ritual head or
sacred ark, commanded the absolute respect of the Japanese power elite as the
apex of political legitimacy.
Specifically, this study will explore the rationalization process that enabled
the Japanese court not only to appropriate the Chinese political-governmental
system and cultural-religious underpinnings, but also to retain the ultimate
values associated with the emperor and his descendants of the imperial line that
were ultimately born from the deity at the apex of the Shinto pantheon. It is a
basic methodological assumption of this study that the newly codified (i.e.,
written) body of moral injunctions, laws, rules, and regulations regarding
governmental and religious structures embodied the ideal and normative aspects
of Japan's state that the ruling elite so much wanted Japan to live by. In addition
to the Kojiki (The ancient record) and Nihon Shoki (Chronicle of Japan), recent
historical works have enabled us to focus upon the Shinto-Buddhism mix, the
core aspect of Japanese religion.
WEBER'S THEORY OF RATIONALIZATION

A N D RESEARCH PROPOSITIONS
The main objective of this section is to explicate Weber's theory of ration-

alization. My perspective on Weber's concept of rationalization is conditioned
by the work of Kalberg (1980) in his pivotal article on the topic. Kalberg identi-
fies four types of rationalization in Weber: practical, theoretical, substantive, and
formal. He compares the four types especially in terms of their differential
capacities to introduce what Weber conceived as methodicalways of life.
Kalberg believes that the conceptual status of the typology of rationality is
best understood in relation to Weber's well-known typology of action. While the
four types of social action w 1) means-ends rational action, 2) value-rational
action, 3) traditional action, and 4) affectual action - - refer to universal capaci-

ties of Horno sapiens, the first two types of rational action are of great importance
for the theoretical bases of the typology of rationalization.
With means-ends rational action, both ends and means are rationally chosen;

ends and means are systematically related to each other based on knowledge
(Weber 1968: 24). Value rational action is "determined by conscious beliefs in the
value for its own sake of some ethical, aesthetic, religious, or other forro of
behavior, independent of its prospects for success" (Weber 1968: 24-25). Like
means-ends rational action, value rational action involves the rational choice of
means, but the ends are "sanctioned" by a broader value system and therefore
they are not entirely chosen by the actors. They are, however, as Kalberg
emphasizes, experienced internally as compelling of methodical activity.
Only the means-end and value-rational types of social action are the con-
ceptual bases of Weber's large-scale view of rationalization.
Practical rationality (i.e., means-end rationality) is "every way of life that
views and judges worldly activity in relation to the individual's purely pragmatic
and egoistic interest" (Kalberg 1980:1151). This type of rationality arose as the
bonds of prirnitive magic were severed in society. This rationality leads people to
distrust all impractical values but it lacks the ability to introduce methodical
ways of life because it "continually reacts to changing situations instead of
ordering them" (Kalberg 1980:1164).
Theoretical rationality involves a cognitive effort to master reality through
increasingly abstract concepts rather than through action. This type of rational-
ity was accomplished early in history by sorcerers and ritualist priests and later by
philosophers, judges, and scientists. Unlike practical rationalty , theoretical
rationality leads the actor to transcend daily realities in aquest to understand
the world as a meaningful cosmos, but it has the potential to introduce new pat-
terns of action only indirectly.
Substantive rationality directly orders action into patterns through clusters of
values. For Weber, substantive rationality and rationalization processes based on
it always exist in reference to ultimate values (Kalberg 1980: 1155), as in the
case of value rational action. Substantive rationality involves a choice of means
to ends within the context of a system of values. This means that one value sys-
tem is no more (substantively) rational than another. Substantive rationality is
the only type with "potential to introduce methodical ways of life" (Kalberg 1980:
1165). Thus, in the West, a particular substantive rationality with an emphasis
on methodical ways of life - - Calvinism - - subjugated practical rationality and
led to the development of formal rationality. It was the power of special religious
values, more than anything else, which created a new cultural ethos, i.e. the
spirit of capitalista, that subsequently subdued the prevalent practical rational
mode of thinking and led to the institutionalization of modern bureaucratic
structures. Weber believed that without the canalizing influence of Puritan
religious beliefs, modern society would be fundamentally different than it is
today.
Formal rationality involves means-to-ends calculation. Whereas in practical
rationality the means-ends calculation occurs in reference to pragmatic self-

interest, in formal rationality it occurs in relation to universally applied rules,
laws and regulations, and technical knowledges. Weber had certain apprehen-
sions about the increasing dominance, in the West, of the practitioners of formal
rationality, i.e., the bureaucrat and the capitalist. Formal rationality arose only
in the West in conjunction with the ef5lorescence of capitalism.
Kalberg notes that although the types of rationality and rationalization proc-
esses are often discussed by Weber in reference to the path of Western civiliza-
tion's distinctive modernization, they also take shape, in greater of lesser degree,
universaUy. In Kalberg's words, "Weber implies that rationalization, albeit often
of a different kind, takes place in non-Western civilization as well" (Kalberg
1980:1150).
Kalberg also notes that Weber, in his later writing, "repeatedly admonished
his readers to attend to the multivocality of his usage of 'rationality' and
'rationalization'" (1980:1151). In reality, all four types become manifest in a
multiplicity of rationalization processes orchestrated at all levels of social reality.
Ultimately Kalberg (1980:1172) says of Weber's attitude towards a typology
of rationalization:
Far from ends in themselves, the types of rationality were, for Weber, merely the basic heuris-
tic t0ols he employed to scrutinize the historical lates of rationalizationas socioculturalproc-
esses. In doing so, he wished to ascertain which rationalization process or processestypically
penetrated into the different spheres of life and to assess the strength of these processes by
examining the stabilityof their sociologicalroots.
Among Weber's four types of rationality, the type which I find relevant to
the present paper is the substantive type. Readers should be reminded that for
Weber (and Kalberg), long-term rationalization processes are rooted in values
rather than in interests, and that they result in deeply-motivated methodical
behavior. The comprehensiveness and inner unity of substantive rationalities,
especially, are enhanced as their inherent values are ordered and systematized.
Kalberg (1980:1166) makes explicit the relevance of mtionalization to religious
values:
As rationalization proceeds, these vahes come to stand in a relation of consistency not only
to one another but also h/erarch/cd/yunder ah u/t/mateva/ue.In the religioussphere, for exam-
pie, value rationalization implies the breaking down of the discrete values of isolated ritual
practices, u n ~ c t e d magicalceremonies, anda pantheon of gods, each of which demands
sacrifices and Ioyalw, and molding of these amorphous values into increasingtycomlyrehensive
and un/f~ ~ vie~s. (Emphasesadded.)
This rationalization process is precisely the kind that I attempt to explicate
in the case of early Japan. It should be noted, however, that I refer to that
rationalizing process and its outcomes as "syncretism."

Let us now state the research propositions which guide this study.
(1) Prior to Sino-Korean cultural influence on Japan in the 7th century, the Japanese people
had adopted their distinctive and homogenous politico-religious institutions such as the
Japanese imperial institution and aristocracy. These institutions are of remarkable importance
to Japan's subsequent development, includingthe intense rationalizationof the Japanese state
and society.
(2) The initial phase of the institutionalization of Japanese religion as a hybrid structure was
accomplished in the 7th and 8th centuries. This was so largely because the variety of world-
views (especiallythe Shinto-emperor cult and Buddhism) were purposelybrought together by
the imperial court during the most formative and crucial juncture of Japanese history when
the Japanese power elite was determined to build a unified state by borrowing Chinese bu-
reaucratic administration while at the same time retaining their ancient sacred imperial insti-
tution.
(3) It was through the process of codification and objective systematization- - syncretism
that Shinto's ancient sacred values especially regarding the imperial institution incorporated,
ordered, and dovetailed the variety of worldviews, such as Buddhism, resulting in an essen-
tially multilayered, hybrid, fusible system:Japanese religion.
(4) Substantive rationality embedded in the Shinto-imperial cosmological myth dominated

the aristocratic social strata in which the prototype of Japanese religion was formed in the 7th
and 8th centuries. As a result, the universalistic, transnational and metaphysical motif of his-
toric Buddhism had to be directly ordered and integrated as an element into the particular-
istic, nationalistic, and immanent framework of the Shinto-imperial sacred tradition. The
integration (or incorporation) of Buddhism into the Shinto-imperial theocratic framework
(substantive rationalization) subsequently led to the development of formal rationality.
CURRENT THEORIES FOR JAPANESE RELIGIOUS SYNCRETISM
Focusing upon the development of the Shinto-Buddhist syncretism, Miyaji

(1985) emphasizes the superior power of Buddhism over Shinto religion. First,
when the indigenous Shinto cult encountered Buddhism, there was no possiblity
for a full dialectic between them because the Shinto cult was n o t a well-defined
religious system. It was also primarily a local community and kinship-group ori-
ented cult. Second, Shinto could not meet individual spiritual needs nor answer
existential questions as Buddhism could. Third, Buddhism was transmitted on a
large scale to the upper echelon of Japanese society. W h e n the Japanese court
accepted Buddhism, they found in it an ideological base for a unified state.
Unlike Miyaji, Kitagawa (1987) considers the enduring effect of ancient
Shinto cosmology as the important aspect in patterning Japanese religion.
According to him, the ancient Japanese, prior to the Sino-Korean influence,
accepted the plurality of kam/(dieties) residing in different natural beings and
objects; their basic affirmation was the sacrality of the total cosmos. He believes
that Japan, despite the adoption of such universalistic religious-ethical systems,
such as Buddhism and Confucianism, maintained a basically traditional and par-

ticularistic Shinto worldview up to the end of the Second Woi'ld War. To be
sure, the Sino-Korean influence modified the Japanese cosmology, but "never
completely obliterated the early Japanese unitary meaning structure" (1987: 45).
A Shinto cosmological view that "the natural world was the original world" has
continued to influence the infrastructure and tapestry of Japanese religion.
Nagashima (1973) believes that the patterning of Japanese religion occured
as the result of the elaboration of Japanese "counter-cultures," i.e., the set of val-
ues or cultural patterns which the Japanese felt they needed in order to counter
those of the Chinese. The Japanese had been "modernizing" themselves at the
expense of the Chinese for a thousand years. In order to palliate the psychic
stresses caused by their heavy borrowings of Chinese civilization, the Japanese
elaborated their "counter-cultures" considerably more than expected, and the
religious syncretism between Shinto deities and Buddhism was one such elabora-
tion of counter-cultures. Nagashima also believes that the development of short
poetas (e.g., tanka) and certain Buddhist theologies and practices in ancient and
medieval Japan are good examples of syncretistic culture and religion.
Robertson (1987) argues that what makes religious syncretism in Japan rela-
tively unique is that it is indeed an "ism" in the sense that it is a kind of ideol-
ogy. "The central feature of this strong sense of the term syncretism, when
applied to Japan, is that religious traditions have historically been used - - often
by government - - to legitimate each other" (1987: 40). Throughout history
there have been many occasions of this inter-legitimation, from the time of the
introduction of Confucianism in the fifth century to the way in which state
Shinto was promoted during the Meiji period (1868-1912). According to Rob-
ertson, this strong feature has persisted for the past fifteen hundred years in part
because the infrastructure of Japanese religion resides in a throughly institution-
alized polytheism. Having its deepest roots in ancient beliefs in a multitude of
kam/(deities), this polytheism has facilitated a highly instrumental, functional
conception of religion.
INSTITUTIONS IN PRE-HISTORICAL JAPAN
This section commences the Weberian analysis of the major institutional

patterns in prehistorical Japan. As suggested earlier, one of the central argu-
ments of this paper is that several centuries prior to the massive Sino-Korean
cultural influence over Japan in the 7th century, the Japanese people took on
their distinctive and firm institutional character. This was particularly so
regarding the Japanese imperial institution. By the early 7th century the imperial
institution had been in its existence as the firmly established religio-political sys-
tem for more than 200 years.
Prior to the 7th century (that is, before Japan was massively influenced by
Sino-Korean cultures), the life of the Japanese islands had evolved into a state of

civilization despite relatively meager contact with the major center of civiliza-
tion on the continent. The resulting style of early Japanese civilization, while
not distinguished by any outstanding cultural achievement, was nonetheless of
importance to Japan's subsequent social and cultural development. For it was in
these years that the Japanese people took on their distinctive homogeneous
character, the Japanese language acquired its basic structure, anda number of
enduring religious and political institutional structures became firmly estab-
lished. Among them were the Japanese imperial institution, court aristocracy,
and kami (deities) worship among the uji (territorial lineage groups). In addition
to these, irrigated rice cultivation was established (Kidder 1959; Hall 1965).
By the 3rd century Japan was barely emerging from its prehistory. At that
time, the proto-Japanese inhabitants of the islands had no written language or
coherent political system (Sansom 1962), but most of them shared two features:
(1) the idea of kami, which permeates the universe (and by implication,
acknowledges the plurality of sacred beings, e.g., deities, royalties, or unusual
natural phenomena) and (2) the Uji ("clan" or territory based cluster of lineage
groups and their subordinates) (Kitagawa 1987:71). Each Uji was held together
by the Uji chieftain (Uji-no-kami), whose authority over the land and people
within his domain was derived largely from his cultic prerogatives given to him
by the kami of the Uji (uji-gami).
Sometime around the 4th century, C.E., the "imperial" uji based on the
Yamato plain began to solidify its influence over other uji through its military
power and its mythological claim to the genealogical descent from Amaterasu
Omikami (the Sun Goddess). This was the sun-line group which has maintained
its continuous existence to the presentas the Japanese Imperial Family. Holding
as their symbols of authority the "three sacred treasures" (sword, mirror, and
jewels) and worshiping the Sun Goddess at their ancestral shrine of Ise, the chief
of this lineage asserted temporal as well as religious sovereignty over the
Japanese islands assuming the title of mikoto (sovereign) (Hall 1965: i36).
Thus, Japan's imperial institution already existed at the dawn of Japanese
history in about the 5th century, C.E. To be sure it is the oldest hereditary mon-
archy in the world. The title tenno (literaly "heavenly sovereign") was first
assumed by the Japanese rulers in the early 7th century, and it has been used by
all subsequent Japanese sovereigns.
In early Japan, as in many other societies, then and now, the power to exer-
cise authority inhered in family status. Evolving in the early 5th century, but
clearly established and functioning by the early 6th century, Japanese aristocracy
and its major functional structure, the uji.kabane system, were the very fabric of
the sociopolitical organization among the top of the Japanese hierarchy (Miller
1974). By "aristocracy" we refer to a comparatively closed elite stratum of fami-

lies who claim hereditary rights to social privileges, political authority, and
access to higher civilization (Hall 1965: 137). The Uji.kabane system was func-
tioning as the status-bestowing, differentiating structure inherent within Japan's

aristocratic system.
As stated before, the uji was a corporate group of households that were con-
sidered asa single extended kinship unit and that shared the heritable uji name.
Within this group were one or more lineages bearing an additional hereditary
title, the kabane, which carried with it eligibility for the chieftainship of the uji
and the privilege of performing specific services on behalf of the imperial house.
"The uji was, in a very real sense, a kind of asset allowing the chief to playa role
in the court, and the kabane defined his status" (Kiley 1985: 137). To be sure,
the kabane system was limited to Japan's nobility below the level of the imperial
house, and above the infinitely more numerous masses. Thus, the kabane that
were borne by Japan's ancient uji by the 6th and 7th centuries were manifesta-
tions of the status differentiations inherent within Japan's nobility system. As
such they symbolized many of the status-related values of ancient Japanese soci-
ety. In other words, the political structure of the aristocratic apex of the Japanese
society h a d a similar social pattern to what Max Weber (1968: 226-36) called
patrimonialism, in which the exercise of traditional power requires the use of a
set of personal retainers exclusively loyal to the ruler. In the case of ancient
Japan, those personal retainers were, of course, kabane-bearing uji chiefs. Their
loyalty to the imperial court was, first of all, based on the belief that the Japanese
polity was defined by divine revelation, and secondly on their dependence upon
the emperor for their positions and rumuneration.
In this highly stratified theocratic society, ideas surrounding the position of
the sovereign as they were institutionalized in the 5th century had profound cul-
tural significance for Japan's political development. First, the Japanese sovereign,
as direct descendant of the Sun Goddess, was himself considered as ah object of
religious veneration. It was true that the emperor was almost always regarded as
at least the titular head of the state, but because of the otherworldly aura that
engulfed the imperial person, it was also considered inappropriate for the
emperor to concern himself with the secular business of government. That
business belonged to kabane-bearing uji chieftains, i.e., ministers serving the
emperor, and there was a tendency already in early historical times for those
ministers to form dynasties of their own. In the late 6th century, ministers such
as the Soga and Mononobe families formed their own powerful dynasties around
the imperial court.
Second, the sovereign was also thought to possess religious-magical powers
to intercede with deities. His sacerdotal acts as the chief priest of Shinto were
considered of great importance to the well-being of the Yamato state. It was the
duty of the emperor to maintain close contact with the Sun Goddess by
attending to the ritual for her, as well as heavenly and earthly/cara/.
In summary, in ancient Japan the sovereign was considered not justas an
object of faith but also asa fountainhead of value. Indeed, faith and value were
often identical, for it was then that mythology and genealogy, especially regard-
ing the divine origin of the Japanese sovereign, were intertwined to produce a

fundamental value. Undoubtedly, realities and mythologies existed side by side,
and the mythologies were thought to be the absolute value (Miller 1974: 136). It
is almost certain that by the middle of the 8th century, the imperial institution
seemed to have existed since time out of mind, and there were no challenges to
it nor even any conception of an alternative form of government.
THE H R S T RATIONALIZATION MEASURES
This section highlights the first determined effort to rationalize the archaic
governance and political power structures with the Confucian theory of gov-
ernment plus bureaucratic administration and Buddhism borrowed from China.
The traditional imperial institution as religio-political structure, however, was of
remarkable importance to Japan's nation-state building process, including the
intense rationalization of the Japanese state.
Beginning around the end of the 6th century, the Yamato state had urgent
need to dispense with its unstable system of government which was composed of
alliances with powefful uji chieftains and to replace it with a well organized and
powefful state apparatus with centralized powers and the emperor at its apex.
The institution of the Twelve-Cap Ranking System (Kan-i Junikan) was the
first administrative rationalization measure that the Yamato court introduced in
603. This new ranking system, which was emphasized as an act of rationaliza-
tion, was evidently designed to create a strong imperial bureaucracy among
aristocrats in service to the court.
The Twelve-Cap Ranking System is traditionally attributed to Shotoku
Taishi (574-622), probably the most famous statesman in the history of Japan,
who was a prince regent of Empress Suiko (592-628). Whereas the existing
rankings were based upon the traditŸ status system, i.e., the kabane system
within the larger framework of the uji to which one belonged by birth, the new
system of rankings was based on official ranks, and distinguished by formal titles
and costumes in order to reward individual merit and promote the spirit of serv-
ice as well as loyalty to the emperor. The order of ranking was marked by the
pattern and color of the caps; caps of a dark or light shade of purple, green, red,
yellow, white, and black were used to indicate rank and entitled the wearer to
corresponding privileges at court.
This first attempt to replace the traditional hierarchy of heredity (i.e., the
kabane system) with one of bureaucratic appointment and service, however,
faced considerable difficulties. As Weber's (1947: 340) theoretical propositions
suggest, this was indeed an expected occurence. On the basŸ of historical evi-
dence Weber predicted that the development of bureaucratic administrative
RATIONALIZATIONOF STATE AND SOCIETY 75
organization is conducive to the levelling of a social stratificational structure
that is based upon a hierarchy of social statuses. Conversely, every process of
social levelling is likely to create social conditions which favor the development
of bureaucmcy. It was no wonder that the determined effort by some Japanese

power elites to introduce the new bureaucratic system of ranking threatened the
status quo and met powerful reactions from some former chieftains. This is clear
from the issuance of the so-called Seventeen-Article Constitution (Jushichijo
Kempo) in the following year, 604.
This document (written in Chinese) became a central point of reference not
only for the evolving Japanese governmental structure but also in relation to the
ethical and proper behavior of the bureaucrats in the 7th and 8th centuries. In
Varley's (1974: 24) words, the constitutional articles "are epochal in that they
constitute the first written normative statesment in Japanese history of the need
for government by ethical men." The constitution, according to Nakamura
( 1967: 149), is, so to speak, the Magna Carta of Japan.
As some historians (e.g., Sonsom 1943: 72; Brown 1993: 31) suggest, the
constitution may not have been written by Prince Shotoku himself, but the gen-
eral character of these Chinese-inspired injunctions embodied his vision of
political rationalization, a plan that entailed integration of the chieftains of
previously independent uji ("clans") into an aristocracy that would function as
imperial bureaucracy subordinate to the emperor.
Equally significant, from the perspective of this study, is that the injunctions
also embodied Prince Shotoku's vision of moral-religious rationalization, a vision
that supported a court-based unification of Shinto, Buddhist, Confucian and
other symbols and r Namely, the Yamato court made a serious effort to
strengthen the fabric of national community by working out a multi-religious
policy reconciling the particularistic religious tradition with the universal and
rational principles of Buddhism and Confucianism. However, they asserted that
the basis for the multi-religious policy had to be founded on the sacred power of
the Japanese chieftain, the tenno. That is, the constitution affirmed the divine
origin of the Japanese imperial authority. Thus the Seventeen-Article Constitu-
tion may be considered as a harbinger of the important feature of Japanese
religion.
The following a r e a few highlights as well as some passages from the
Seventeen-Article Constitution (Sources 1958:49-53).
Article I insists upon the value of harmony in the community, and gives a waming
against the evils of class feeling. Those above must be harmonious, those below must be well
disposed. This is Confucian doctrine.
Article II enjoins reverence to the Three Treasures of Buddhism - - Buddha, Dharma
(Law), and Sangha (Assembly). This introduces the idea of universality (or universal law).
Sincere reverence of the Three Treasures constitutes the final ideal of all living beings and
the ultimate foundation of all countries.
Article III deliberately sketches the Confucian theory of sovereignty for the Japanese
imperial authority:
When you receive the imperial commands, rail not scrupulouslyto obey them. The Lord
is Heaven, the vassal is Earth. Heaven overspreads, and Earth upbears. When this is so, the
four seasons follow their due course, and the powers of Nature obtain their efficacy. If the
Earth attempted to overspread, Heaven would simply fall in ruin. Therefore is it that when
the Lord speaks, the vassal listens; when the superior acts, the inferior yields compliance.

Consequently when you receive the imperial commands, fail not to carry them out scrupu-
lously. Let there be a wont of care in this matter, and ruin is the natural consequence.
It is clear from the passage that the Confucian categories of Heaven, Earth,
and man were effectively utilized to legitimate the power of the emperor and its
indefinite continuity. Article III says that society is embedded in the natural
cosmos. Justas heaven is naturally above the earth so are the emperor and
superiors naturally above inferiors. Secondly, any attempt to tamper with this
natural hierarchy can produce chaos and ruin (Bellah 1980:31). There is con-
siderable evidence of rationalization of Shinto mythology to bolster the position
of the imperial lineage as the foundation stone for the consolidation of facets of
the semi-independent religious communities. As will be discussed in a following
section, rationalization continues in the 8th century with the codification of
Shinto myths in the Kojiki (Ancient matters) and the Nihon Shoki (Chronicles of
Japan) .
It should be pointed out that there was an important Confucian notion that
was deliberately neglected by the author of the Seventeen-Article Constitution:
the "Mandate of Heaven" that justified the rise and fall of dynasties in China. A
crucial element in this notion was that the people had the right to judge the
ruler and anyone who believed the current sovereign not to have the mandate of
heaven had the right to overthrow hito. Unlike the Chinese sovereign, the
power of the Japanese emperor was hereditary in a line of sovereigns unbroken
since the mythological origins of the nation and his authority was exercised
through his functionaries indefinitely.
EARLY I N S T I T U T I O N A L I Z A T I O N OF C O N F U C I A N I S M A N D
BUDDHISM
In this section we are primarily concerned with the ways in which

Confucianism and Buddhism had their differing and yet systematic
(rationalizing) effects upon the throne and court nobles and their moral-
religious consciousness. The analysis of this early institutionalization of
Confucianism and Chinese Buddhism in Japan suggests that the character and
structure of the so-called Japanese religion as we know it today were already in
the early stage of formation.
During the 7th century Japan was under the sway of Chinese civilization and
culture. Inevitably the Japanese were profoundly influenced by Chinese political
thought (Confucianism), religious values, metaphysics (Chinese Buddhism),
Chinese literature and language, and many other factors of Chinese civilization
(e.g., Sansom 1962). However, the impact of Buddhism on the religious con-
sciousness of the Japanese leaders was most far-reaching. It is the view of this
author that due to its profound metaphysical messages and moral philosophical
teachings, Buddhism enabled the Japanese for the first time to view themselves
in relation to other civilizations and their own past.

First, Iet us briefly review how Confucianism impacted Japan. Max Weber
(1951) noted that Confucianism was a rational religion concerned with events
in this world while maintaining a peculiarly individualistic emphasis. Good
Confucians were less interested in the state of society than their own propriety
and their pious relations (especially with their parents). Weber also noted that
Confucianism had no concept of sin but only of faults resulting from deficient
education. Further, Confucianism had no metaphysics and no concern with the
origin of the world or with the possibility of an afterlife and hence no tension
between sacred and secular.
Bellah (1965) stated that among what he calls the historic religions,
Confucianism was the most nearly archaic in character. Weber (1951, 1958)
believed that without the methodical ways of life, i.e., the transformative power
of religion, the rise of new cultural values was not likely. On this basis Weber
asserted that Confucianism was not very likely to contribute to, or generate, ah
oriental form of capitalista.
Confucianism, however, had gone through a process of rationalization in
China. The process was basically oriented to practical rationality. Waley (1934:
20-25) saw this as a transition from an "auguristic-sacrificial" stage to a
"moralistic" stage, a transition which began about 400 B.C.E. and was essentially
completed by the time of Hsu Tzu (298--238 B.C.E.). Thus Confucianism in
Japan was from the first a rationalizing influence especially in the sphere of
ethics (Bellah 1957: 69)
Confucianism probably entered Japan in the 5th century, about a century
earlier than the time of the Buddhists's entry in the 6th century, but the
Japanese were reluctant to adopt the political thought and ethical precepts of
Confucianism during those early years. This was probably due to the fact that
the social structure of Japan before the 7th century was too hierarchical. It was
also cLannish and fragmented (e.g., Takayama 1995).
Bit the 7th century, however, Japan was ripe for dramatic changes. As
described earlier, Confucianism in early Japan from the first decade of the 7th
century to the end of the 8th century underwent a course of rationalization
similar to that sketched above for Confucianism in China a millenium before.
By the first decade of the 7th century, the Yamato court adopted the Seventeen-
Article "Constitution" which was to a significant extent framed and validated in
terms ofConfucian categories of political thought and ethical precepts.
By the middle of the 7th century the Chinese Ritsuryo system was introduced
to Japan. The R/tsu~o system, which combined a kind of penal code with an
administrative and civil code, provided a common basis of mutual understanding
among emerging nations on the periphery of China. In 645, following a series of
78 S(~IOLOGYOF RELIGION
bloody power struggles among uji centered around the court, including the coup
d'etat, the court adopted key elements of governance from this Confucian-based
Ritsuryo model (the so-caUed Taika Reform), particularly that aspect of the sys-
tem associated with a centralized state headed by an absolute sovereign, the

terlrlO.
The Taika Reform edicts of 645, while not constituting a law code, man-
dated basic social, fiscal, and administrative institutions of the Ritsuryo state.
The main intent of the Taika Reform edicts, however, was to nationalize all
agricultural land m that is, to make ir the emperor's l a n d - and render all the
people of the country direct subjects of the throne. This "idealized" concept of
land equalization had evolved from Confucian equalitarianism, which held that
the equal division of land would render the people content and harmonious.
The actual drafting of law codes of the Ritsuryo state in Japan, however, took
more than five decades following the Taika Reform edicts of 645. During those
years major efforts were made to produce codes that, while maintaining Chinese
principles of organization, would be appropriate in a Japanese context. In the
late 7th century, Shinto and the traditional sacred authority of the tenno under-
went an unprecedented rationalization process of their own; Confucianism, from
which the Ritsuryo codes were derived, was integrated and co-opted into Shinto.
Buddhism in early Japan, from its beginning in the mid-6th century to the
early 9th century, underwent a course of rationalization similar to that sketched
above for Confucianism in China and Japan. There were from the beginning a
certain small number of Buddhists who understood something of the more philo-
sophical and rational forms of their religion, but most Japanese were attracted to
Buddhism's great appeal on the level of art, ritual, and magic rather than doc-
trine (Earhart 1969). Even literate aristocrats, who were small in number at the
close of the 6th century, were primarily attracted emotionally and aesthetically
to the exotic sutra and paraphernalia used in intricate ceremonies performed at
impressive temples built in a continental style (Sonoda 1993: 350).
The arrival of Buddhist priests from China and Korea, however, had very
powerful and sometimes systematic effects upon the apex of the ruling elite as
weU as the court. Early in the 7th century the Japanese court elite were just
learning to manage the Chinese writing system, so it took speciaUy-trained
Buddhist priests to read, interpret, and expound the Chinese translations of
Buddhist scripture. These Buddhist priests, while serving the court as tutors and
advisors, introduced the basic tenets of Buddhism, e.g., that this is a world of
suffering, that all things are impermanent. They also introduced the Buddhist
ideas of universality, equality, and justice. As noted above, political leaders like
Prince Shotoku expected Buddhism to be a central element in building a unified
bureaucratic state and reforming life in Japan.
Looking at the macro-institutional spheres, the acceptance of Buddhist faith
by the Japanese was relatively rapid, although it was at the initial phase vigor-
ously resisted by powerful uji (clan) leaders around the court. The acceptance
fluctuated according to the fortunes of leading uji chieftains struggling for power
around the throne (Earhart 1969: 22). The most powerful uji chieftains at the
Yamato court in the second hall of the 6th century were the Soga family (tax
officials), the Nakatomi family (priests for kami worship), and the Mononobe

family (professional soldiers), all with territorial claims in the Yamato plain.
When finally the pro-Buddhist Soga family won control of the court, Buddhism
was definitely accepted by the state. In order to develop a new state religion that
would exercise a powerfuI influence over the people as well as its political rivals,
the Soga adopted Buddhist practices, built temples, and sponsored the clergy.
Buddhism thereafter made progress under the patronage of Prince Shotoku, the
regent under Empress Suiko (593-628).
Buddhism in Japan in the 7th century was confined to the upper echelon of
the population, the aristocratic class. The common people - - the overwhelming
proportion of the people u remained ignorant of the literate religion,
Buddhism, as well as Chinese civilization. They labored in the fields or engaged
in crafts. Consequently, Buddhism in early Japan was very much influenced and
affected by the cultural life style of the ruling aristocracy which typified the
country from the 7th through the 12th centuries.
The rule of the aristocracy in Japan was based on special claims of noble
descent and on the mastery of the superior culture derived from the continent.
As mentioned earlier, during the 7th century the elite uji of Yamato converted
themselved into a tight group of nobilities who by virture of their superior social
status and economic privileges maintained a very sophisticated and exquisite
life-style high above the level of the common people. Especially in the first half
of the 7th century the aristocmts in their striving for new status and power drew
upon the prestige of Chinese cultural institutions and on the superior govern-
mental administration.
Buddhism was patronized asa means of extending status and power of the
aristocracy. They primarily approached and understood Buddhism in terms of
practical rationality in that their dominant interest was to protect the welfare of
the court and state.
In summary, Buddhism made substantial progress in the upper social strata
for the following reasons: (1) Buddhist priests possessed highly developed
transnational and rational knowledge and values as well as many specialized
technical skills such as carpentry and architecture; (2) these values, knowledge,
and skills all carne in the garb of written Chinese language which itself had great
intellectual and artistic appeals; (3) there were strong desires to emulate Chinese
models of cultural achievements and bureaucratic administration among the
competing dynastic leaders around the court (Earhart 1969: 23).
While Buddhism was being accepted by the court and state in the public
sphere, it was being accepted at the court in the private sphere. Apart from pro-
fessional monks and nuns there were from almost the beginning of Buddhism in
Japan a certain small number of Buddhists who were definitely drawn to the his-
toric Buddha's message that enlightenment could be achieved only by freeing

oneself from attachment to anything impermanent, including life itself (e.g.,
Matsumae 1993: 539). For example, Prince Shotoku was said to be one of the
Buddhists. Having "converted" to the Buddhist faith, he retained a Korean tutor

and read, interpreted, and expounded several sutras, explored the devotional
aspects of the religion, and influenced the mode of cloister life through his con-
victions. Ienaga (1969) sees in the person of Shotoku Taishi for the first time in
Japanese history the religious rejection of the world through negative evaluation
of man and society and the exaltation of another realm of reality as alone true
and infinitely valuable. According to Ienaga, Shotoku declared that the world is
a lŸ and that only the Buddha is truth. Ienaga's interpretation, though not yet
generally accepted, is provocative and appealing. Bellah (1970:111), for exam-
pie, says: 'q'his is absolute denial of the actual world, which is very sharply dif-
ferent from pre-Buddhist tradition in Japan, which accepted the world we live in
as the world without any problem." Bellah (1970: 117) calls this conversion
experience the "moment of transcendence" that played a vital role in breaking
with the restraints of the pre-Buddhist tradition in Japan.
According to Ienaga (1967: 69), Prince Shotoku's son, Prince Yamashiro,
may have had an even deeper conversion experience. Ienaga says that
Yamashiro had a model of humanity restoration (ningen-sei kaifuku) by which an
individual is willing to give his own life for the welfare of ordinary people living
in this mundane world. Sonoda (1994: 384) cogently paraphrases Ienaga and
states: "the Japanese - - who has not until then been able to rise above the nar-
row thoughts and beliefs of closed agricultural society - - made their first great
leap into a new spiritual world."
Thus, Buddhism began to penetrate into the consciousness of some
individuals, transforming the spiritual and moral-social dimension. That is, at
least a few Japanese began to experience what Weber calls substantive rational-
ity in that they believed in the ultimate values of Buddhist teachings regarding
the salvation. Nevertheless, according to Bellah (1970: 117-8), for various
reasons, this spiritual tradition of transcendence opened up in the early 7th cen-
tury had been submerged and almost drowned. One possible reason for this is
that Prince Shotoku's thinking about Buddhism was not weU understood by his
contemporaries because of his political position or simply because his position
was so advanced.
THE MAKING OF JAPANESE RELIGION
Buddhism was on its own way to becoming an institutionalized religion in

Japan during the second half of the 7th century and it became a state religion
during the Nara period (8th century). Buddhism was accepted by Japanese
leaders because it was viewed as an integral part of the Chinese culture and
civilization that was sure to strengthen the state and enhance imperial authority.
It was not, therefore, really surprising to find that the acceptance of the
imported religion did not lessen the power and saliency of the native kam/wor-
ship among aristocratic officials who now staffed the state bureaucracy. Even
aristocratic Buddhist faithfuls did not feel that they were pressured to abandon

their traditional kami worship, especially associated with the Sun Goddess and
her incarnate kami, emperors.
Matsumae (1993: 355) suggests that around the end of the 7th century the
aristocratic Buddhist faithful began to assign different functions to Shinto and
Buddhism. In other words, they began to perceive in their minds that Shinto
and Buddhism had their separate set of religious functions to pefform. He writes
of their perceptions as follows.
Shinto explained the origins of the Japanese state and sanctified the position and functions of
emperors,... Shinto, moreover, linked the court to its own past and to the animistic nature
worship that still underlay the whole structure of Japanese society. Buddhism, on the other
hand, providecl a metaphysical cosmic view elaborated by sophisticated teachings. The
Japanese state order was seen as a reflectionof the Buddhist world order.
This seems a plausable explanation of the way the Japanese power elite con-
sidered both Shinto and Buddhism as probably necessary to comprise the whole
structure of religiosity in Japan and to perform needed complimentary functions
for the Japanese in their newly emergent nation-state. The initial development
of a similar pattern of perception or vision, as we saw earlier, had taken place in
the minds of the few statesmen like Prince Shotoku a half century earlier, and it
had been woven into the Seventeen Article Constitution. But by the last quar-
ter of the 7th century, as Matsumae (1993) suggests, the patteming of the per-
ception became much more pronounced as both Shinto and Buddhism were
officially brought to the support of the court, the state, and the aristocracy.
Once the Japanese carne to realize that Shinto and Buddhism had been
actually playing their complimentary religious roles, ir was highly probable that
these religious traditions were on their way to forming a syncretic faith while
still maintaining their individual identities. Many scholars (e.g., Miyaji 1983;
Hori 1967; Nakamura 1967) believe that when the Shinto cult encountered
Buddhism, there was no possibility f o r a full dialectic between them, because
Buddhism, with its universalistic ethical system and rational-literate teachings,
tended to subjugate and incorporate a basically ethno-cultural and particularistic
Shinto worldview.
This explanation suggests a picture of what may have happened as lar as the
first one hundred years of Buddhism in Japan were concemed. This author, how-
ever, is willing to argue that beginning with the last quarter of the 7th century,
Shinto began to have the upper hand in co-opting and subordinating the
imported faith. This "reversal" took place without much difficulty, because
during the same period Shinto and the state underwent an unprecedented
process of rationalization, part of which was oriented by substantive rationality
in that the mythology regarding the divine origin of the Japanese sovereign was
believed to be the ultimate value.
It is the central thesis of this paper that to an important extent the early
institutionalization of Japanese religion as syncretic should be sought and under-

stood in the mythological and highly stratified political contexts of ancient
Japanese society in which Buddhist practice was co-opted into the indigenous
Shinto worldview.
In order to protect as well as to assert the traditional sacred authority of the
tenno and imperial institution and to properly regulate and channel the powerful
influence of Buddhist structures such as temples, Shinto and state underwent
unprecedented rationalization processes of their own. In the religious sphere, for
example, rationalization meant that those on the side of Shinto were strongly
encouraged to question the discrete values of isolated ritual practices and
unconnected magical ceremonies, and mold these amorphous values into
increasingly comprehensive and unified worldview. That is, the aristocratic
power elites who believed in the ultimate value of the Shinto-imperial sacred
tradition were determined to make Shinto into a religion with a philosophy and
structure that would enable it to subordinate Buddhism.
After the Great Reforms (i.e., the Taika reform of 645), both Buddhist tem-
ples that had been under pro-Buddhist Soga family patronage and the Shinto-
emperial cult were now placed under the two wings of the court and state
bureaucracy. This was the beginning of the transformation of Shinto into a state
religion.
The rationalization of Shinto took place initially in the tracing of the
legitimacy of the tenno and putting it into writing. The court had compiled two
imperial family histories. The Kojiki (The Ancient record) and the Nihon shoki
(Chronicle ofJapan), both completed in the early century. There is a substantial
difference between the two works, the former being more of a literary exercise,
the latter more of a history. Both, however, reflect the spirit of the age; both
related the age of the gods down to the origins of the tenno and his descendants.
Since Chinese script was used, the myths and legends were inevitably influenced
by Chinese thought. But the two oldest extant records are ah important store-
house of early Japanese myths and they are often considered as sacred scripture
of Shinto.
The Shinto cause was greatly enhanced by the compilation of the imperial
family histories. In their effort to assert ideological underpinnings for sacred
imperial authority, the court had myths of the "age of the Kam/" arranged in a
logical sequence, beginning with the creation of the universe and ending with
the divine birth of the first human emperor. Both Kojiki and Nihon Shoki equally
emphasized that ultimate responsibility and all power resided in the person of
the tenno. In this way, to borrow New Testament phraseology, in the tenno, God
and Caesar were made one. It should be underscored that there are elements in
these sacred books of an intense nationalism that contained a determination to
assert Japan's independence from China asa country in its own right on a par
with China.
It should be recalled that faith and value were often identical in ancient
Japan, for it was then that mythology and genealogy, especially regarding the

divine origin of the Japanese sovereign, were intertwined to produce a funda-
mental value. In fact, realities and mythologies existed side by side, and the
mythologies were thought be the ultimate value (Miller 1974: 136).
In this religious and social context, most court officials including the
chroniclers of the two sacred works believed in the value of the tenno as incar-
nate for its own sake, independent of its prospects for success. They literally wor-
shiped and even venerated their emperor because of his divine origins, his relig-
ious-magical powers to intercede with divinities, and his role as the sacred
peacemaker. In other words, by the end of the 7th century when the Kojiki and
Nihon Shoki were commissioned to be compiled, the Japanese rulers were con-
vinced that all changes of the world had occurred, and would continue to arise
from the will and power of divine beginnings, the Sun Goddess and her descen-
dants, the tenno (Naoki, 1993: 227). The belief in the tenno as incarnate for its
own sake represents a manifestation of substantive rationality since the tenno
existed in reference to the ultimate value of the ancient mythology.
Since the compilation of the Kojiki and the Nihon Shoki, the tennohad come
to have the greatest temporal power during the 8th century. As noted earlier,
prior to the massive Sino-Korean cultural influence, the tenno's sacerdotal role
had been clearly of much greater significance than his administrative one. In
fact it had been held that the emperor should be above secular matters. But the
efforts to have a unified bureaucratic state brought the sacerdotal and political
power of the tenno to the highest point.
As the consequence of attaining absolute power, the tenno not only
remained as the chief Shinto priest but also came to be at the same time the
prime protector of Buddhism who sought to legitimate his rule by performing
traditional Buddhist "good works" on a scale beyond the capabilities of others.
This association of the imperial institution with Buddhism remained permanent,
even after the atrophy of its political functions, and certain head abbacies of
major Buddhist temples continued to be reserved for members of the imperial
family. Perhaps this accounts for the fact that in contrast to the case in China,
Buddhism in Japan retained its institutional vitality throughout its history,
though Buddhism in Japan was transformed to adapt to various historical and
political conditions.
It is precisely during the same period (when Shinto underwent
unprecedented rationalization processes as detailed above) that bureaucratic
rationalization of the state took place. As described earlier, in the year 645 law
codes, collectively known as the Ritsuryo (penal and administrative codes)
system, were adopted as key elements of governance from the Tang China (the
Taika Reform). But actual codification of law began more than five decades later
with the Taiho Code (Taiho Ritsuryo) of 701 and the Yoro Code of 718
(promulgated 757). It should be noted that this elaborate legal codification
reached maturity in the early 8th century, and thereafter slowly gave way to a
regime of customary law and estatist privilege.

T h e Yoro Code contained about 1,500 articles in 32 chapters that compre-
hensively prescribed the degree of punishments for all kinds of criminal offenses
as well as regulating the central administration. The contents of the Yoro Code
reveal an intense concern with social stratification by status, and perhaps secon-
darily with distribution of property and economic goods among differentially
ranked administrative officials (Steenstrup 1991: 35). Because the Taiho Code
of 701 was the first comprehensive Japanese code, many scholars today consider
its promulgation in the year 702 as the official beginning of the classical
Japanese state (e.g., Uyeyama 1990). It should also be noted that the Yoro Code
was the last full ritsuryo codification and that itis the best-preserved Japanese
code. Furthermore, at least on paper the Yoro Code was in force until the Meiji
Restoration of 1868.
The tenno officially assumed the guise of absolute ruler, when the Taiho
Code was put in effect in 702. During the early 8th century, sovereign power,
centered in the imperial rule, was articulated downward through complex
bureaucratic hierarchy (Kiley 1983: 139). Although the power structure still
took the form of an oligarchy of elite families, the affairs of state were now con-
ducted through bureaucracy. In other words, former uji.kabane successfully con-
verted themselves into a civil nobility centered on the imperial court. They
finally consolidated their hold over a fairly unified country.
The penal codes (ritsu) prescribed generally light punishments in accord
with the Confucian ideal of seeking good government through the inculcation
of virtue rather than the imposition of harsh penalties. On the other hand, the
administrative codes (ryo) reflected a conscious attempt on the part of the
Japanese to adapt Chinese administrative practices to Japanese sentiment and
values. This can best be seen in the establishment of the Council of Kami
Affairs (Jin~kan) directly below the throne on the same level asa Chinese-style
Council of State (Daijokan). Devoted exclusively to native Shinto and the court
ritual associated with it, the Council of Kami Affairs constituted an important
concession to the purely Japanese attitude toward rules (Miller 1974: 11). In
other words, as a natural consequence of rationalization, Shinto cosmological
values were institutionally and prominently grafted to the newly formed state
bureaucracy. This was not really surprising, however, since the uninterrupted
succession of the throne and tenno's sacerdotal role as national mediator to the
Sun Goddess was of paramount importance to the reformers (Valey 1974: 34).
The Council of State (Daijokan), which was the highest administrative body
directly below the throne, was divided into eight ministries: Central Affairs,
Ceremonial, Justice, Personnel, Civil Affairs, War, Treasury, and the Imperial
Household. Its leading officer was a chancellor (da/jo daijin). Following in rank
were the ministries of the Left and Right (sadaijin and udaijin), with numerous
officials in charge of departments, bureaus, and offices. Among these eight min-
istries, the ministries of Imperial Household, Ceremonies, and Treasury were
ranked the highest, because they dealt with the affairs of the tenno and courtiers

(Sansom 1943: 104).
The high rank given to Shinto affairs can be seen in contrast to the rank of
Buddhist affairs within the bureaucratic structure. Unlike Kami affairs, Buddhist
affairs were not assigned to a separate council but to a Bureau of Buddhist Priests
and Aliens (Genba-ryo) within the Ministry of Civil Affairs. Why were Buddhist
affairs relegated to a bureau within one of the ministries in spite of official and
popular support for Buddhist temples and priests? Brown (1993) correctly sug-
gests that the Japanese in the late 7th century no doubt felt that "kami worship
was the stronger arre of the two-winged religious system" (Brown 1993: 34).
Furthermore, according to Brown, "Buddhism was more foreign and secular than
kami worship" (Brown 1993: 34).
The aim of the government in sponsoring Buddhism was clear. It was not
the salvation of the people but the protection of the state and court. In terms of
the basic orientation of the court to Buddhism, no doubt practical rationality
dominated in that Buddhism was primarily viewed a s a means to ah end.
Nakamura (1960: 457) was correct when he said that the Japanese used
Buddhism "asa means and instrument to realize a certain socio-political end.
They were not converted to Buddhism. They converted Buddhism to their own
tribalism." For this practical purpose, the government was not discriminatory, as
long as Buddhism was willing to be subordinated to the sacred Shinto and the
imperial institution.
CONCLUSIONS
This paper has attempted to interpret Japanese institutional syncretism in

light of the Weberian theory of rationa~izadon with its familiar dimensions of
institutionalization of law codes, codification, and formal systematization in gen-
eml, and of course bureaucratization in major institutional realms (polity and
religion).
Facing international instability, notably threats of invasion from Korea and
China, the Yamato state had urgent need to dispense with its unstable system of
government (which was composed of alliances with powerful families) and to
repLace it with a well organized and powerful state apparatus with centralized
powers and the emperor at its apex of power.
In order to achieve this it was decided to appropriate the Chinese Ritsuryo
system and to base Japanese governmental organization on it as it was being
practiced under the Tang dynasty. Thus the classical Japanese state, in short,
originated from the combination of ancient sacred kingship (tenno) with a
bureaucratic adtiainistration and Buddhism borrowed from China, beginning
around the end of the 6 century C.E. The origins of Japanese religion as sycretis-
tic religion were also essentially derived from the same sources. From the begin-
ning, the borrowing was deliberately planned and carried out.
At the center of state government of Japan was the Emperor, whose legiti-

macy was based on descent from the main Shinto deity, the Sun Goddess.
Japanese society was organized into a system of uji, each of which also claimed
divine descent. In short, Japanese society was characterized by hierarchy or rigid
status differentiation. The framework of government, however, was a Chinese-
style imperial state, which was organized in Japan under a series of law codes in
the Chinese language, and which culminated in the Taiho Ritsuryo Code.
Institutions of government were also supported on a broad base of Chinese cul-
ture, including Chinese language, literature and of course religion, especially the
Chinese version of Buddhism (i.e., the Mahayana variety).
Thus, the beliefs and practices of China entered Japan and began to overlay
the beliefs and practices of Japan during a period of intense rationalization of
building a unified bureaucratic state beginning around the middle of the 7th
century. As shown, the initial making of Japanese religion as the "emergent pat-
tern" should be and can be best understood in the same context as the rationali-
zation of the state. In the 7th and 8th centuries Buddhism and Shinto did not so
much combine as remain two parallel religions, as the ancient sacred kingship
and an imported Chinese bureaucratic administration did not so well blend with
one another.
Buddhism, however, provided for Japan a much more rational, universalistic
orientation than previously had been available in the Shinto tradition.
(Confucianism also provided for Japan and Japanese religion a rational orienta-
tion which was grounded in a Chinese bureaucratic administration.) Both
rational and universalistic orientations were apparently needed to "overcome"
the particularistic and "ethnic" mental out[ook for state building. It was
fortunate indeed that early Japanese Buddhism, like Chinese Buddhism,
emphasized practical rationality, not substantive rationality. It was convenient
that early Japanese Buddhism was of the Mahayana variety (in contrast to the
Hinayana variety), which would not threaten to deny the very foundations of
the Japanese state. Instead, early Japanese Buddhism inclined to protect people
from lamine and illness as weU as to protect the welfare of the state.
Having summarized the main arguments of the paper, a few concluding
observations regarding syncretism ate in order.
First of all, historians have shown that in Europe, in the Americas, and in
Southeast Asia, primitive and archaic types of prehistoric religions were
frequently smothered by the spread of historic religions: Christianity, Buddhism,
and Islam. (For the types of religions and their evolutional "stages", see Bellah
1970.) Kami worship in general and the ancient sacred imperial institution in
particular, however, have not been smothered in Japan by many hundreds of
years of govemment-supported Buddhism. It is true that the phenomenon of a
RATIONALIZATION OF STATE AND SOCIETY 87
highly organized and universalizing religion overlaying but not replacing a primi-
tive and/or archaic type of religion can also be found in the history of the diffu-
sion of Christianity and Islam. But even without looking at the examples pro-
vided by the Roman and Saracen empires, there are many cases where rulers of a

historic religion "take over" from the rulers of an archaic religion. As historic
religion spreads among the masses, the archaic one is gradually pushed into the
background and suppressed, to survive only as a few fragmentary practices taken
up into the historic religion. T h e coexistence of Buddhism and Shinto in Japan
provides a considerable contrast with cases such as these.
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Rationalization of State and Society: A Weberian View of Early Japan

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Rationalization of State and Society: A Weberian View of Early Japan

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Sodo/ogy of Re//g/on 1998, 59:1 65--88

Rationalization of State and Society:

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Many scholars have noted that syncretism characterizes Japanese religion

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WEBER'S THEORY OF RATIONALIZATION

The main objective of this section is to explicate Weber's theory of ration-

action, 3) traditional action, and 4) affectual action - - refer to universal capaci-

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(4) Substantive rationality embedded in the Shinto-imperial cosmological myth dominated

CURRENT THEORIES FOR JAPANESE RELIGIOUS SYNCRETISM

Focusing upon the development of the Shinto-Buddhist syncretism, Miyaji

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INSTITUTIONS IN PRE-HISTORICAL JAPAN

This section commences the Weberian analysis of the major institutional

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1974). By "aristocracy" we refer to a comparatively closed elite stratum of fami-

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THE H R S T RATIONALIZATION MEASURES

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In this section we are primarily concerned with the ways in which

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toric Buddha's message that enlightenment could be achieved only by freeing

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THE MAKING OF JAPANESE RELIGION

Buddhism was on its own way to becoming an institutionalized religion in

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This paper has attempted to interpret Japanese institutional syncretism in

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