Kokugaku was a National revival

Romantic nationalism

Romantic nationalism is the form of nationalism in which the state derives its political legitimacy as an organic consequence of the unity of those it governs...

, or, school of Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

ese philology

Philology

Philology is the study of language in written historical sources; it is a combination of literary studies, history and linguistics.Classical philology is the philology of Greek and Classical Latin...

 and philosophy

Philosophy

Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...

 originating during the Tokugawa period. Kokugaku scholars worked to refocus Japanese scholarship away from the then-dominant study of Chinese, Confucian, and Buddhist texts in favor of research into the early Japanese classics.

History

What later became known as the kokugaku tradition began in the 17th and 18th centuries as kogaku ("ancient studies"), wagaku ("Japanese studies") or inishie manabi, a term favoured by Motoori Norinaga

Motoori Norinaga

was a Japanese scholar of Kokugaku active during the Edo period. He is probably the best known and most prominent of all scholars in this tradition.-Life:...

 and his school. Drawing heavily from Shinto

Shinto

or Shintoism, also kami-no-michi, is the indigenous spirituality of Japan and the Japanese people. It is a set of practices, to be carried out diligently, to establish a connection between present day Japan and its ancient past. Shinto practices were first recorded and codified in the written...

 and Japan's ancient literature, the school looked back to a perceived golden age of Japanese culture and society. They drew upon ancient Japanese poetry, predating the rise of the feudal orders (in the mid 12th century) and other cultural achievements to show the 'emotion' of Japan. One famous 'emotion' appealed to by the kokugakusha is 'mono no aware

Mono no aware

, literally "the pathos of things", also translated as "an empathy toward things", or "a sensitivity to ephemera", is a Japanese term used to describe the awareness of , or the transience of things, and a gentle sadness at their passing.-Origins:...

'.

The word 'Kokugaku', coined to distinguish this school from kangaku (Chinese studies), was popularized by Hirata Atsutane

Hirata Atsutane

was a Japanese scholar, conventionally ranked as one of the four great men of kokugaku studies, and one of the most significant theologians of the Shintō religion. His literary name was Ibukinoya.-Life and thought:...

 in the 19th century. It has been translated as 'Native Studies' and represented a response to Sinocentric

Sinocentrism

Sinocentrism is an ethnocentric perspective that regards China to be the center of civilization and superior to all other nations. The related but distinct concept of the superiority of the Han Chinese ethnicity both within and without China is known as Han chauvinism.- Overview and context...

 Neo-Confucian

Neo-Confucianism

Neo-Confucianism is an ethical and metaphysical Chinese philosophy influenced by Confucianism, that was primarily developed during the Song Dynasty and Ming Dynasty, but which can be traced back to Han Yu and Li Ao in the Tang Dynasty....

 theories. Kokugaku scholars criticized the repressive moralizing of Confucian thinkers, and tried to re-establish Japanese culture before the influx of foreign modes of thought and behaviour.

Eventually kokugaku thinkers succeeded in gaining power and influence in Japanese society. Later, their thought influenced the Sonnō jōi

Sonno joi

is a Japanese political philosophy and a social movement derived from Neo-Confucianism; it became a political slogan in the 1850s and 1860s in the movement to overthrow the Tokugawa bakufu, during the Bakumatsu period.-Origin:...

 philosophy and movement. It was this philosophy, amongst other things, that led to the eventual collapse of the Tokugawa in 1868 and the subsequent Meiji Restoration

Meiji Restoration

The , also known as the Meiji Ishin, Revolution, Reform or Renewal, was a chain of events that restored imperial rule to Japan in 1868...

. In addition state Shinto

State Shinto

has been called the state religion of the Empire of Japan, although it did not exist as a single institution and no "Shintō" was ever declared a state religion...

 and state socialism

Socialism in One Country

Socialism in One Country was a theory put forth by Joseph Stalin in 1924, elaborated by Nikolai Bukharin in 1925 and finally adopted as state policy by Stalin...

 developed from kokugaku thought and thus indirectly led to Japan's imperialist expansion throughout the late nineteenth and early to mid twentieth centuries.

Tenets

According to David Margarey Earl, the Kokugaku held that the Japanese national character was naturally pure, and would reveal its splendour once the foreign (Chinese) influences were removed. The "Chinese heart" was different from the "true heart" or "Japanese Heart". This true Japanese spirit needed to be revealed by removing a thousand years of negative Chinese learning.

Notable Kokugaku scholars

• Hagiwara Hiromichi
  Hagiwara Hiromichi
  was a scholar of literature, philology, and nativist studies as well as an author, translator, and poet active in late-Edo period Japan. He is best known for the innovative commentary and literary analysis of The Tale of Genji was a scholar of literature, philology, and nativist studies...
  
  
• Hirata Atsutane
  Hirata Atsutane
  was a Japanese scholar, conventionally ranked as one of the four great men of kokugaku studies, and one of the most significant theologians of the Shintō religion. His literary name was Ibukinoya.-Life and thought:...
  
  
• Kada no Azumamaro
  Kada no Azumamaro
  was a poet and philologist of the early Edo period, who hailed from a scholarly family that for generations had supplied Shinto priests to the Inari shrine in Fushimi...
  
  
• Kamo no Mabuchi
  Kamo no Mabuchi
  was a Japanese poet and philologist of the Edo period.Mabuchi conducted research into the spirit of ancient Japan through his studies of the Man'yōshū and other works of ancient literature...
  
  
• Katori Nahiko
• Motoori Norinaga
  Motoori Norinaga
  was a Japanese scholar of Kokugaku active during the Edo period. He is probably the best known and most prominent of all scholars in this tradition.-Life:...
  
  
• Motoori Ōhira
  Motoori Ōhira
  was a scholar of Kokugaku, and was the successor to Motoori Norinaga's school master. His pen name was Fuji no Kakitsu （藤 垣内）.- Life :Ōhira was born in Matsuzaka of the province of Ise . He was a son of Inagake Munetaka （稲懸 棟隆 or 稲掛 棟隆） who was a Merchant and Norinaga's pupil...
  
  
• Motoori Haruniwa
  Motoori Haruniwa
  was a scholar of Kokugaku, and student of the Japanese language. He was a first son of Motoori Norinaga. He was called Kenzo in childhood.-Life:...
  
  
• Nakane Kōtei
  Nakane Kōtei
  was a Japanese writer who lived during the late Edo Period and early Meiji Era. Writing under the pen name of Kōtei, his given name was Kiyoshi . He was the second son of Sone Nao , and his patrilineality root was the Kai-Genji clan .- Biography :...
  
  
• Ueda Akinari
  Ueda Akinari
  Ueda Akinari or Ueda Shūsei was a Japanese author, scholar and waka poet, and a prominent literary figure in 18th century Japan...
  
  
• Date Munehiro
  Date Munehiro
  Date Munehiro or Chihiro（Japanese:伊達 宗広 or 千広; June 24, 1802 – May 18, 1877）was a Samurai of Kii Domain and Scholar of Kokugaku, living during the late Edo Period and early Meiji Era. He was father of Mutsu Munemitsu（陸奥 宗光...
  
  
• Fujitani Mitsue
• Tachibana Moribe

External links

• The Kokugaku (Native Studies) School.
• Kokugaku — Encyclopedia of Shinto.