Kokugaku (国学; lit.National study or Japanology) was a ethnocentric school of Japanese philosophy originating during the Tokugawa period. Ethnocentrism (Greek ethnos (nation + -centrism) or ethnocentricity is the tendency to look at the world primarily from the perspective of ones own culture. ... History of Japan Paleolithic Jomon Yayoi Yamato period ---Kofun period ---Asuka period Nara period Heian period Kamakura period Muromachi period Azuchi-Momoyama period ---Nanban period Edo period Meiji period Taisho period Showa period ---Japanese expansionism ---Occupied Japan ---Post-Occupation Japan Heisei The Edo period (江戸時代) is a division of Japanese...

Literally the term kokugaku means 'national study'. It was a response to Sinocentric Neo-Confucian theories, dominating in the Tokugawa shogunate as the state philosophy, that many Japanese nationalists saw as unpatriotic. Sinocentrism is the concept that China lies at the center of the world. ... Neo-Confucianism (理學 Pinyin: Lǐxué) is a term for a form of Confucianism that was primarily developed during the Song dynasty, but which can be traced back to Han Yu and Li Ao in the Tang dynasty. ... The Tokugawa shogunate or Tokugawa bakufu (徳川幕府) (also known as the Edo bakufu) was a feudal military dictatorship of Japan established in 1603 by Tokugawa Ieyasu and ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family until 1868. ...

Heavily influenced by Shinto and the legends of Japan's foundation by Emperor Jimmu, the kokugaku advocates sought a return 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 'glory' of Japan. Kokugaku thinkers were to some degree subversive of Tokugawa authority as they strongly supported a restoration of direct imperial rule which had been absent since the rise of the Minamoto clan and the foundation of the Kamakura shogunate. These philosophers were strongly anti-Sinocentric and saw Japan as the world's divine nation and destined to rule all other nations. Many referred to Japan as Chugoku, or the Middle Country - the traditional name given to China. Interestingly, the anti-Sinocentric kokugaku theory itself, however, is implicitly based upon logics of the Sinocentric one: Neo-Confucianism. A torii at Itsukushima Shrine Shinto (神道 Shintō) (sometimes called Shintoism) is a native religion of Japan and was once its state religion. ... Emperor Jimmu (神武天皇; Jimmu Tennō; given name: Kamuyamato Iwarebiko) was the mythical founder of Japan and is regarded as a direct descendant of the Shinto deity Amaterasu. ... Minamoto (源) was an honorary surname bestowed by the Emperors of Japan of the Heian Period to their sons and grandsons after accepting them as royal subjects. ... The Kamakura shogunate (鎌倉幕府) was a feudal military dictatorship ruled by the shoguns from 1185 to 1333. ...

Eventually the kokugaku thinkers succeeded in gaining power and influence in terms of Sonnō jōi 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. In addition state Shinto and state socialism (which contrary to its name was actually much more akin to fascism than Marxism) developed from kokugaku thought and thus directly led into Japan's imperialist expansion throughout the late nineteenth and early to mid twentieth centuries. Sonnō jōi (尊皇攘夷) is a Japanese political philosophy and a social movement, which was derived from Neo-Confucianism; it was also a political slogan in 1850s-60s, meaning Revere the Emperor, Expel the Barbarians, or being commonly translated as The origin of the philosophy can be seen in Takenouchi Shikibu... 1868 was a leap year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... The Meiji Restoration (明治維新; Meiji Ishin), also known as the Meiji Ishin, Revolution or Renewal, was a chain of events that led to a change in Japans political and social structure. ... National socialism may refer to: Nazism, the political ideology of the German Nazi Party of the 1930s to 1940s. ... Fascism (in Italian, fascismo), capitalized, was the authoritarian political movement which ruled Italy from 1922 to 1943 under the leadership of Benito Mussolini. ... Marxism is the political practice and social theory based on the works of Karl Marx, a 19th century German philosopher, economist, journalist, and revolutionary, along with Friedrich Engels. ...

See Also

• Japanese nationalism
• Motoori Norinaga