The project investigates a series of significant religious reforms initiated in the 1660s in several regions of Japan that are subsumed under the term Domain Shintō. As part of Domain Shintō reforms, Buddhism and Shintō were reconfigured as separate religious institutions (shinbutsu bunri). This project will study the domains of Aizu and Hirosaki and thereby complement research on Okayama and Mito, which were examined in previous projects (Shintō-uke, Hanryō shintō). Aizu and Hirosaki not only supported Domain Shintō reforms. The lords of both domains were initiated into Yoshikawa Shintō, a newly emerging Shintō school. Its deification of local lords became a characteristic of both domains. The project will thus also investigate the development of Yoshikawa Shintō and its role in the general rise of Shintō in the 17th century.

Previous research on Domain Shintō has indicated that the rise of Shintō in early modern Japan was connected to Confucian currents and the political instrumentalization of Buddhism. These developments were especially significant in Aizu, the domain of Hoshina Masayuki (1611–1673). As a leading figure in the central government (bakufu), Masayuki devised several national religious policies. Due to his support Yoshikawa Shintō rose to prominence and gained an institutional foothold in the bakufu administration. Another prominent supporter of Yoshikawa Shintō was Hirosaki’s lord Tsugaru Nobumasa (1646–1710), whose activities made this domain the second stronghold of Yoshikawa Shintō, besides Aizu, throughout the early modern period.

Earlier investigations of Okayama and Mito have shown that local religious reforms had a much deeper influence on long-term Shintō developments than generally assumed. This legacy of Domain Shintō was quite profound in Hirosaki and Aizu, also because of their continuous interaction with Yoshikawa Shintō. Therefore, the tasks, jurisdiction, and self-representation of Yoshikawa Shintō will also be examined in this project.

Until now, studies in Western languages have dealt with early modern religious reforms in Aizu only in passing; studies on Hirosaki are virtually non-existent. While some relevant research has been undertaken in Japan, scholars both in Japan and the West have rarely dealt with the long-term significance of Shintō-Buddhist religious policies. By applying the concept of Domain Shintō, the project aims to fill parts of this gap.