Confucianism in Japan

Abstract Confucianism has been integral to statecraft and state since the inception of Japan’s government in the fifth century CE. Although its forms and visibility have varied widely over this period, Confucianism has consistently fed two competing, paradoxical rationales: one arguing for communal harmony, the other sanctioning state brutality. At times, this paradox underlying Confucianism has also been deeply connected with major trends in literary culture and religious practice and expression. This essay considers Confucianism’s varied manifestations in Japanese history and shows how in contrast to most scholarly claims, Confucianism’s political relevance persisted not only through the premodern period, but also into the twentieth century and beyond 1945, including regional consequences in areas occupied by Japan in the twentieth century. The Tokugawa era, in which there was a multifaceted flourishing of Confucianism, is addressed in a separate essay.