Fukko Shintō

views updated

Fukko Shintō (from Chin., fu-ku, ‘restore the ancient way’; Jap., ‘Restoration Shintō’). A Shinto movement that arose in the 18th cent. and sought to reconstruct ancient Japanese native religious practices as they were imagined to exist prior to the introduction of foreign creeds like Buddhism and Confucianism. The major figures of this movement include Kada Azumamaro (1669–1736), Kamo no Mabuchi (1697–1769), Motoori Norinaga (1730–1801), and Hirata Atsutane (1776–1843), all of whom were also known as ‘National Learning’ (kokugaku) scholars.