A Shinto Shrine Turned Local: The Case of Kotohira Jinsha Dazaifu Tenmangu and its Acculturation on O‘ahu

Abstract

This project examines the institution of Hawai’i Kotohira Jinsha Dazaifu Tenmangu in Honolulu as an example of a New Religious Movement. Founded in Hawai`i, the shrine incorporated ritual practices from Sect Shinto customs brought to the islands by Japanese immigrants. Building on the few available scholarly studies, I hypothesize that while Hawai`i Kotohira Jinsha Dazaifu Tenmangu takes the ritual conduct, priestly training, and the festival calendar from a Japanese mainland style of Shinto, the development of the shrine since its foundation in 1920 to the present reflects characteristics of a New Religious Movement. Elements such as the location of the shrine outside of Japan, attendee demographics, non-traditional American and Hawaiian gods included in the pantheon, the inclusion of English as the lingua-franca during festivals and rituals, and the internal hierarchy and structure (both political and physical) lend to the idea of Hawaiian Shinto being something unique and outside of the realm of Sect, Shrine, or State Shinto in Japan.