A Study of the Shrine-Expansion Policy of the Japanese Government-General of Korea in the Light of the Policy for Reproduction and Reformation of Village Rites in Gangwon-Do (江原道)(Special Issue Dedicated to Professor HAYASHI Kousaku)

In 1936, the Japanese Government-General of Korea reorganized the colony's shrine system. This reorganization was carried out for two purposes : first, to promote some of the main shrines to the status of Kokuhei-shohsha (国幣小社), which ranked sixth among nationally-supported shrines ; and second, to increase the overall number of shrines (神社・神祠) as a way of mobilizing Korean people to carry out the Government-General's policies. In this paper I examine principally the second of the two above-mentioned purposes, seeking to clarify the nature of this shrine policy, which sought to make use of the traditional agricultural rites carried out in villages in Korea. Concretely, I analyze how the policy for reproduction and reformation of village rites attempted to create shrines (神祠) by making use of village rites in the region of Gangwon-Do.departmental bulletin pape