Honda Chikaatsu’s Spiritual Learning as a Means of Bringing Blessings and Guiding the Nation

This article discusses the purpose, content and reception of the healing and spirit-possession methods of Honda Chikaatsu 本田親徳 (1822–1890) and his followers. It investigates what the methods were intended for, how they were practiced, and how they were received by the government, the common people and the elite. These methods were for all intents and purposes meant to benefit and glorify the new Imperial Japan under the Meiji government that Honda venerated and adored. Although the modernizing Meiji government outlawed such magico-religious practices, spirit-possession methods—and healing methods in particular—were in high demand among the faithful at shrines such as those where Honda’s disciples served as priests. At the same time, some very prominent individuals were intrigued by Honda’s spirit-possession methods and the strategic benefits they promised.