DEGUCHI (OR WATARAI), NOBUYOSHI

(1615-1690)

A hereditary priest, lecturer and writer of the Geku shrine of theIse Jinguand the most important spokesman of the revivedWatarai Shintoof theTokugawaperiod. At the age of six he was assistant to thegon-negi. He is referred to also asWatarai, Nobuyoshi since he was originally from the Watarai family. His works include the yofukki (Return to yang) which reorganised Ise or Watarai shinto along the lines ofshushiConfucianism, the Daijingu shinto wakumon (questions on the Shinto of the great shrine of Ise) of 1666 by which he sought to rescue Ise or Watarai Shinto from its current obscurity within the geku priesthood, and various commentaries on theShinto gobusho. Unusually for Shinto theorists he developed an idea of salvation—that on death a good man would go to sit betweenAmaterasuandAme-no-minaka-nushi. He became theWatarai Shintotutor ofYamazaki Ansai. Deguchi's lectures and writings moved Ise Shinto away from Buddhism towards popular Confucian morality linked to religious observances. His concept of 'natural' Shinto may have influencedMotoori, Norinaga's early thinking.