YOSHIDA (OR URABE), KANETOMO

(1435-1511)

Shinto supremacist and founder ofYuiitsu Shinto, unique, peerless or unitarian Shinto, known also as Yoshida Shinto. Born into the 21 st generation of theYoshidafamily (formerly called the Urabe, diviners andonmyo-sha), Kanetomo inherited priestly responsibilities for theYoshida jinjaat a time when the court nobility was less and less able to support this shrine to the ujigami of theFujiwara. Accordingly, Kanetomo developed a form of unification (yui-itsu) Shinto combining the existingShingonandTendaiBuddhist understanding of kami with onmyo and Chinese five elements cosmology and adapting Shingon rituals to enrich Shinto.He explainedkami(deities), rei (spirit) andkokoro(the human heart) as a form of absolute existence prior to the creation of heaven and earth and promoted the idea that theyaoyorozu no kami Kami'myriads of kami' formed a unity rather than an unconnected pantheon, and that this unity should be worshipped on Mt. Yoshida. He attracted the vigorous hostility of the priests of theIse jinguby announcing in 1489 that the deity of Ise had transferred its residence to the Yoshida shrine. His intention was to bring all official kami-worship under the control of the Urabe/Yoshida family, and he was to a large extent successful in this, since the Yoshida became responsible for granting shrine ranks. Kanetomo's teachings strongly influenced the doctrines of, amongst others,Yoshikawa, Koretari, founder ofYoshikawa shinto.