The Birth and Rise of the Ishida Shogunate: Volumes 1 and 2 - An A-H Japan AAR

Apologies for the lateness of this update, I've been a little sick recently (a cold on New Years Eve, why?!!!), plus work, study and M&B With Fire and Sword (I don't get why people dislike the game so much) have kept me away from writing. Anyways, thank you all for sticking around until the end, and I hope to see you all for Volume 2!

Scholar: I saw an opportunity [to explain the partition of Poland] so I grabbed it with both hands! In case you're all wondering, all this Hapsburg/Bourbon "throne switching" is actually my insurance policy against the French AI: If they decide to take Catalonia off Spain or something I can just write it off as the latest in a long line of Franco-Spanish rivalries dating back to the War of Spanish Succession!

Arliou: thanks for clarifying.

Selzro: Thank You Very Much! As I believe this is your first comment too, welcome aboard!

Terraferma: Thanks! It has been a while since someone has done a double, hasn't it?

King: Thank You!

Avindian: Thank you too!

Dewirix: Welcome back! I'm honestly surprised anyone got that reference, I thought it too old and obscure! I haven't really thought much about Russia, because Japan hasn't thought much about Russia either. I have kept Japan out of continental affairs so far for a reason and I want Russia to be as powerful as possible so yes, it did happen as historically and more importantly, Japan doesn't particularly mind (after all, It isn't Siberia Japan and Russia both have claims on...).

Hidetaka's sudden death caused something of a constitutional crisis. Hidetaka's only son was practically a newborn at 11 months old, and Hidetaka had made no provision or will, let alone laid out a regency council like Hideyoshi had done. An emergency session of the Kizokuin was convened in order to determine who would rule Japan in young Hidetsugu's place for the next 15 years until he came of age.

In the spirit of the late Taiko's Go Tairo, a regency council of five daimyo was to be appointed: one from Kyushu and Shikoku, two from Honshu and one from Hokkaido. To ensure legitimacy and prevent any jealous daimyo from getting ideas above their station, the regents would be elected by their peers, the Kizokuin.


The Kizokuin - like perhaps all similar legislatures - had started out as a body of independents who over time developed factions and groups with one another based on a shared political ideal or philosophy, the precursors to today's modern political parties. In the late 18th century, Japan's Kizokuin had three such factions.

The first and largest (and therefore most powerful) faction was also as old as the Kizokuin itself. The late Shogun Ishida Mitsunari knew that to ensure stability he would need a large body of supporters in the Kizokuin in order to keep the other daimyo in line. This faction grew over time, and developed delusions of grandeur and more than a touch of hubris, based on the perception that they were the Shogun's vanguard, a pillar of a shogunate which would collapse without them to hold it up. They called themselves (modestly enough) the Ishida Shogunate, and could be counted on to provide Hidetsugu with loyal support in the years to come. Their leader in the Kizokuin was typically the reigning Shogun himself, the current "acting" leader was Mouri Takakage.

To the left of the "Shogunites" were an ultra loyalist group of devout Catholics and free traders, known to the Kizokuin as the Pro-Rangaku[1] daimyo. The Rangaku faction was founded by Otomo Yoshinobu as a sort of Shogunite "ginger group" for the promotion of Catholicism, free trade and foreign trade and the "Westernisation" of Japan. The Pro-Rangaku were always a small faction in numbers terms, yet were able to successfully assert an influence disproportionate to their size, an example being their endorsement of pro-western Ishida Mitsushige for Shogun. Unlike the Shogunites who were blindly loyal to the Shogun and Shogunate, the Pro-Rangaku were loyal to the ideals of certain Shoguns (namely Mitsunari and Shigeru), believing these to be the "true essence" of the Ishida Shogunate. They remain fiercely loyal to the Shogunate and will "take the Shogunite whip" at times, but will not hesitate to turn on a "backwards-thinking" or isolationist Shogun. Their leader was typically the Otomo clan head, currently Otomo Yoshihiro.

On the opposite end of the Japanese political spectrum were the dreaded Pro-Imperial daimyo. Enough has been said about them and their reactionary policies in the past, suffice to say they like the Emperor and hate the Shogunate and most would probably want poor young Hidetsugu to be deposed. A minority, led by the "secret traitor" Uesugi Harunori[2], felt that the young Shogun could be "manipulated" into supporting a "pro-Imperial agenda" as Shigenori was.


The regency election commenced the day after Hidetsugu's 1st birthday, 26 days after Hidetaka's death. Daimyo were only allowed to vote for one candidate, and only within their own region. The Results for the 1761 regency election were as follows:

Kyushu Electorate: (13 constituencies)

Lord Otomo Yoshihiro of Hizen (Pro-Rangaku) 11/13 Votes
Lord Shimazu Shigehide of Satsuma (Pro-Rangaku) 2/13 Votes

Chugoku Electorate: (16 constituencies)

Lord Mouri Takakage of Aki (Ishida Shogunate) 11/16 Votes
Lord Ukita Nagaie of Bizen (Ishida Shogunate) 4/16 Votes
Lord Chosokabe Nobuchika of Tosa (Pro-Rangaku) 1/16 Votes

Central Honshu Electorate: (20 constituencies)

Lord Maeda Toshiro of Kaga (Ishida Shogunate) 11/20 Votes
Lord Otani Yoshiyuki of Owari (Ishida Shogunate) 9/20 Votes

Kanto and East Honshu Electorate (17 constituencies)

Lord Uesugi Harunori of Echigo (Pro-Imperial) 7/17 Votes
Lord Konishi Yukio of Edo (Pro-Rangaku) 6/17 Votes
Lord Sanada Masamura of Shinano (Ishida Shogunate) 4/17 Votes

Hokkaido and North Honshu Electorate: (5 constituencies)

Lord Date Murakata of Mutsu (Pro-Imperial) 4/5 Votes
Lord Matsumae Takara of Ezochi (Pro-Rangaku) 1/5 Votes

The results were mostly a foregone conclusion with the exception of Kanto and East Honshu. Lord Konishi Yukio was popular, intelligent and well respected, and although his principal opponent Uesugi Harunori was also, his "reactionary ideological leanings'' were considered a liability, swinging the vote in Yukio's favour. In a most petty and foolish act, Sanada Masamura -who had no chance of winning - announced his candidacy for the regency. Masamura and his two vassals successfully split the anti-Uesugi vote, allowing Harunori to sneak in and take the regency by a margin of only one vote. Worryingly, this gave the Pro-Imperial Daimyo two regents on the council.



Ruling the country was only half of a regents job, more importantly they were to act as a mentor to the soon-to-be Shogun and to help shape his education. Harunori and Mitsukata took this part of the job very seriously, taking young Hidetsugu out hunting and fishing in order to earn his trust. As one might expect, the Pro-Rangaku daimyo were none too pleased by Harunori and Murakata's overtures, and Yoshihiro tried his best to wean the young Hidetsugu away from them and their backward views. Yoshihiro wanted to bring up Hidetsugu a good Catholic, and arranged for him to have a strict religious education. This did nothing to endear young Hidetsugu to Catholicism or Yoshihiro, quite the opposite in fact.

Hidetsugu grew to resent Yoshihiro's meddling, and gravitated more and more towards his "uncle" Harunori and his "unfortunate" political leanings. A close bond grew between the two men which lasted throughout Harunori's life, Hidetsugu's first act as Shogun was to appoint Harunori as his chief advisor. Hidetsugu never fully adopted Harunori's political views, let alone those of the Pro-Imperial Daimyo, yet Harunori made enough of an impression on him to keep him politically conservative and a follower of the Buddhist religion, he would be the last Shogun to do so.



If there is any lesson to be learned from the 18th century, it is that absolute monarchies should never support republican revolutions in other lands, lest those dangerous ideologies seep into their own lands. Unfortunately for the Bourbon Kings of France and Spain, they had to learn this the hard way.

Britain - and England before it - had been a thorn in the side of the Spanish for centuries, and the French for several centuries before that. As they say, "Britain's difficulty is France's opportunity", and the American revolution was a chance to drive the British out of North America for good, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity indeed.

Hidetsugu wasn't particularly interested in the American revolution, and Japan remained thoroughly neutral and uninterested throughout the whole affair. Japan had no financial interests in the region at all. The geographic distance between Japan and the Thirteen Colonies alone made trade thoroughly impractical, these being the days before the Panama Canal.

The French and Spanish supported the Americans wholeheartedly, sending troops and ships in support. It wasn't long before these troops became exposed to republican ideals and started to get ideas above their station about how they could start a revolution in their own countries. France was the first in 1789, followed quickly by Spain in 1791. These two revolutions would alter the political landscape of the world forever.

Much has been said about Napoleon and the French Revolution elsewhere that needs not repeating here, however the lesser known Spanish revolution is perhaps worth further discussion. Unlike their northern brothers, the Spanish revolutionaries were fanatics, true believers in radical republicanism with a missionary's zeal to boot. The Directorio wanted to spread the republican message to as many countries as possible, starting with it's own colonies.

Admirers of the American revolution, the Directorio felt that the new world could be a shining example of their ideals, "one, two, many republics across America!" was their warcry. The Directorio envisioned a South and Central America consisting of several independent republics, each specifically designed to balance each other out, after all a series of wars between republics wouldn't be a good advertisement for Spanish republicanism would it? The Conference of Sevilla (1792) laid about a bold vision for redrawing the map of Spanish Latin America by the end of the century, as shown below.


Republican Spain wasn't content to spread republicanism in just it's own lands though, just as with the Spanish inquisition some centuries earlier, their Iberian brothers had to "benefit" from Spain's "innovations" too. By now Napoleon had been crowned Emperor and was wreaking havoc in Western Europe while Britain - the main disincentive to declaring war on Portugal due to the alliance between the two countries - was busy trying to contain France in The Netherlands. The time was ripe for a Spanish invasion of Portugal.

back in japan Shogun Hidetsugu was outraged; first the French had invaded Japan's friend and trading partner the Dutch, and now their allies had invaded his other friend and trading partner! His lack of interest in foreign affairs, coupled with a desire to avoid antagonising Japan's new trading partners in the New World had kept japan neutral in the Napoleonic Wars so far, but this was considered too much for Japan to tolerate. A punitive expedition was launched, comprising of 36'000 of Japan's most elite troops and led by the Shogun's own son, Ishida Hideki. The target was The Spanish Philippines, and seeking to emulate the victory their forefathers had won over Spain a century ago, the men and their commanders were confident of victory.

It was not to be. Japan's armed forces were relatively unchanged since the days of Mitsunari and Ieyasu, armed with yari spears and yumi bows, katanas and kunitomo arquebuses, all the while dressed to the nines in traditional samurai armour which wouldn't have looked out of place in the Heian period. The Spanish on the other hand, had muskets and modern artillery, grapeshot and all. In scenes reminiscent of the Great War, Japanese troops foolhardily charged the Spanish artillery positions only to be mowed down by grapeshot, their armour made them easy targets and offered no protection against musket balls. On the first day, a mere 4'000 Spaniards managed to inflict 12'000 Japanese casualties, a third of their total expedition force. Amongst the casualties was Ishida Hideki, who as a true samurai general would, led from the front. When word reached home the Shogun was more than distraught, he was in a state of mental anguish. He and his countrymen had expected a quick and easy victory and instead were treated to a catastrophic defeat, Japan had been shaken out of it's complacency forever, the time for reform was at hand.

Offers of peace were made to Spain and France almost immediately, fortunately neither had any desire to prolong the war with Japan so they were accepted. Japan may have been defeated, but France's Emperor - who was said to be an admirer of Japan and it's warrior spirit - offered some words of consolation:

"When Japan moves, it will move the whole world"

Napoleon would ultimately fail in his quest for European domination, Waterloo sealing his fate, and his Spanish allies too would fail in their dreams for peace in South America. Within a generation of Sevilla, Peru would go to war with the UCSA, Gran Columbia would split in three over which side to support* and Uruguay would with their independence from Argentina, with more than a little help from Chile and Paraguay. Republicanism in Europe ultimately failed too; Napoleon crowned himself emperor while a Bourbon was placed back on the thrones of France and Spain after the war. Napoleon may have been wrong in thinking he could defeat the Russians, Prussians, Austrians and the British, but little did he know he would be right about Japan.



The death of his son Hideki changed Hidetsugu's personality dramatically, he began to suffer severe bouts of depression and loneliness at the expense of his work. Hidetsugu delegated more and more of his work to his ministers and bureaucrats while he took to women and drink. The upside of this was that Hidetsugu soon had a new heir, Ishida Hidetoshi, who was born in 1820. The downside, for the reactionaries at least, was that most of the ministers and bureaucrats were non-isolationist, if not outright Pro-Rangaku supporters. Hidetsugu wasn't big on parenting so it was these men (pro-Rangaku Kizokuin leader Otomo Takeshi first and foremost amongst them) to whom Hidetoshi would regard as his chief mentor and ally, much as his father had done with Uesugi Harunori. Hidetoshi was a bright and intelligent young boy, with a keen interest in all things foreign. Takeshi fueled these interests, arranging to have him raised as a Catholic and taught foreign languages, namely English, Portuguese and Dutch. Such was Hidetoshi's intelligence he became fluent in all three, plus French and Spanish which he pursued on his own initiative. Hidetoshi became fascinated with the campaigns of Napoleon Bonaparte, and studied his tactics intensely. He became such an expert in fact, that he was invited to instruct prospective officers in Napoleonic tactics at the Military Academy in Osaka, at the tender age of thirteen.

Japan's military reformation had been moving at a snail's pace; it took a generation for muskets to become standard issue, a move which the reactionaries fought every step of the way. The navy fared little better, it received it's first modern man o' war, the Dutch-built Kanko Maru, as late as 1831[3]. As Hidetsugu became more and more isolated from his own court (on account of his psychological problems), the power of the Pro-Imperial daimyo waned and that of Hidetoshi and the reformers waxed. By the last years of his father's life, Hidetoshi acted as a de facto regent, making important policy decisions on his fathers behalf, most aimed at making Japan more and more "western" (or "contemporary" as Hidetoshi put it), much to the chagrin of the reactionaries. Unlike his predecessors, Hidetoshi wasn't content with just military or economic reform, he wanted to change the very fabric of Japanese society, and with his father dying in late 1835 he now had a mandate to do just that, to tear Japanese society by it's foundations and usher in a new age of glory and progress...



* Venezuela sided with the UCSA mostly due to Bolivar's intervention. The state would be renamed Bolivia in his honour a year after his death.

[1] Rangaku literally means Dutch learning, or Dutch Knowledge, etc. As the Dutch were the only western nation allowed to trade with the Japanese in our timeline, Japan associated western advantages with the Dutch and so the term became a byword for technological advances from the west. In this timeline, The Netherlands is still Japan's best trading partner, so one would assume most foreign advances were Dutch (such as Shigeru's financial reforms).

[2] In real life Uesugu Harunori was born in 1751, which would make him 10 years old at this time. For the purposes of this AAR I've had him born about 30 years earlier than historically, making him about 41 at the start of Hidetsugu's reign.

[3] The real Kanko Maru was a steam powered Dutch warship Japan purchased in 1855.

King: I finally made it! I figured I'd have to start Volume 2 with a bang, hopefully a Civil war will suffice!

Zzzz: Yes, they are dirty, evil, peasant, heathen, reactionaries. They shall be crushed in a most brutal fashion. (either that, or Volume 2 will turn out to be very short indeed!)

Sjiveru: Thank you and welcome aboard!

MorningSIDEr: Actually the blame for losing the war with Spain ultimately rests with Ishida Shigeru; it was he who refused to modernise the Japanese army when he had the chance. Hidetoshi is not only more than capable to beat the Ikko (he's quite the general ), he's also only 15 years old right now so he should be around for some time.

Scholar: I can't answer that yet. What I will say is that that picture was just meant as a teaser, and that the next update (which is about half done) will deal with the causes of the civil war in addition to the civil war itself. That should answer your first question.

As for your second, please bear in mind that this isn't a second install or anything like that. The changes you see (or rather, will see) have been modded into the vanilla game, which means every non-AAR Vicky II game I play has the Ishida Shogunate instead of Japan, etc. Hence, I have only modded in what absolutely needed to be modded in, or what I could live with being modded in.

First ever gameplay update, hooray! If you have any questions about the game, feel free to ask and I'll be more than happy to inform you.

Dewirix: There is currently a Bourbon on the Spanish throne (as I mentioned in the previous chapter), but that may change in future.

Aldriq: I love writing those election updates, I really do, so I'm glad to see that people enjoy them!

Historians have identified three major causes of the Japanese Civil War, though each are interconnected and there is little debate over which of the three was the most important. The first, - and by far least important - was the military reforms instituted by Ishida Hidetoshi and his cohorts before he became Shogun. Before Hidetoshi, Japan didn't really have an army per se, rather it had a series of private armies held by various daimyo which would be levied by the Shogun as he saw fit. Such an outdated feudalistic system would not have been out of place in medieval Europe, but was most certainly out of place in the emerging world of Great Powers and nation states. Hidetoshi abolished the private levies and established a national standing army, complete with a modern military staff structure and officer corps, many of whom he had trained personally.

There is no doubt Hidetoshi was right to reform the army, both in terms of equipment and structure, but in doing the latter he infringed on what had for the past millennium been an essential daimyo right; the right to raise and maintain an army. Hidetoshi's efforts weren't universally rejected - on the contrary they were applauded in some circles - but to some he was infringing on "daimyo rights" and to the reactionaries, it was nothing more than a fiendish plot to abolish their rights to private armies, leaving themselves (and by extension, their ideals, beliefs and those who adhered to them) defenceless. Although the introduction of modern equipment, namely the introduction of European-style military uniforms to replace traditional armour and the introduction of French-made flintlock muskets as a soldiers primary weapon: bows, spears and matchlocks ceased to be issued entirely, katana and wakizashi were still standard issue[1], but were relegated to sidearms and no longer given the pride-of-place in training they once had, much to the dismay of the traditionally-minded. Ironically, many of the Ikko divisions in the Japanese Civil War would be equipped with imported muskets smuggled in from Russia.

The second factor had nothing to do with Hidetoshi at all, in fact it was in full swing some 15 years before his birth. Preaching or practicing Jodo Shinshu Buddhism had been illegal in Japan until their emancipation under Ishida Shigeru's reign, and had experienced a slow and steady decline in adherents since then, owing much to the increase in Catholics during the same time period. Things began to change under Hidetsugu, when the influence of Harunori and the pro-Imperial daimyo was at its zenith. Under the influence of the teachings of the Buddhist monk Shinran[2] (1766 - 1837), Japan experienced a Jodo Shinshu revival in the last thirty years of Hidetsugu's reign. New temples were built, new preachers preached and adherence to Buddhism, Jodo Shinshu Buddhism in particular, skyrocketed.

With the return of Jodo Shinshu Buddhism came the revival of some of it's more unpleasant side-effects. Farmers and peasants, especially in the north of the country, began to grow jealous at the rise in prosperity of their predominantly Catholic and western middle-class brother, and began to organise. Not into secular unions, as they might do in the civilised world, but into Ikko, or fanatically religious millita groups. Alea iacta est

The two above causes were significant causes of outrage which certainly fueled the rebellion, yet neither provided the catalyst for the Japanese Civil War. Like how stacks of gunpowder require a spark to start an inferno, these simmering tensions required a catalyst to erupt into full-scale rebellion. This catalyst was one of Hidetoshi's social policies, known as the Shinbutsu Bunri or if you will, "the separation of Shinto from Buddhism".

Hidetoshi was more than just a Catholic, he was an ardent Catholic, indeed the most ardent Catholic the nation had seen since the days of St. Otomo Yoshinobu and like the late Yoshinobu, Hidetoshi possessed a missionary's zeal. Japan's religious tradition had been (and is still) broadly pluralist, yet despite this there had always been groups and individuals who had been anti-Buddhist, long before St. Francis Xavier had brought Catholicism to Japan. Like many Japanese popular movements, the anti-Buddhists can be best summed up by a slogan, Haibutsu kishaku.

The haibutsu kishaku movement had traditionally consisted of puritan Shintoists, who resented the intrusion of Buddhist theory and practice into Shinto. The moralistic nature of Catholicism made it's Japanese adherents natural converts to the haibutsu kushaku ideal, indeed many flocked to the banner, including Ishida Hidetoshi. Shinbutsu Bunri technically only provided for the separation of Buddhism from Shinto, it implied that the state was opposed to Buddhism, if not outright persecuting it. Ambitious men in the towns and villages who wanted to please the shogunate took the "hint" (whether or not the hint was there in the first place is debatable) and began to enact anti-Buddhist polices, such as closing down temples, burning sutras, or melting down temple bells and donating the bronze to the army artillery corps. The government was mostly aware of what was happening (the Shinsengumi most certainly were) yet did nothing, which angered the reactionaries further. The adoption of Catholicism as the state religion of Japan incensed them further, and even the most fundamental Jodo Shinshu practitioners saw red at Hidetoshi's proposals.[3] The Ikko, Buddhists, Pro-Imperials and reactionaries were now all united against the Shogunate, all they needed now was a leader, a man with a plan.



Munenari rallied the reactionaries and Ikko to his cause, yet he needed more than just them to lead a successful rebellion against the Shogunate. In a secret compact with the Ainu in northern Hokkaido and in exile, he promised to restore the native Ainu lands of Hokkaido to the Ainu, in exchange for their support; some 9'000 Ainu troops participated in the Civil War on the rebel's side. Munenari needed arms too, and using the Koreans as an intermediary, purchased some 30'000 surplus muskets from the Russian Tsar with his clan's own personal fortune. Tsar Nicholas sent a small military mission, the first in Japan, to help train the Ikko rabble into a slightly-more-professional Russian-style rabble. Most fortunately for Hidetoshi, the Russian officers sent were incompetent (as Russian officers generally are) and probably did Munenari more harm than good.

Key to Munenari's strategy was the hostage-taking of prominent pro-Shogunate daimyo and/or their families. The young pro-Rangaku (and English educated) daimyo Matsumae Takahiro of Ezochi was the only Daimyo in his region to oppose the pro-Imperial Daimyo and so was naturally the first target. To make his capture more appealing, he was scheduled to meet with the far more prominent Konishi Katsuie, daimyo of Edo, at his castle there. The chance to kill two birds with one stone was too good an opportunity for Munenari and the reactionaries to pass up, not to mention a nice way of raising their colours and stating their intentions to the Shogun.


The Shogunate's response was swift. Hidetoshi took a personal interest in the modernisation of the military, and was busy training troops in Osaka in the latest European military tactics[4] when the news of Munenari's UDI was brought to him. Hidetoshi personally led his troops to the rescue, while calling on his loyal western daimyo to march their forces eastward to his aid.


Hidetoshi had to rely on levied troops because the standing army professionals were still in training. Instead he focused on building up the grand old Japanese Navy (and it's fleet consisting of a grand old total of two ships), commissioning a fleet of clippers to help in his reconquest of Hokkaido. The shipyards toiled to build up a navy in time; the army was making great progress in recapturing northern Honshu.


The rebels' initial offensive had been blunted, and their commanders began to suggest a "tactical withdrawal" to Hokkaido. Big mistake. Date Munenari made his last stand at Aomori, at the northern tip of Honshu. In a stroke of pure tactical genius, Hidetoshi led his entire army as a "hammer", striking at Munenari and his weary forces. Munenari lost the battle and began to retreat to their ships, where Hidetoshi's "anvil", his newly-built fleet, cut off the routed army from it's ships. Munenari was trapped, and forced to fight a battle he couldn't possibly win with his tired, hungry, wounded and by all measures exhausted troops. Hidetoshi took no prisoners, all rebels were either killed in battle or executed in a most painful fashion after it. Frustratingly for the Shogun, Munenari managed to escape; the coward had his place as head of the army taken by a kagemusha[5] while he slipped into a nearby town disguised a s a common farmer. When the rest of his men were dying bravely, he hid and waited for the Shogunate army to embark for Hokkaido, then stowed away on a trading ship bound for Korea, where he successfully applied for asylum.


Without a strong man like Munenari to run it, the rebels fell apart quickly, fighting and squabbling as much with themselves, if not more, than with their enemies. Hokkaido was swiftly recaptured and the appropriate actions taken on the surviving rebels and their reproductive organs. Hidetoshi was an audacious man indeed.

On Christmas Eve the land was reunited once more under the rule of the Ishida, and any doubters to Hidetoshi's ability to successfully run the country at his young age were crushed. The task of westernising the country and it's armed forces remained, while Date Munenari had yet to be brought to justice. The next few years would be interesting ones for Japan indeed...



[1] In the Meiji period, western style sabres were standard issue and more commonly used by soldiers and officers than katanas. The katana was reintroduced as standard issue in the mid 1930's.

[2] Jodo Shinshu Buddhism was founded by a monk named Shinran, so this Shinran could be considered Shinran II.

[3] Jodo Shinsu was actually one of the "purest" schools of Japanese Buddhism (as in, there was little-to-no Shinto influence), if not the "purest". Shinbutsu Bunri would have little effect if any on Jodo Shinshu doctrine, and in fact some practitioners might even have been in favour of it.

[4] This is a euphemism for "we have started to research Post-Napoleonic Thought"

[5] i.e. a body double.