SHORT REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTES

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Though in the main Bloch's book stands the test of time impressively,some parts inevitably need revision : the major defect of the present volumeis its failure to give any indication of subsequent research over what is,after all, the half-century since Bloch wrote. Surely the master himselfwould have wished a contemporary historian to supply a short prefacesuggesting needful modifications and bibliographical references? Alreadyin 1942, for instance, R . W. Southern convincingly revised Bloch's accountof the origins of the royal touch in England : it was at least two generationsolder than Bloch thought . The brief general treatment of sacred royalty(pp. 28 ff.) and Appendix III ('The beginnings of royal unction') shouldalso be revised .

This translation reproduces the clarity and vigour of the original, thoughthere are occasional lapses : a bad blunder immediately following the quota-tion on p . 128, and often eccentric treatment of proper names ('Fortunat'becomes 'Veriantius (sic) Fortunatus' not once but twice!) And, in anotherwise well-produced volume, was it really necessary to curtail theIndex so drastically (from 36 to 5 pages) as to render it useless? But ouroverall gain vastly outweighs these losses : 21 cheers, at least, for new easeof access to a great work?

JANET L. NELSONKing's College, University of London

WOODARD, WILLIAM P . The Allied Occupation of Japan and JapaneseReligions, Leiden, E. J . Brill, 1972 . 393 pp . 6 plates, no price stated .

This is a most significant book for the history of religions . The author washead of the Religious Research Unit throughout most of the occupation .He also remained well-known in Japan long afterwards as a sympatheticobserver of the religious scene . He has thus observed the as yet still open-ended sequel to the efforts of SCAP (Supreme Commander for the AlliedPowers, otherwise a synonym for the occupation authorities as a whole) .The book is intended to be an authoritative record and it has been preparedwith great care on the basis of numerous personal interviews and SCAPsources. It is quite essential for anyone concerned with the role of Shintoin modern Japan or indeed with general problems about the relationshipbetween religion and the state in modern society . It should be read inconjunction with W. H. M. Creemers' Shrine Shinto after World War II whichwas also published by Brill, in 1968 .

Religious freedom was established by the Civil Liberties Directiveissued on October 4th 1945, and since this abrogated any law of regulationwhich operated `unequally in favour off or against any person by reasonsof . . . creed', it immediately had implications for the role of Shinto . Itwas followed by the Shinto Directive on December 15th which abolishedall governmental sponsorship or support of Shinto and gave detailed

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instructions as to what this meant . It is the story of this disestablishment,indirectly but closely associated with the Emperor's famous denial of hisown `divinity' in the Rescript of January zst 1946, which forms the mainsubject of the book . The story of all the legal and practical details is toldin such a way as to bring out in particular what the occupation was tryingto do (leaving aside General MacArthur's completely inconsistent publicsupport for Christianity which was obviously a major embarrassment tothose attempting to explain the principle of the separating of religion andthe state) .

The problem of definitions seems to remain, wearisome but quiteunavoidable. Where does the line run between what is religious and whatis not? Decisions have been taken on national holidays, shrines for the wardead, what may be shown on stamps, what may be taught in schools, etc .but since the occupation the line has not been completely unaltered, noris it likely to remain so . Even as it stands it seems to the observer to be aslightly wiggly one . Not the least interesting feature of this book is thatMr. Woodard claims that the vague use of terms such as Shrine Shinto andState Shinto made the original task of disestablishment harder . He wishesto bring about greater clarity by speaking of the Kokutai Cult, `a systemof political-philosophical beliefs', as being distinct from Shinto . (Kokutaiis normally translated `national polity', but the term stresses the sacredidentity of the Japanese state, Emperor, people and territory .) The authorgoes so far as to state, `The Kokutai Cult was not a form of Shinto . It was adistinct, separate and independent phenomenon,' (p . i i ) . This view how-ever simply will not stand up, at least on the basis of the argument advanced .Holtom's well-known discussion in 1938 (The National Faith of Japanpp. 289 ff) is far more convincing. Woodard's own discussion of what `theCult' consists (pp . 12-3) give ample evidence of the many continuitiesbetween state-sponsored nationalist Shinto (which in its heyday was bothracialist and expansionist) and Shinto in general . It may be that Woodardis offering an alibi for those who would like to see once again a greaterunity between Shinto and the state, while avoiding the worst excesses. Thedistinction which he carefully makes between the 'Kokutai Cult' and StateShinto (Kokka Shinto) could be the beginnings of an apologia for such amove. The point seems to be something of a bee in the author's bonnet andit is to be hoped that the otherwise authoritative character of the book willnot lend respectability to what seems to be an extremely dubious piece ofanalysis .

M. P .

BURLAND, C . A . The Way of the Buddha, Hulton Educational Publications,1972, pp . 6i, 6op .

A number of books on world religions for children are now coming ontothe market . If Religious Education is to be truly open-ended and to be