priestism

To provide the reader with a fuller perspective on ancient life, the editor introduces three key conceptual models that have been adopted as analytical tools by intellectual historians: "vitalism", "priestism", and "particularism." All of these models were deeply rooted in ancient cultural values based on the worship of kami (deities or superior beings) that have affected Japanese life from ancient times to the present.

Priestism designates the enduring influence of charismatic leadership in ancient Japan that has been reinforced by the military code of bushido and Confucian ethics during the almost seven centuries of feudal rule by Shogunate governments.