School of International Liberal StudiesWaseda University

Among all the oddities that occurred as philosophy developed in the intellectual world of the Meiji period (1868-1912), perhaps there are few events more curious than Inoue Enryo’s insistence on “Mystery Studies (妖怪学)” as a novel form of metaphysics. Indeed, while it is well-known that Enryo was a master debunker of superstitions, explaining away supernatural phenomena like monsters as part of the Meiji modernization process, less recognized is the fact that he seemed to believe Mystery Studies to be the “flipside (裏面権道)” of Philosophy. This raises an obvious question: what relation could there possibly be between Philosophy and debunking superstitious beliefs among the public? 

In this presentation, I will attempt to briefly introduce the complicated web of concepts in the background of Enryo’s vision of Mystery Studies as the “flipside” of Philosophy. In doing so, I will first work through the social factors that tie together not only his interest in not only Philosophy and Mystery Studies, but also his background as a reformer of Buddhism. After clarifying the background of his work, I will make some basic remarks on how Philosophy (as a top-down approach) and Mystery Studies (as a bottom-up approach) are both said to pursue the “true mystery (真怪)” of human life. To end this presentation, I will make some short remarks on both the metaphysical implications of this concept of a “true mystery” and the impact that Enryo’s work had on philosophy in Japan.