Masamichi Imbe

Date of birth and death unknown. A Shintoist from around the Yoshino period. Known as the author of Jindai Kuketsu. The book contains a preface by Masamichi written in November 1367, but in recent years many scholars have suspected that the book was written in the early modern period. The book is a commentary on the Jindai chapter of the Nihon Shoki, and its contents are full of observations that should be noted from the perspective of Shinto theology. Yamazaki Ansai highly praised it, and he particularly liked the words in the book, "words are like those of an infant, and the heart seeks the divine," and it had a great influence on the interpretation of Shinto by many early modern scholars. There are no other historical documents about Masamichi other than Jindai Kuketsu.

[Shogo Tani October 19, 2017]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

生没年不詳。吉野時代ごろの神道家。『神代口訣(じんだいくけつ)』の著者として知られる。同書には、貞治(じょうじ)6年（1367）11月記の正通の自序があるが、近年は同書の成立を近世初頭ではないかと疑う学者が少なくない。同書は『日本書紀』神代巻の注釈であるが、その内容は、神道の神学上注意すべき見解に富み、山崎闇斎(やまざきあんさい)が大いに評価して、「辞(ことば)は嬰児(えいじ)に仮(か)り、心は神聖に求む」という同書の語をとくに好んだほか、近世諸家の神道解釈に大きな影響を与えた。正通に関する史料は『神代口訣』のほかにはまったくない。

［谷　省吾　2017年10月19日］

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