Women’s Liberation and Religious Salvation: The Case of Itō Asako and the Muga No Ai (Selfless Love) Movement in Modern Japan

The Muga No Ai (Selfless Love) movement, founded in Tokyo in 1905 by one-time Jōdo Shin Buddhist priest Itō Shōshin, blended teachings of Buddhism, Christianity, and Tolstoyan spirituality. While Shōshin’s life and thought have been well-studied, the remarkable lifestory of his wife, Itō Asako (1881-1956), remains largely unknown. As a child, Asako lost much of her hair due to alopecia areata. Social pressures led her to feel ashamed and live as a shut-in. Muga No Ai teachings emboldened her to take on a new persona, engage in religious training, wed Shōshin, and become a religious leader. She also became active in feminist politics, and her feminism influenced how she practiced her religious ideal of “selfless love,” most notably in the scandal of a public love affair with a younger man. Through a study of Itō Asako’s career, this paper will investigate the connections between religious liberation and political liberation.