The research historical comparing the cult of Prince-Shotoku and cult of Tenjin.

2001-2005年间，我们对太子教和天津教进行了历史比较研究。太子昭德和杉原密西赞成为信仰的对象，尽管他们都是政治领袖(官员)，并没有参与宗教活动。在很长一段时间里，太子孝德和天真都受到不同社会阶层的人的崇拜。我们为此举办了13次工作坊。不同领域的专家(艺术史、文学史、宗教史和表演艺术史)就太子教和天津教的不同方面进行了报告。我们就两个教派在整个历史上的转变、太子教和天津教形象和形象化的变化、两个教派的演变及其与各宗教教派的信仰和地方教派的融合等问题进行了积极的讨论。我们进行了6次田野考察，以考察太子教和天津教是如何在不同地方的人们的生活中显现出来的。上述研讨会和田野调查的结果总结在本手册中，并将其细分为以下几类：“太子教和天津教与其他信仰的合成”，此外，武田教授(课题组组长)指出了太子教和天津教的新面貌--太子教和天津教都被奉为圣人，被赋予神力和权威，超过了皇帝(天奴)，后者是民间社会中最高尚的人物。武田教授提出的这一新方面，为今后对太子教和天津教的比较研究奠定了基础。

In 2001-2005, we performed research on the historical comparison of the cult of Prince-Shotoku and cult of Tenjin (Sugawara Michizane). Prince-Shotoku and Sugawara Michizane became the subject of belief, though both were political leaders (officials) and were not involved in religious activities. Both Prince-Shotoku and Tenjin were worshiped by people of different social classes throughout the long period of time.We held 13 workshops devoted to this topic. Specialists in various fields (history of art, history of literature, history of religion and history of performing arts) made their reports on different aspects of Prince-Shotoku and Tenjin cults. We had active discussions concerning such topics as:〜transformation of both cults throughout the time,〜changes of the images and visualization of Prince-Shotoku and Tenjin,〜evolution of both cults and their integration into the beliefs of various religious sects and into the local cults.We carried out 6 fieldwork trips in order to investigate how Prince-Shotoku cult and Tenjin cult reveal themselves in the life of people in various places.The results of the above mentioned workshops and fieldwork trips are summarized in the present booklet and are subdivided into the following categories, "Synthesis of Prince-Shotoku cult and Tenjin cult with other beliefs", "International aspects of Prince-Shotoku cult and Tenjin cult development", "The worship of Prince : Shotoku and Tenjin by common people".Besides, Professor Takeda (The leader of our research group) pointed out a new aspect of both Prince-Shotoku cult and Tenjin cult- Prince-Shotoku and Tenjin are worshiped as saints who are endowed by divine power and authority which surpasses that of the Emperor (Tennou) who was the most superior figure of the civil society. This new aspect suggested by professor Takeda laid the foundation for the future comparative research of the Prince-Shotoku and Tenjin cults.