Kokkaism

Kokkaism (国家道), also known as Kokkamichi or Imperial Shrine, is a denomination of Michi, the national religion of Yamatai. A controversial offshoot of the Kiyoshi Path, Kokkaism claims to be the original form of Kiyoshiism and adherents typically refer to themselves as Kiyoshiists, or at the very least Kiyoshi Reformists. Like most Michi Paths, Kokkaism is not strongly unified and is largely represented by various local Shrines.

The core concepts of Kokkaism remain largely identical to mainstream Kiyoshiism. However, Kokkaism contains racialist ideas that the Yashiman race is the purest race in the world. Another key concept is a strong focus on the Saishu Kessen, a final battle mentioned in the final book of the Sashizuki, which is interpreted by Kokkaists as an apocalyptic conflict against Amphia or the Collectivists, which the Yashiman race must win in order to purify the world and enable the Kami to return to this plane. In addition, Kokkaists also maintain the belief that the Empress of Yamatai is a living Kami, a belief which has largely been abandoned by the rest of Yamataian society.

Kokkaism originates from the nationalistic narrative and beliefs that were incorporated into Kiyoshiism during the period of military rule in Yamatai. The military government appropriated Michi concepts and promoted ideas to support the pan-Yashiman ideology of Izoku Kyowa, which also included elements of Yashiman racial superiority and the idea of Saishu Kessen. After the Second Escar-Varunan War, the Kiyoshi Shrine led the sweeping Kiyoshi Reorganisation in 1957, which sought to return the Kiyoshi Path's beliefs across all Shrines to a fundamentalist interpretation.

However, a group of Shinshoku led by Wakabayashi Shigeo rejected the Reorganisation, declaring that it was blasphemy, revisionism, and an attempt to politicise the religion provoked by Okabe Nariakira. Wakabayashi's movement would become known popularly as Kokkaism, though they claimed that they were the true Kiyoshiists. Initially unpopular and largely followed only by far-right elements of Yamataian society, the movement suddenly gained a large amount of followers after Arshavat's use of nuclear weapons during the First Hoaian War, which was claimed to be a sign that Saishu Kessen had begun. Nonetheless, to this day Kokkaism remains highly niche and limited to far-right circles, and Kokka Shrines have been described as cult-like in their practices.

Naturally, a large amount of extreme-right groups in Yamatai are Kokkaists, and there are also at least three Kokkaist terrorist groups in operation. Notably, the leader of the Akitsukuni chapter of the Greater Yashiman Organisation, Masashi Ota, is also the Shinshoku of the Kokkaist Senmaida Shrine in Higashinada.