Is there any kami cult that found success outside Japan, especially after World War II?

by szp

From what I know of East Asian history, the Empire of Japan attempted to spread Shinto and kami worship in its colonies. In Korea, they erected Chosen Jingu along other shrines and made participation in State Shinto ceremonies mandatory. Afterwards, though, as far as I know all traces of Shinto was removed from Korea after it regained independence.

However, I am wondering if there is any kami cult that "naturalized" and became a part of the religions landscape of the Empire of Japan's former colonies. My current assumption is that there probably isn't any due to the politicization of imperial era Shinto, but my understanding of WWII-era East Asia isn't complete.

keyilan

At least as far as Taiwan is concerned, the end of Japanese colonial rule saw the destruction or conversion of the majority of Shinto shrines. There is one interesting example of a shrine that is still standing, but that's not the norm. It's now being preserved much like most of the Japanese era buildings we still have around, as cultural heritage.

For the first ~40 years of Japanese rule in Taiwan, worship at Shinto shrines was not mandatory and people were permitted to practice religion as they did before the occupation. This changed in 1936, at which point it was compulsory. However this policy was only in place until 1941, five years total, and hasn't had any obvious lasting effect. To my knowledge, there are no Shinto kami that became part of the Taiwanese religious fabric. Aside from the 5 years of compulsory attendance, it was mostly only Japanese that were going to these shrines in the first place.


see also:

Suga Kōji. A Concept of “Overseas Shinto Shrines”: A Pantheistic Attempt by Ogasawara Shōzō and Its Limitations. Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 37/1: 47–74. 2010


edit: typo