ATS2648 Chapter Notes - Chapter Religion in Contemporary Japanese Lives : Neo-Nationalism, Childbirth, Job Satisfaction
26 Jun 2018
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• Group!phenomenon!organised!around!common!beliefs!and!practices!–!Registered!as!religious!
corporation!
o Doctrine!
o Proof!that!it!seeks!to!propagate,!conducts!rituals!and!services!
o Provision!for!the!educational!development!of!members!
*Note:!Religious!corporations!belongs!to!a!larger!category!of!organizations!that!are!seen!as!contributing!to!
the!public!good!(e.g.!educational!institutions,!medical!facilities,!social!welfare!institutions,!and!some!non-
profit!organizations)!
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• New!religious!movements!are!an!important!feature!of!the!religious!landscape,!but!popular!views!of!
“New!Religions”!tend!to!be!negative!
o Negative!perception!surrounding!religion!in!contemporary!Japan!due!to!the!media’s!sensational!
treatment!of!controversial!religious!movements!(e.g.!Post-War!preoccupation!on!problematic!
religious!groups!(cults)!–!small!percentage!of!organised!religion)!
Ø 1995:!Some!leaders!of!Aum!Shinrikyō!ordered!the!sarin!gas!attack!on!the!Tokyo!subway!system.!!
§ Media!regularly!reported!that!certain!groups!engaged!in!high-pressure!recruitment!tactics,!
fraudulent!fund-raising!schemes,!and!political!activities!
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• Religion!has!many!dimensions!(i.e.!Institutional,!doctrinal,!and!ritual)!
• Religions!outside!of!formal!context!
1. Practices!that!focus!on!the!household!
2. Religious!groups!that!are!not!registered!with!the!government!or!not!approved!(e.g.!would!include!
Aleph,!the!successor!to!Aum!Shinrikyō)!
3. Informal!New!Age!spiritual!groups!
4. Individualistic!religious!experimentation!that!occurs!in!private!spaces!
• Popularly!understood!to!refer!to!organized!religion!or!religious!institutions!
1. Japanese!usually!claim!to!be!“without!religion”!(i.e.!Do!not!identify!as!members!of!one!particular!
religious!group)!
2. Majority!of!Japanese!participate!in!household!and!institutional!rituals,!festivals,!and!annual!events!
and!possess!religious!beliefs!
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• Everyday!practice!of!religion!has!often!been!controlled!by!those!holding!the!reins!of!political!power!and!
motivated!primarily!by!the!sense!of!duty!that!accompanied!membership!in!household!and!community!
Ø Tokugawa!authorities:!Established!a!temple!registration!system,!which!used!Buddhist!
institutions!to!monitor!the!population!and!to!suppress!Christianity!!
Ø Living!in!isolated!village!communities:!Most!Japanese!naturally!participated!in!the!annual!
festivals!and!rituals!of!the!local!Shinto!shrine!and!Buddhist!temple!–!Deeply!rooted!in!Japanese!
household!(Buddhist)!and!communal!(Shinto)!religious!obligations!
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• After!Meiji!Restoration!(1868):!Government!developed!an!emperor-centred!civil!religion!(State!Shinto)(
o Ideology,!symbols,!and!rituals!promoted!ancient!mythology!of!Shinto!as!the!origins!to!the!imperial!
order!and!the!state!–!to!integrate!the!heterogeneous!population!and!mobilize!the!people!for!nation!
building,!modernization,!and!military!expansion(
• 1930s:!Became!increasingly!totalitarian,!and!members!of!every!religious!group!were!required!to!
conform!to!the!state-defined!orthodoxy(
• 1939:!Diet!enacted!the!Religious!Organizations!Law,!giving!the!state!authority!to!disband!any!group!
whose!teachings!were!in!conflict!with!“the!Imperial!Way.”!(
o Continued!until!the!end!of!the!WWII!and!the!arrival!of!the!Occupation!forces(
• December!15,!1945:!Disestablishment!of!State!Shinto!by!the!Supreme!Commander!for!the!Allied!Powers(
o Set!in!motion!policies!that!reduced!Shinto!to!the!status!of!a!voluntary!organization!(
o Forced!shrines!to!compete!with!all!other!religious!groups!for!both!members!and!financial!support!(
• 1947:!Articles!20!and!89!of!the!new!Constitution!articulates!principles!of!religious!freedom!and!the!
separation!of!religion!and!state(
o Provided!basic!framework!for!religious!activity!in!the!post-war!period!and!allowed!for!expansion!of!
the!range!of!choice!and!experimentation!in!religion(
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• Religious!lives!are!constructed!in!relative!freedom!in!relation!to!and!interaction!with!diverse!religious!
traditions!and!institutions!–!Co-existence!of!multiple!religious!traditions!has!long!characterised!the!world!
of!Japanese!religion!
• Discrepancy!between!the!membership!statistics!claimed!by!institutions!and!the!self-understanding!of!
the!vast!majority!of!Japanese!–!Japanese!are!loosely!affiliated!with!more!than!one!religion!and!
institution!
o New!Religions!&!Christian!churches!exceed!the!actual!population!of!Japan!–!People!have!been!
included!more!than!once!by!different!institutions!(i.e.!does!not!reflect!the!high!rate!of!
experimentation!and!disaffiliation!of!New!Religions!–!inactive!members)!
Ø Survey!research:!10%!claim!that!they!“belong”!to!a!religious!organization!of!any!kind!!
• 2007a!National!Statistics!(Agency!for!Cultural!Affairs:!Shinto!-!78,890!(12.1%);!Buddhist!313,659!(48.4%);!
Christian!denominations!-!32,036(4.9%);!“Other”!223,831!(34.5%)!
§ Male!clergy!dominate!for!Buddhist,!Christian,!and!Shinto!institutions!
§ Female!clergy!dominate!for!New!Religions!–!Opened!new!leadership!opportunities!for!women!
which!had!largely!been!monopolized!by!men!
• Organised!forms!of!religion!are!struggling!with!basic!demographic!realities!
Ø Early!postwar!period:!Older!established!Shinto!and!Buddhist!institutions!(disproportionately!
concentrated!in!rural!areas!or!small!towns)!struggled!with!the!impact!of!urbanization,!but!some!new!
religious!movements!emerged!and!initially!benefited!from!the!population!shift!
o Most!organizations!depend!on!natural!growth!based!on!births!to!members!and!effective!religious!
socialisation!
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• Religion!to!the!Japanese:!Has!a!founder,!specific!teaching!or!doctrines,!and!requirements!of!Church!
membership!
o !Do!not!have!a!religion!since!their!beliefs!are!not!so!clearly!defined!and!they!do!not!“belong”!to!one!
particular!organization.!!
• Possess!a!religious!consciousness!(beliefs!and!values)!and!regularly!participate!in!religious!actions!
(household!rituals,!festivals,!annual!events,!and!rites!of!passage),!which!they!categorize!as!“folk!religion”!
• Why!are!the!Japanese!non-religious?!(Ama!Toshimaru):!Distinction!between!“revealed,”!or!“founded,”!
religion!and!“natural”!religion!
o Revealed!religion:!Founders,!doctrines!and!institutional!membership!–!Requires!a!deliberate!choice!
o Natural!religion/“Religion!of!Japaneseness”:!Represents!the!religiosity!of!the!vast!majority!of!
Japanese.!!
