Religion in Contemporary Japan PDF
Preview Religion in Contemporary Japan
RELIGION IN CONTEMPORARY JAPAN Religion in Contemporary Japan Ian Reader Lecturer in Contemporary Japanese Studies Scottish Centre for Japanese Studies University of Stirling M MACMILLAN © Ian Reader 1991 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 33-4 Alfred Place, London WC1E 7DP. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. First published 1991 Published by MACMILLAN PRESS LTD Houndmills. Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 2XS and London Companies and representatives throughout the world Typeset by LBJ Enterprises Ltd. Tadley and Chilcompton Printed in Great Britain by Billing & Sons Ltd, Worcester British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Reader, Ian Religion in contemporary Japan. 1. Japan. Religion. Sociological perspectives 306.60952 ISBN 0-333-52321-0 (he) ISBN 0-333-52322-9 (pbk) For Rosemary Contents Acknowledgements viii Conventions x Introduction xi 1 Turning to the Gods in Times of Trouble: The Place, Time and Structure of Japanese Religion 1 2 Unifying Traditions, Cosmological Perspectives and the Vitalistic Universe 23 3 'Born Shinto . . .': Community, Festivals, Production and Change 55 4 '. . . Die Buddhist': Zen, Death and the Ancestors 77 5 Individuals, Ascetics and the Expression of Power 107 6 Sites and Sights: Temples and Shrines as Centres of Power and Entertainment 134 7 Actions, Amulets and the Expression of Meaning: Reflections of Need and Statements of Desire 168 8 Spirits, Satellites and a User-Friendly Religion: Agonshu and the New Religions 194 Conclusion: Mystery, Nostalgia and the Shifting Sands of Continuity 234 Notes 244 References Cited 260 Index 268 vn Acknowledgements I did the research for this book while living and teaching in Japan during April 1981-April 1982, and September 1983-January 1989. I would like to thank my colleagues, friends and students at the two universities where I worked, Kobe University of Commerce and Kansai University of Foreign Studies, for making my stay enjoyable and for contributing in various ways to this book. Over the years I have also benefited immensely from countless conversations with friends, colleagues, acquaintances and people met casually in temple courtyards: I owe a large debt of gratitude to all of them. Special mention must be made of the Revd Oda Baisen of Toganji in Nagoya for his friendship and constant support throughout these years and for making the temple a second home to both myself and my wife. Many academic colleagues have added something, directly or indirectly, to this book as well. In particular I would like to thank Beth Harrison for many long conversations about all aspects of contemporary religion in Japan. I am grateful to the Japanese Journal of Religious Studies and its editor Dr Paul Swanson of Nanzan University for allowing me permission to reproduce, in slightly different form, the information on Agonshu in Chapter 8, which first appeared in the journal in 1988. My Japanese academic colleagues in the Shukyo Shakaigaku no Kai in Osaka, especially Professors Shiobara Tsutomu of Osaka and Iida Takafumi of Toyama University, are also thanked for their contributions to my growing understanding of the overall subject. I can do no more than extend a general thank-you to them, and to all the anonymous members of new religions, pilgrims, temple-goers and priests who spared the time to talk to me, and say that I hope this book is worthy of their help. Needless to say, what mistakes there are herein are mine alone. There are three people to whom I have a special debt of gratitude. Professor Ian Gow, Director of the Scottish Centre for Japanese Studies at the University of Stirling, has actively supported the writing of this book by allowing me the time off other duties to work on and complete the manuscript: suffice it to say that without this generosity it would not have seen the light of day so readily. My Vlll Acknowledgements ix wife Dorothy has given indispensable support throughout: she was an unflagging companion in forays to festivals and walks along pilgrimage routes and up to mountain temples, and a perceptive observer who helped in gathering information at temples and shrines and in interviewing priests. More than that she has con- stantly encouraged me and kept me going when I thought I would never finish the book, and deserves my deepest thanks. The final thanks go to our daughter Rosemary who was born just about the time I started to put preliminary pen to paper on the topic, and was crawling enthusiastically as it came to completion. It is to her this book is dedicated, in the hope that she will grow to love and enjoy Japan as much as we have, and that she may enjoy one of the ideals central to the Japanese religious world - a happy, fruitful and productive life.
The list of books you might like
