Download or read book A History of Japanese Religion written by 笠原一男 and published by Tuttle Publishing. This book was released on 2001 with total page 660 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Seventeen distinguished experts on Japanese religion provide a fascinating overview of its history and development. Beginning with the origins of religion in primitive Japanese society, they chart the growth of each of Japan's major religious organizations and doctrinal systems. They follow Buddhism, Shintoism, Christianity, and popular religious belief through major periods of change to show how history and religion affected each-and discuss the interactions between the different religious traditions.
Download or read book The Invention of Religion in Japan written by Jason Ānanda Josephson and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2012-10-03 with total page 402 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Throughout its long history, Japan had no concept of what we call “religion.” There was no corresponding Japanese word, nor anything close to its meaning. But when American warships appeared off the coast of Japan in 1853 and forced the Japanese government to sign treaties demanding, among other things, freedom of religion, the country had to contend with this Western idea. In this book, Jason Ananda Josephson reveals how Japanese officials invented religion in Japan and traces the sweeping intellectual, legal, and cultural changes that followed. More than a tale of oppression or hegemony, Josephson’s account demonstrates that the process of articulating religion offered the Japanese state a valuable opportunity. In addition to carving out space for belief in Christianity and certain forms of Buddhism, Japanese officials excluded Shinto from the category. Instead, they enshrined it as a national ideology while relegating the popular practices of indigenous shamans and female mediums to the category of “superstitions”—and thus beyond the sphere of tolerance. Josephson argues that the invention of religion in Japan was a politically charged, boundary-drawing exercise that not only extensively reclassified the inherited materials of Buddhism, Confucianism, and Shinto to lasting effect, but also reshaped, in subtle but significant ways, our own formulation of the concept of religion today. This ambitious and wide-ranging book contributes an important perspective to broader debates on the nature of religion, the secular, science, and superstition.
Download or read book Why are the Japanese Non religious written by Toshimaro Ama and published by University Press of America. This book was released on 2005 with total page 110 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why Are the Japanese Non-Religious?: Japanese Spirituality: Being Non-Religious in a Religious Culture, translated here for the first time in English, was first published in Japan in 1996. It has also been translated into Korean and German. Author Toshimaro Ama examines the concept of mushukyo, or lack of specific religious beliefs. According to Ama, the Japanese generally lack an understanding of or desire to commit to a particular organized religion, oftentimes fusing Shinto, Christianity, and Buddhism into a hybrid form of spirituality. The book, which has sold more than 100,000 copies, is widely popular among students of Japanese culture and ethnicity as well as lay readers desiring to learn more about Japanese religious identity.
Download or read book Spirituality as a Way written by Carl Becker and published by . This book was released on 2021-06-30 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How do Japanese people foster spiritual awareness? This book provides a fresh perspective on spirituality by highlighting the wisdom of Japan: 'Way' (pronounced michi or do in Japanese), which makes life a place for self-cultivation and personal growth, as seen in budo (the Way of martial arts) and geido (the Way of art). Traditionally embodied in the daily lives of the Japanese people, this practical perspective covers life situations ranging from greetings and meals to lying down and sitting up. These discussions of Japanese spirituality range from grief care, spiritual care, reincarnation, Zen and meditation to philosophical worldviews. Japanese spirituality as a Way contrasts with Western spirituality that tends to be based on a cognitive approach with a background of mind-body dualism. Today, as the traditional interconnectedness of humanity is increasingly fragmented, the authors hope their contribution from Japan may promote the study, understanding and practice of spirituality around the world.
Download or read book Religion and Spirituality in Japan written by Masami Takahashi and published by . This book was released on 2020-07-16 with total page 182 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: While almost everyone in Japan regularly participates in traditional activities that are religious and spiritual in nature, it is perplexing that only 20 to 30% of the population self-identify with a particular religion. Several accounts have been offered to explain this discrepancy, but these speculations had never been examined empirically. There are several reasons as to why Japanese empirical scientists ignored the topic for so long. One may be that Japanese scientists themselves are too accustomed to the tradition to reflect upon the discrepancy. Since even astute researchers may fail to recognize such a fertile field for empirical research, the opportunities and venues to pursue this line of research in Japanese academia have been scarce. The Empirical Study of the Psychology of Religion and Spirituality in Japan is a translated version of the original book, a collection of chapters by scholars from different psychological disciplines. It is the first book with an emphasis on empirical perspectives on the topic. Thus, it is also the first book written in English in the field. This book offers not only detailed empirical data, but also an examination of the theories and ideologies that underlie contemporary understanding of religion and spirituality in Japan.
Download or read book The Essence of Shinto written by Motohisa Yamakage and published by Kodansha USA. This book was released on 2010-08-05 with total page 185 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In The Essence of Shinto, revered Shinto master Motohisa Yamakage explains the core values of Shinto and explores both basic tenets and its more esoteric points in terms readily accessible to the modern Western reader. He shows how the long history of Shintoism is deeply woven into the fabric of Japanese spirituality and mythology--indeed, it is regarded as Japan’s very spiritual roots--and discusses its role in modern Japan and the world. He also carefully analyzes the relationship of the spirit and the soul, which will provide informed and invaluable insight into how spirituality affects our daily existence. Through the author’s emphasis on the universality of Shinto and its prevalence in the natural world, the book will appeal to all readers with an appreciation of humanity’s place in nature and the individual’s role in the larger society.
Download or read book Shinto Shrines written by Joseph Cali and published by University of Hawaii Press. This book was released on 2012-11-30 with total page 330 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Of Japan’s two great religious traditions, Shinto is far less known and understood in the West. Although there are a number of books that explain the religion and its philosophy, this work is the first in English to focus on sites where Shinto has been practiced since the dawn of Japanese history. In an extensive introductory section, authors Joseph Cali and John Dougill delve into the fascinating aspects of Shinto, clarifying its relationship with Buddhism as well as its customs, symbolism, and pilgrimage routes. This is followed by a fully illustrated guide to 57 major Shinto shrines throughout Japan, many of which have been designated World Heritage Sites or National Treasures. In each comprehensive entry, the authors highlight important spiritual and physical features of the individual shrines (architecture, design, and art), associated festivals, and enshrined gods. They note the prayers offered and, for travelers, the best times to visit. With over 125 color photographs and 50 detailed illustrations of archetypical Shinto objects and shrines, this volume will enthrall not only those interested in religion but also armchair travelers and visitors to Japan alike. Whether you are planning to visit the actual sites or take a virtual journey, this guide is the perfect companion. Visit Joseph Cali’s Shinto Shrines of Japan: The Blog Guide: http://shintoshrinesofjapanblogguide.blogspot.jp/. Visit John Dougill’s Green Shinto, “dedicated to the promotion of an open, international and environmental Shinto”: http://www.greenshinto.com/wp/.
Download or read book Handbook of Contemporary Japanese Religions written by Inken Prohl and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2012-09-03 with total page 675 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Representing work by some of the leading scholars in the field, the chapters in this handbook survey the transformation and innovation of religious traditions and practices in contemporary Japan.
Download or read book Cultivating Spirituality written by Mark L. Blum and published by State University of New York Press. This book was released on 2011-12-15 with total page 331 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Cultivating Spirituality is a seminal anthology of Shin Buddhist thought, one that reflects this tradition's encounter with modernity. Shin (or Jodō Shinshū) is a popular form of Pure Land Buddhism, the most widely practiced form of Buddhism in Japan, but is only now becoming well known in the West. The lives of the four thinkers included in the book spanned the years 1863–1982, from the Meiji opening to the West to Japan's establishment as an industrialized democracy and world economic power. Kiyozawa Manshi, Soga Ryōjin, Kaneko Daiei, and Yasuda Rijin, all associated with Kyoto's Ōtani University, dealt with the spiritual concerns of a society undergoing great change. Their philosophical orientation known as "Seishinshugi" ("cultivating spirituality") provides a set of principles that prioritized personal, subjective experience as the basis for religious understanding. In addition to providing access to work generally unavailable in English, this volume also includes both a contextualizing introduction and introductions to each figure included.
Download or read book Pilgrimages and Spiritual Quests in Japan written by Peter Ackermann and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2007-03-06 with total page 201 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In a variety of interesting dimensions in both historical and contemporary Japanese culture, this exciting new book examines pilgrimages in Japan, including the meanings of travel, transformation, and the discovery of identity through encounters with the sacred.
Download or read book The Essence of Shinto written by Motohisa Yamakage and published by Kodansha International. This book was released on 2006 with total page 246 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Discusses the character and practices of Shinto. Reverence toward nature is the bedrock of Shinto, which otherwise has neither doctrine, commandments, gods, idols, nor organization. It does not use shrines, great and small, to center devotion, and the aim of the individual adherent is to purify thought, behavior, and person to live the Dao, or a moral life.
Download or read book Kamakura written by Ive Covaci and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2016-01-01 with total page 193 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Catalog of the exhibition at the Asia Society Museum, New York, February 9-May 8, 2016.
Download or read book Religions of Japan in Practice written by George J. Tanabe Jr. and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2020-06-30 with total page 583 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This anthology reflects a range of Japanese religions in their complex, sometimes conflicting, diversity. In the tradition of the Princeton Readings in Religions series, the collection presents documents (legends and miracle tales, hagiographies, ritual prayers and ceremonies, sermons, reform treatises, doctrinal tracts, historical and ethnographic writings), most of which have been translated for the first time here, that serve to illuminate the mosaic of Japanese religions in practice. George Tanabe provides a lucid introduction to the "patterned confusion" of Japan's religious practices. He has ordered the anthology's forty-five readings under the categories of "Ethical Practices," "Ritual Practices," and "Institutional Practices," moving beyond the traditional classifications of chronology, religious traditions (Shinto, Confucianism, Buddhism, etc.), and sects, and illuminating the actual orientation of people who engage in religious practices. Within the anthology's three broad categories, subdivisions address the topics of social values, clerical and lay precepts, gods, spirits, rituals of realization, faith, court and emperor, sectarian founders, wizards, and heroes, orthopraxis and orthodoxy, and special places. Dating from the eighth through the twentieth centuries, the documents are revealed to be open to various and evolving interpretations, their meanings dependent not only on how they are placed in context but also on how individual researchers read them. Each text is preceded by an introductory explanation of the text's essence, written by its translator. Instructors and students will find these explications useful starting points for their encounters with the varied worlds of practice within which the texts interact with readers and changing contexts. Religions of Japan in Practice is a compendium of relationships between great minds and ordinary people, abstruse theories and mundane acts, natural and supernatural powers, altruism and self-interest, disappointment and hope, quiescence and war. It is an indispensable sourcebook for scholars, students, and general readers seeking engagement with the fertile "ordered disorder" of religious practice in Japan.
Download or read book Anime Religion and Spirituality written by Katharine Buljan and published by Equinox Publishing (UK). This book was released on 2015 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Barely a century has passed since anime (Japanese animation) was first screened to a Western audience. Over time the number of anime genres and generic hybrids have significantly grown. These have been influenced and inspired by various historical and cultural phenomena, one of which - Japanese native religion and spirituality - this book argues is important and dominant. There have always been anime lovers in the West, but today that number is growing exponentially. This is intriguing as many Japanese anime directors and studios initially created works that were not aimed at a Western audience at all. The mutual imbrication of the profane and sacred worlds in anime, along with the profound reciprocal relationship between 'Eastern' (Japanese) and 'Western' (chiefly American) culture in the development of the anime artistic form, form the twin narrative arcs of the book. One of the most significant contributions of this book is the analysis of the employment of spiritual and religious motifs by directors. The reception of this content by fans is also examined. The appeal of anime to aficionados is, broadly speaking, the appeal of the spiritual in a post-religious world, in which personal identity and meaning in life may be crafted from popular cultural texts which offer an immersive and enchanting experience that, for many in the modern world, is more thrilling and authentic than 'real life'. In the past, religions posited that after human existence on earth had ceased, the individual soul would be reincarnated again, or perhaps reside in heaven. In the early twenty-first century, spiritual seekers still desire a life beyond that of everyday reality, and just as passionately believe in the existence of other worlds and the afterlife. However, the other worlds are the fantasy landscapes and outer space settings of anime (and other popular cultural forms), and the afterlife the digital circuitry and electronic impulses of the Internet. These important new understandings of religion and the spiritual underpin anime's status as a major site of new religious and spiritual inspiration in the West, and indeed, the world.
Download or read book Shinto written by Stuart D. B. Picken and published by . This book was released on 1987 with total page 80 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Faith in Mount Fuji written by Janine Anderson Sawada and published by University of Hawaii Press. This book was released on 2021-12-31 with total page 294 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Even a fleeting glimpse of Mount Fuji’s snow-capped peak emerging from the clouds in the distance evokes the reverence it has commanded in Japan from ancient times. Long considered sacred, during the medieval era the mountain evolved from a venue for solitary ascetics into a well-regulated pilgrimage site. With the onset of the Tokugawa period, the nature of devotion to Mount Fuji underwent a dramatic change. Working people from nearby Edo (now Tokyo) began climbing the mountain in increasing numbers and worshipping its deity on their own terms, leading to a widespread network of devotional associations known as Fujikō. In Faith in Mount Fuji Janine Sawada asserts that the rise of the Fuji movement epitomizes a broad transformation in popular religion that took place in early modern Japan. Drawing on existing practices and values, artisans and merchants generated new forms of religious life outside the confines of the sectarian establishment. Sawada highlights the importance of independent thinking in these grassroots phenomena, making a compelling case that the new Fuji devotees carved out enclaves for subtle opposition to the status quo within the restrictive parameters of the Tokugawa order. The founding members effectively reinterpreted materials such as pilgrimage maps, talismans, and prayer formulae, laying the groundwork for the articulation of a set of remarkable teachings by Jikigyō Miroku (1671–1733), an oil peddler who became one of the group’s leading ascetic practitioners. His writings fostered a vision of Mount Fuji as a compassionate parental deity who mandated a new world of economic justice and fairness in social and gender relations. The book concludes with a thought-provoking assessment of Jikigyō’s suicide on the mountain as an act of commitment to world salvation that drew on established ascetic practice even as it conveyed political dissent. Faith in Mount Fuji is a pioneering work that contains a wealth of in-depth analysis and original interpretation. It will open up new avenues of discussion among students of Japanese religions and intellectual history, and supply rich food for thought to readers interested in global perspectives on issues of religion and society, ritual culture, new religions, and asceticism.
Download or read book Religion and National Identity in the Japanese Context written by Hiroshi Kubota and published by LIT Verlag Münster. This book was released on 2002 with total page 301 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book focuses upon the relationship between religion and socio-cultural or socio-political aspects in the history of religions in Japan. Religious and ideological justifications in the course of forming a political and national identity, and the mutual relation between political, national and cultural issues can be noticed in every region of the world before the onset of secularization processes, but also in modern nation-states today. In Japan as well, just like in most modern societies, political, cultural and religious elements are closely interrelated. In a comparative approach the sixteen papers in this volume elucidate the intellectual undercurrent in Japanese history of putting positive perspectives on national achievements and cultural-religious uniqueness into service of establishing and refurbishing a national identity.
