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Critical Reflections on the Category ‘Religion’ in Japan

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The Category of ‘Religion’ in Contemporary Japan

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Abstract

The term shūkyō was developed as a generic category in Japan in the late nineteenth century to refer to the English word ‘religion.’ It also referred to the German Religionsübung (Hermann 2016, p. 114). In chapter “A ‘Critical Religion’ Approach to Japanese ‘Religion(s)’”, I have highlighted the absence of the emic equivalent to the concept of ‘religion’ in pre-modern Japan. This understanding echoes Helen Hardacre (1991, p. 18) when she claims:

In pre-Meiji Japan there existed no concept of religion as a general phenomenon, of which there would be variants like Christianity, Buddhism, and Shinto. People spoke of having faith (shinkō) in particular kami and Buddhas, but on word existed to designate a separate sphere of life that could be ‘religious,’ as opposed to the rest of one’s existence.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    For this initial encounter with ‘religion’ by the Japanese, refer to my article ‘The American Imperialism and the Japanese Encounter with ‘Religion’: 1853–1858’ (Horii 2016).

  2. 2.

    Yomiuri Shinbun on 5 November 2004 reported that a 68-year-old priest was arrested for indecent assault. He was accused of touching the lower abdominal area of a women in her 30s, who visited the temple to receive the foetus memorial service. The priest was accused of sexually touching the woman while the priest attempted to ‘clean the evil spirit’ from her. It was also reported by Yomiuri Shimbun on 27 September 2005 that a 60-year-old priest was arrested for indecent assault after he was accused of touching the breasts of two women while he was offering the services to clean evil spirits from them. In addition, According to the Yomiuri Shinbun report on 28 April 2006, a 76-year-old priest was arrested for an indecent assault, when he was accused of touching an 18-year-old woman, while he was offering a service to her. The priest admitted that he had touched her, but denied any sexual intention.

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  1. Shumei University, Chiba, Japan

    Mitsutoshi Horii

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Horii, M. (2018). Critical Reflections on the Category ‘Religion’ in Japan. In: The Category of ‘Religion’ in Contemporary Japan. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-73570-2_3

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