Although the cliché that Japan is a country rich in religious and spiritual traditions is still widespread, the current developments point in the opposite direction. Presently, most Japanese declare themselves as mushūkyō 無宗教 (non-religious) and active participation in whatever religious tradition tends to be the exception rather than the rule. For quite some time, there was a tendency to disregard this data by arguing that the crucial term shūkyō 宗教 only refers to institutionalized forms of religions. Scholars pointed instead to the prevalence of various forms of ritual behavior—such as traditional New Year's visits to Shintō shrines, the omnipresence of Buddhist mortuary rites, and the popularity of the many festivals (matsuri 祭り) or traditional pilgrimages that blend religious and customary elements—as evidence of a distinctive form of Japanese religiosity. Another argument referred to the alleged rise of “spirituality” as an alternative form of religion that has purportedly permeated Japanese society since at least the 1980s. Such claims were at times interwoven with prevalent ideas of Japanese uniqueness, particularly in the wake of the nihonjin-ron 日本人論 debate in the second half of the twentieth century. The authors of this book, both of whom possess an in-depth understanding of the contemporary religious landscape, convincingly argue against this trend and highlight the evident and pervasive decline in the significance of religion—a development that has gained dramatic momentum in recent decades. They present new empirical data and offer insights grounded in their own perspectives, which in turn are based on a thorough understanding of Japanese society at various levels (including rural areas and not only large urban centers). A crucial factor is the influence of the mass media which, acting as “amplifiers of antipathy,” disseminate a predominantly negative image of religion. Arguments pointing to their alleged focus on money and on various legal and social privileges, which are perceived as forms of human exploitation, are frequently cited as evidence of their predominantly harmful influence on society as a whole. With its scope the book is not only relevant for those interested in contemporary religion in Japan and its future trajectories (if there are any at all), but also offers substantial material and stimulating insights for anyone examining the effects of secularization (and modernity) on religions at a large scale. To a certain extent, Japan appears to function as a laboratory for developments that may lie ahead in many other countries.
Franz Winter (Mon,) studied this question.
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