Crossing Boundaries: Rethinking “Japanese Religion” in the Anthropocene

This article uses the fiftieth anniversary of the JJRS as an occasion to reexamine the field, consider challenges and opportunities, and offer suggestions for how to bring Japanese religious studies more in tune with developments in adjacent academic fields and wider societal concerns. I argue that scholars of Japanese religion must engage more with the most pressing issues of our time and that they can do so by applying insights from the environmental humanities to their studies. This project should involve reflection upon the adjective “Japanese” and a critical awareness of processes of Japan-making in academia, with greater attention to diversity within the Japanese isles, focusing on migrants, Indigenous communities, and other minoritized groups, and with a transnational comparative approach that moves beyond nation-states as analytical units and acknowledges cross-border flows and commonalities. These conceptual and methodological interventions directly align with the core concerns and objectives of the environmental humanities.