Problematic Conceptions and Critical Developments: The Construction and Relevance of Religion and Religious Studies in Japan
In this article I examine the concept of religion (shūkyō in Japanese) with reference to the claims that as a term and category it did not exist in Japan prior to the country's 19th century encounter with Western powers, and to the notion that ‘Religious Studies’ in Japan was simply implanted w...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
[publisher not identified]
2016
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| In: |
Journal of the Irish Society for the Academic Study of Religions
Year: 2016, Volume: 3, Pages: 198-218 |
| Further subjects: | B
shūkyōgaku
B the category of religion B Religious Studies B Japan B Shūkyō |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | In this article I examine the concept of religion (shūkyō in Japanese) with reference to the claims that as a term and category it did not exist in Japan prior to the country's 19th century encounter with Western powers, and to the notion that ‘Religious Studies’ in Japan was simply implanted wholesale from the West. By referring to recent work in this area, I argue that such claims are overstated. I further examine some of the implications of the development of a concept of religion in pre-war and post-war Japan, and discuss why in the post-war era new laws and constitutional safeguards relating to religion were inaugurated. By looking at controversial areas in which actions are viewed as religious or not, while in parallel looking at how post-war academia has interpreted ‘religion’ and how Japanese Religious Studies (shūkyōgaku) has developed, I argue that the concept and discipline are highly important in the present day, and that suggestions that the term and the academic discipline be abandoned could have serious implications for contemporary society and Japanese civil liberties. |
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| ISSN: | 2009-7409 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Irish Society for the Academic Study of Religions, Journal of the Irish Society for the Academic Study of Religions
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