BA East Asian Studies with International Study / Course details

This module examines religion in Japanese historical and contemporary contexts, with a particular emphasis on the modern period.  It introduces the main religious traditions (notably Buddhism, Shinto, the folk religious tradition and the new religions) and practices that have shaped the Japanese religious and cultural landscapes, and examines the historical emergence and development of religious traditions, their relationships with state and society, and their rituals and practices. Furthermore, it examines issues of religious change in the late 20th/early 21st century.

Available on: Japanese Studies programme

•    To provide students with an understanding of main topics concerning the study of religion in Japan
•    To introduce the religious traditions and their dynamics in modern and contemporary Japan, in particular the interactions between culture, religion and society. 
•    To help students understand the main issues related to the place of religion in Japan today. 

•    demonstrate knowledge and understanding of key major issues relating to the role of religion in modern and contemporary Japan
•    demonstrate critical understanding of key analytical concepts related to the study of religion in contemporary Japan
 

•    engage in informed critical analysis of Japanese culture, especially religion
•    read and watch critically 
•    write analytically

•    have the skills to discover good sources independently
•    experience reading academic texts building on their earlier or parallel learning in cognate course units

•    have honed their skills for reasoned presentation, discussion and argument 
•    be able to find and use critically a range of materials such as books, journals and web-based resources relevant to the topics studied in the course.

Resit Assessment

1. Barbara Ambros Women in Japanese Religions. (New York and London: New York University Press, 2015)
2. Mark Rowe Bonds of The Dead: Temples, Burial and the Transformation of Contemporary Japanese Buddhism (Hawai‘i University press 2011)
3. John Breen (ed) Yasukuni, the war dead and the struggle for Japan's past (Oxford University Press 2008)
4. John Breen and Mark Teeuwen, A new history of Shinto (Wiley, 2010) 
5. Paul L. Swanson and Clark Chilson (eds)  Nanzan guide to Japanese religions. (University of Hawai‘i Press, 2006) 
6. Inken Prohl and John Nelson (eds)  Handbook of Contemporary Japanese Religions (Brill, 2012)
7. Ian Reader  Making Pilgrimages: meaning and Practice in Shikoku (University of Hawai‘i press 2004)