BA East Asian Studies

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 traditions and the new religions) and practices that have shaped the Japanese religious and cultural landscapes., andIt also examinesexplores 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. 

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 traditions and the new religions) and practices that have shaped the Japanese religious and cultural landscapes., and It also explores 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.  

Week 1: Religion in Japan: key themes, concepts and traditions

Week 2: Disasters

Week 3: Shinto

Week 4: Buddhism

Week 5: New Religions

Week 6: Shungendō and mountain religion

Week 7: Pilgrimage

Week 8: Nationalism  

Week 9: Violence

Week 10: Minorities

Week 11: Future perspectives

Lectures and pre-reading will set out the key issues and provide the fundamental information required for students to understand and interpret the media texts selected. Students are expected to come to class prepared to discuss questions on the topics outlined within the reading material assigned each week. Visual materials (photos, video clips, websites, manga, magazines and so on) will be used in some classes. Seminars will be used to address the key issues identified within the lectures, reading material and/or visual materials in greater depth, as well as to address essay writing techniques and processes.

•    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 Essay on agreed topic 

  
Barbara Ambros Women in Japanese Religions. (New York and London: New York University Press, 2015)

Mark Rowe Bonds of The Dead: Temples, Burial and the Transformation of Contemporary Japanese Buddhism (University of Hawai‘i Press 2011)

John Breen (ed) Yasukuni, the war dead and the struggle for Japan's past (Oxford University Press 2008)

John Breen and Mark Teeuwen, A new history of Shinto (Wiley, 2010)  

Paul L. Swanson and Clark Chilson (eds)  Nanzan Guide to Japanese Religions. (University of Hawai‘i Press, 2006)  

Erica Baffelli, Andrea Castiglioni, and Fabio Rambelli (eds) The Bloomsbury Handbook of Japanese Religions (Bloomsbury 2021)

Ian Reader Making Pilgrimages: meaning and Practice in Shikoku (University of Hawai‘i Press 2004)