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Students’ Perception of Religious Phenomena in Japan and the Inadequacy of ’Religion’ as Conceptual Tool in a non-Western Context

Eschweiler, Natascha (2019) CÖSM40
Centre for East and South-East Asian Studies, Lund University
Abstract
The main purpose of this study was to evaluate the attitude of Japanese university students towards religious phenomena in Japan, with specific emphasis on the ones labelled new religious movements. This has been achieved through ten semi-structured interviews with female and male university students based in Tokyo, all with varying personal experiences with religion. Drawing on Horii (2018) and Lewis (2015), this thesis further sought to contribute to the debate on how to develop more appropriate conceptual tools for the study of “religion” in Japan. The students' attitudes in this research differed greatly when it came to Shinto and Buddhism, world religions like Christianity, and new religious movements. Shinto and Buddhism were seen as... (More)
The main purpose of this study was to evaluate the attitude of Japanese university students towards religious phenomena in Japan, with specific emphasis on the ones labelled new religious movements. This has been achieved through ten semi-structured interviews with female and male university students based in Tokyo, all with varying personal experiences with religion. Drawing on Horii (2018) and Lewis (2015), this thesis further sought to contribute to the debate on how to develop more appropriate conceptual tools for the study of “religion” in Japan. The students' attitudes in this research differed greatly when it came to Shinto and Buddhism, world religions like Christianity, and new religious movements. Shinto and Buddhism were seen as an integral part of Japan's culture rather than religion, and world religions were generally viewed positively. New religious movements on the other hand were regarded with suspicion bordering on fear by some respondents. Lastly, the study found that “religion” is indeed not an appropriate category of analysis and should be replaced to properly capture the reality of Japanese society. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Eschweiler, Natascha
supervisor
organization
course
CÖSM40
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
Religion in Japan, New religious movements, Perception of religion, Sōka Gakkai, Aum Shinrikyō, Religion and culture, Category of religion
language
English
id
8996936
date added to LUP
2019-10-22 10:59:29
date last changed
2019-10-22 10:59:29
@misc{8996936,
  abstract     = {{The main purpose of this study was to evaluate the attitude of Japanese university students towards religious phenomena in Japan, with specific emphasis on the ones labelled new religious movements. This has been achieved through ten semi-structured interviews with female and male university students based in Tokyo, all with varying personal experiences with religion. Drawing on Horii (2018) and Lewis (2015), this thesis further sought to contribute to the debate on how to develop more appropriate conceptual tools for the study of “religion” in Japan. The students' attitudes in this research differed greatly when it came to Shinto and Buddhism, world religions like Christianity, and new religious movements. Shinto and Buddhism were seen as an integral part of Japan's culture rather than religion, and world religions were generally viewed positively. New religious movements on the other hand were regarded with suspicion bordering on fear by some respondents. Lastly, the study found that “religion” is indeed not an appropriate category of analysis and should be replaced to properly capture the reality of Japanese society.}},
  author       = {{Eschweiler, Natascha}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Students’ Perception of Religious Phenomena in Japan and the Inadequacy of ’Religion’ as Conceptual Tool in a non-Western Context}},
  year         = {{2019}},
}