Problems of 'Religion' in Japan

Part 2

Bibliographic Data

ID4880787
AuthorsMitsutoshi Horii (0000-0002-5712-0631, Shumei University, corresponding author)
Year2020
Volume14
Issue11
Pages1-8
Publication date2020-11-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueReligion Compass (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1749-8171 • E-ISSN: 1749-8171
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/rec3.12375
OpenAlexW3091708753
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited15

This article problematizes the utilisation of the category 'religion' as an analytical concept in the Japanese context. For some decades, in Religious Studies, the idea of religion has been interrogated and the ideological function of the category 'religion' has become a subject of critical investigation. This kind of critical approach to 'religion' has been applied to many different contexts including Japan. Although there has been a significant development in the critical study of 'religion' in Japan, this article argues that the discourse of sui generis religion is still dominant in the academic subject area currently called 'Japanese religion(s)'. This article critically examines the category of religion in recent works of scholars who claim to study 'Japanese religion(s)' and suggests abandoning the term as a category of analysis. This will help scholars to re-imagine what they use to call 'religion', by enabling them to see what the idea of 'religion' formerly prevent them from seeing

Center for the Study of Religion and Society · Epistemology · Ideology · Lived religion · Political science · Politics · Secular state · Social science · Sociology · History · Japanese History and Culture · Law · Philosophy · Religious studies · Religious Studies and Spiritual Practices · Study and Philosophy of Religion

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