ejcjs - Religion and the Secular in Japan: Problems in history, social anthropology and the study of religion
Interesting essay I was given to by a friend of mine who is a sociology major who is also on exchange here in Japan from Germany at the same university as I.
Its a long essay and is not particularly easy to read unless you study any of the social sciences and are familiar with at least a few of the terms.
To save you the time of reading the whole thing. Amongst the many things it argues, it argues that the "religious versus the secular" dichotomy that is used in the west cannot be applied to Japan.
An example Im given in one of my religious studies classes here in Japan is the idea that the word religion is not translated into Japanese correctly and therefore Japanese have a hard time understanding the concept. The closest translation is 宗教 shuukyou which if you seperate the word into the 2 kanji translates into group/sect (宗) teaching (教).
This translation puts what we understand to be "religion" in Japan today, alongside each other UNDER what may have been the authority and sanctity of the Emporers divinity in the past, to what is today something akin to what we understand "secularism" to be.
In contrast with what we understand religion to be in the West.. it is something that is COMPETING with Secularism.
In summary, basically its saying that the much debated question "Is Japan a religious country" is a flawed one because "religion" as we understand it is ONLY a Western concept and doesnt exist in Japan let alone many cultures around the world.
PS- Mods I feel that the main topic here is culture rather than religion so please leave it up.