ASIAN 3355 - [Japanese Religions]

(crosslisted) RELST 3355
(GB) (CA-AS)

Spring. Next offered 2016-2017. 4 credits. Letter grades only.

J. M. Law.

A focus on the dominant ideological system of Japanese religious practice and thought - Shinto. We study general methodological issues surrounding tradition formation, continuity, change and revision. The Shinto case reveals the complexity of a given religious system which simultaneously serves as both a cultural ideology and a path for individual spiritual cultivation. A study of Shinto allows us to develop the intellectual frameworks for understanding the dynamics of religious traditions in societies.

We look at 1) the means by which a central corpus of values, tastes, practices, beliefs and concerns have been formulated and how this system has interacted with other religious systems in Japan in such a way that it claims to be “authentically Japanese;” 2) the academic sources for the study of the Shinto tradition which have also contributed to its identity and continuity; 3) the view of this religious system from the perspective of those who are actively shaping its discourse; 4) the view of the religious system from the perspective of those peripheralized by its ideologies; 5) the issue of personal cultivation and aesthetic taste in the tradition; and 6) the relationship between this religious system, the formation of a body politic, and imperialism, war, and historical revisionism. (RL)