Anne Fisker-Nielsen | Soka University of Japan (original) (raw)

Papers by Anne Fisker-Nielsen

Research paper thumbnail of Has Komeito Abandoned its Principles? Public Perception of the Party's Role in Japan's Security Legislation Debate

This article discusses key political issues surrounding Japan’s Legislation for Peace and Securit... more This article discusses key political issues surrounding Japan’s Legislation for Peace and Security that came into effect on 29 March 2016. The past two years have seen heated public debate and political protests with opposition parties uniting in their opposition to the legislation in their attempt to challenge the LDP-Komeito ruling coalition in the July 10 Upper House election. This challenge continues. In this article, I discuss opposition claims that the security legislation is ‘war legislation’ that poses a threat to Japan’s pacifist Constitution. I also discuss the central role played by Komeito in the passage of this legislation and examine the often antagonistic relationship between the LDP and its junior coalition partner, which is often ignored in the simplified narratives of the choice between ‘war and peace’ played out in the public sphere. This article, therefore, addresses not only the legislation but also public perceptions and misperceptions of the issues involved and the underlying political process.

Research paper thumbnail of The Making of Representations of the Religious Adherent Engaged in Politics

Fieldwork in Religion, 2011

In this paper, I present two ethnographic examples of young Japanese who as members of the lay Bu... more In this paper, I present two ethnographic examples of young Japanese who as members of the lay Buddhist organization Soka Gakkai in Japan support the political party Komeito. I highlight that concord about interpretations of meaning between the anthropologist and the interlocutors makes for different understanding of motivation and subsequently for different representations. While the anthropologist's work in most cases remains an ethnographic account written by the researcher, fieldwork and personal interaction with people who are regarded as interlocutors rather than subjects of study help to make the subject community, not the observer, the people who set the criteria for representation. This does not exclude a critical approach to the social phenomenon researched, but a closer understanding of the paradigmatic position of the people whom one writes about can, with careful reflection, help to overcome the particular biases of structural objectivism. While this position may have its own biases, the starting point is the participation of the anthropologist in inter-cultural discourse with the people studied, rather than an authority who has the last say on the matter. This is looking at social phenomena from the level of meaning, aiming to understand social tendencies to action rather than from a position that asks questions about facticity from a deductive approach about an abstract empirical reality.

Research paper thumbnail of Grassroot responses to the Tohoku earthquake of 11 March 2011: Overcoming the dichotomy between victim and helper (Respond to this article at http://www.therai.org.uk/at/debate)

Research paper thumbnail of Ideology and Christianity in Japan. By Kiri Paramore. (Routledge/Leiden Series in Modern East Asian History and Politics). pp. 230. London, Routledge Taylor and Francis Group, 2009

Journal of The Royal Asiatic Society, 2010

... It was translated early into Uighur, Khotanese, Sogdian, Tangut, five times into Chinese (414... more ... It was translated early into Uighur, Khotanese, Sogdian, Tangut, five times into Chinese (414–33; 552–7; 561–78; 597 and 703, the last one by Yijing [I-ching, I-tsing]) and three times into Tibetan, one from Sanskrit, the second one from an ... Ideology and Christianity in Japan. ...

Books by Anne Fisker-Nielsen

Research paper thumbnail of Nichiren Soka Gakkai and Komeito a question of political and religious attitudes Fisker Nielsen 2012

This chapter is about Nichiren Buddhism, Soka Gakkai's interpretation of him, including the issue... more This chapter is about Nichiren Buddhism, Soka Gakkai's interpretation of him, including the issue of the Three Great Secret Laws and the meaning of the ordination platform or high sanctuary (honmon kaidan) that was at times referred to as the national high sanctuary (kokuritsu kaidan) becoming the cause of much controversy. The chapter discusses this in relation to the establishment of Komeito in the 1960s and the political dynamics that surround this issue and its broader political platform including that of facilitating the creation of broader social welfare and peace.

Research paper thumbnail of Has Komeito Abandoned its Principles? Public Perception of the Party's Role in Japan's Security Legislation Debate

This article discusses key political issues surrounding Japan’s Legislation for Peace and Securit... more This article discusses key political issues surrounding Japan’s Legislation for Peace and Security that came into effect on 29 March 2016. The past two years have seen heated public debate and political protests with opposition parties uniting in their opposition to the legislation in their attempt to challenge the LDP-Komeito ruling coalition in the July 10 Upper House election. This challenge continues. In this article, I discuss opposition claims that the security legislation is ‘war legislation’ that poses a threat to Japan’s pacifist Constitution. I also discuss the central role played by Komeito in the passage of this legislation and examine the often antagonistic relationship between the LDP and its junior coalition partner, which is often ignored in the simplified narratives of the choice between ‘war and peace’ played out in the public sphere. This article, therefore, addresses not only the legislation but also public perceptions and misperceptions of the issues involved and the underlying political process.

Research paper thumbnail of The Making of Representations of the Religious Adherent Engaged in Politics

Fieldwork in Religion, 2011

In this paper, I present two ethnographic examples of young Japanese who as members of the lay Bu... more In this paper, I present two ethnographic examples of young Japanese who as members of the lay Buddhist organization Soka Gakkai in Japan support the political party Komeito. I highlight that concord about interpretations of meaning between the anthropologist and the interlocutors makes for different understanding of motivation and subsequently for different representations. While the anthropologist's work in most cases remains an ethnographic account written by the researcher, fieldwork and personal interaction with people who are regarded as interlocutors rather than subjects of study help to make the subject community, not the observer, the people who set the criteria for representation. This does not exclude a critical approach to the social phenomenon researched, but a closer understanding of the paradigmatic position of the people whom one writes about can, with careful reflection, help to overcome the particular biases of structural objectivism. While this position may have its own biases, the starting point is the participation of the anthropologist in inter-cultural discourse with the people studied, rather than an authority who has the last say on the matter. This is looking at social phenomena from the level of meaning, aiming to understand social tendencies to action rather than from a position that asks questions about facticity from a deductive approach about an abstract empirical reality.

Research paper thumbnail of Grassroot responses to the Tohoku earthquake of 11 March 2011: Overcoming the dichotomy between victim and helper (Respond to this article at http://www.therai.org.uk/at/debate)

Research paper thumbnail of Ideology and Christianity in Japan. By Kiri Paramore. (Routledge/Leiden Series in Modern East Asian History and Politics). pp. 230. London, Routledge Taylor and Francis Group, 2009

Journal of The Royal Asiatic Society, 2010

... It was translated early into Uighur, Khotanese, Sogdian, Tangut, five times into Chinese (414... more ... It was translated early into Uighur, Khotanese, Sogdian, Tangut, five times into Chinese (414–33; 552–7; 561–78; 597 and 703, the last one by Yijing [I-ching, I-tsing]) and three times into Tibetan, one from Sanskrit, the second one from an ... Ideology and Christianity in Japan. ...

Research paper thumbnail of Nichiren Soka Gakkai and Komeito a question of political and religious attitudes Fisker Nielsen 2012

This chapter is about Nichiren Buddhism, Soka Gakkai's interpretation of him, including the issue... more This chapter is about Nichiren Buddhism, Soka Gakkai's interpretation of him, including the issue of the Three Great Secret Laws and the meaning of the ordination platform or high sanctuary (honmon kaidan) that was at times referred to as the national high sanctuary (kokuritsu kaidan) becoming the cause of much controversy. The chapter discusses this in relation to the establishment of Komeito in the 1960s and the political dynamics that surround this issue and its broader political platform including that of facilitating the creation of broader social welfare and peace.