Formations of Secularity in Ancient Japan? (original) (raw)
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Journal of Religion in Japan, 2019
Starting from the premise that the diversity of forms for distinguishing between ‘the religious’ and ‘the secular’ (i.e., multiple secularities) in global modernity is the result ofdifferent cultural preconditions in the appropriation ofWestern normative concepts of secularism, I would like to offer a modest contribution to the understanding of the corresponding cultural preconditions in Japan. I will try to showthat the specific—and at first glance, relatively unproblematic—appropriation of secularity as a regulatory principle in modern Japan is to some extent path dependent on relatively stable and durable epistemic and social structures that have emerged in the course of ‘critical junctures’ in history. In this context, I would like to put up for discussion my hypothesis that some decisions taken in the period between the sixth and eighth centuries CE regarding the organisation of the relationship between ‘the religious’ and ‘the secular’ generated path dependencies that were effective well into the nineteenth century.
Introduction: Formations of the Secular in Japan
Aike P. Rots and Mark teeuwen early modern power configurations, and their "universalization" was embedded in imperialist projects even if the categories were appropriated and transformed by non-Western actors. 4 Thus, Asad and like-minded postcolonial scholars have contributed significantly to the re-historicization of these concepts and, accordingly, to the overcoming of universalistic, sui generis understandings of religion. 5 The title of this special issue, Formations of the Secular in Japan, is a direct reference to the work of Asad, whose genealogical approach and conceptual criticism constitute an important source of inspiration for us. At the same time, however, some of the articles in this volume depart from Asad, notably in problematizing his assertion that "the secular" was a uniquely Western product, developed in a Christian context and forcibly imposed upon non-Western Others. They show that the religioussecular dichotomy played a central part in modern state formation in Japan, in spite of the fact that Japan was one of a handful of non-Western countries that escaped colonization. 6 The categories of religion and the secular were not simply imposed by "the West": they were also shaped by Japanese (state and religious) actors, who drew on preexisting notions and practices as much as on newly imported ones.
"Premodern Secularism", Japan Review, 30, 2017, pp. 21-37.
This article argues that secularism is not an exclusively modern phenomenon, but is rather a recurring pattern which arises throughout different periods of premodern and modern history. I begin with a longue durée overview of Japanese history as a case study, proposing a regime of such historical cycles over a 1,200-year period. I then focus on changes in religious-political relations which occurred in one specific, important cycle, through the transition from the late medieval into the early modern period. I argue that this period ushered in a new form of political-religious relations where Neo-Confucianism, instead of Buddhism, for the first time represented the religious element in Japanese politics. I demonstrate how this early modern regime of political-religious interaction supported by Neo-Confucianism was particularly stable and functioned to support public discourse. In conclusion, the article notes the destruction of this early modern form of political-religious relations during East Asian modernization, and suggests that the continuing lack of a stable regime of political-religious relations in both contemporary China and Japan can be seen as an ongoing legacy of that destruction.
Critical Reflections on the Religious-Secular Dichotomy in Japan
Making Religion: Theory and Practice in the Discursive Study of Religion
For at least the last two decades, the concept of ‘religion’ has been examined critically by a number of scholars. In the light of this scrutiny, this chapter takes the concept in Japan as a subject for investigation. The Japanese concept for ‘religion’ shūkyō was invented in the nineteenth century. The term was a key constituent element in the technology of statecraft. The term’s nineteenth century construction has been extensively studied by many, but the same critical thread has not been reached to the post-1945 era. This is the main area of the inquiry for this chapter. First of all, this chapter reviews how the term ‘religion’ was imported to and appropriated as shūkyō in Japan in the nineteenth century and the early twentieth century. This is followed by the examination of how the concept was reformulated after the Second World War under the influence of American-style liberal democratic values. To the present day, the boundary between religion (shūkyō) and the non-religious secular is ambiguous and often contentious. Importantly, this exploration leaves us with the under-researched area of shūkyō in the colloquial discourse. Thus, this chapter concludes with implications for further research.
The peer-reviewed Journal of Religion in Japan (JRJ) constitutes a venue for academic research in the complex and multifaceted field of Japanese religion. The Journal takes into consideration Japanese religious phenomena through their historical developments and contemporary evolution both within and outside of Japan. lt explores the interplay between religion and society, religion and culture, religion and media, and religion and education; the dynamics of globalization and secularization related to Japanese religions; and the geography of religions, new sacred spaces, and hybridization of religion. The JRJ is committed to an approach based on religious studies, and is open to contributions coming from different disciplines, such as anthropology, sociology, history, Buddhist studies, Japanese studies, art history, and area studies. TheJoumal of Religion in Japan encourages critical application of ideas and theories about Japanese religions and constitutes a forum for new theoretical developments in the field of religion in Japan. The Journal does not provide a venue for inter-religious dialogue, or philosophical and confessional approaches.
Japanese Secularities and the Decline of Temple Buddhism
In many ways, Japan provides a predictable example of how historical, political, economic, and cultural factors in the postwar and late-modern periods influence the interactivity of religious affiliations and secular forces. And yet, to grasp the complexity of the situation also requires a broader analytical perspective, one that can incorporate secularizing influences that are harder to identify because they are more globally diffuse. Based on extended fieldwork that has examined the ‘boom and bust’ of contemporary Japanese temple Buddhism, I first discuss historical and political legacies unique to Japan that have shaped local secularities. Additionally, concepts of Japanese religiosity and secularity have been referenced in controversial court cases that are relevant to the practice of religion in the public sphere. Finally, the discussion surveys forces that are domestic and familiar as well as global and invasive—new information technologies, greater personal agency, hyper-consumerism, corporate and bureaucratic restructuring, and a growing tolerance for diversity—impacting traditional temple Buddhism. Each one of these factors is significant in understanding Japan’s secularities. The purpose here is to see them as a mutually-reinforcing and interactive web of relations and consequences for the Japanese people and the religious institutions in their midst.
Religion as Practice and Experience in Late Medieval and Early Modern Japan (General Introduction)
Cahiers d'Extrême-Asie 32, 2023
This is the introduction of the 32nd issue of the Cahiers d'Extrême-Asie. The CEA 32 can be purchased online on the EFEO website (https://publications.efeo.fr/en/livres/1014\_cahiers-d-extreme-asie-32-2023) or, from March, via the Kyoto EFEO center (efeo.kyoto@gmail.com). Former issues of the CEA are available online on Jstor (https://www.jstor.org/journal/cahiextrasie) and Persée (https://www.persee.fr/collection/asie).