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Can I read The Invention of Religion in Japan on EtoBox?
The Invention of Religion in Japan by Jason Ananda Josephson Storm is a nonfiction available to read on EtoBox.
What is The Invention of Religion in Japan about?
A study of how Japan once had no concept of "religion," and what happened when officials were confronted by American Commodore Perry in 1853. Throughout its long history, Japan had no concept of what we call "religion." There was no corresponding Japanese word, nor anything close to its meaning. But when American warships appeared off the coast of Japan in 1853 and forced the Japanese government to sign treaties demanding, among other things, freedom of religion, the country had to contend with this Western idea. In this book, Jason Ananda Josephson reveals how Japanese officials invented religion in Japan and traces the sweeping intellectual, legal, and cultural changes that followed. More than a tale of oppression or hegemony, Josephson's account demonstrates that the process of articulating religion offered the Japanese state a valuable opportunity. In addition to carving out space for belief in Christianity and certain forms of Buddhism, Japanese officials excluded Shinto from the category. Instead, they enshrined it as a national ideology while relegating the popular practices of indigenous shamans and female mediums to the category of "superstitions" —and thus beyond the sphe
Who reads The Invention of Religion in Japan?
It is typically read by self-directed learners exploring a subject in depth.
Common subject areas: history, science, philosophy, social sciences.
- Author
- Jason Ananda Josephson Storm
- Publisher
- The University of Chicago Press
- Published
- 2024
- Language
- EN
- ISBN
- 9781283622745
- Category
- nonfiction
- Subjects
- Religion, History, Political Science