CB 57: Animated Spirituality Midterm

moe

"cute" aesthetic. the trend of re-imagining the religious landscape of Japan with a cute aesthetic there are two factors we can consider: 1) the development of the concept of "moe" and 2) the economic benefits associated with "moe" franchise. Fan culture driven by the power of fragments instead of a unified whole Indicates a response to fantasy characters, but is not tied to a specific style

Occult Boom

"knowledge of the hidden" or "the paranormal," as opposed to scientific knowledge the study of a deeper spiritual reality that extends beyond pure reason and the physical sciences communicated only to the initiated; esoteric transmission of teachings

moral panic

"occurs when a condition or group of people are defined as a threat to societal values --> sensationalism by media --> experts pronounce solutions --> condition disappears

The Taxing Woman Returns

''A Taxing Woman's Return'' is a sequel, but it's a very different kind of movie from the first, which introduced the ''taxing woman,'' Ryoko (Nobuko Miyamoto), the former housewife who, after one setback and another, finds self-realization as a tax inspector. In the new film, Ryoko is a fully formed character, one who functions much in the way of the lead of a television series. ''A Taxing Woman's Return'' is about Ryoko's further adventures, this time with Mishima (Toru Masuoka), a callow young Tokyo University graduate, as her partner. Their immediate objective is the Heaven's Path religious cult, which is suspiciously rich for what looks to be a comparatively modest collection of fanatics. Their work isn't easy. It turns out that there are more registered religions in Tokyo than there are barbers. Onizawa and his wife, the Holy Matriarch (Haruko Kato), drive around in his and hers Rolls-Royces. The Holy Matriarch has a special fondness for floor-length sable coats and Onizawa for women, especially for Nana, the pig-tailed 16-year-old who has been left with him as collateral on a loan. The movie proceeds as a cat-and-mouse game as Ryoko and Mishima investigate the Heaven's Path cult and discover that Onizawa is, in fact, the front man for a group of crooked businessmen and corrupt members of the Diet. This unholy alliance is changing the skyline of Tokyo, evicting tenants, buying land and putting up the sorts of spectacular high-rises that now dominate the city's western district of Shinjuku. The fruits of this real estate boom have nothing to do with the traditional Tokyo in which form has, until now, followed function. The ''new'' Tokyo could be the last Tokyo. This is the subtext of the movie, which goes out of its way to disguise its serious concerns. In ''A Taxing Woman's Return,'' Mr. Itami employs the mechanics of movie melodrama with unabashed gusto - stake-outs, car chases, disguises, secret chambers and even the kind of mysterious jewel that might turn up in an ''Indiana Jones'' adventure. With the exception of Onizawa, the movie is less interested in character than in scene, which is tumultuous and often Bunuelian. Nothing could be more Bunuelian than the wintery love affair of Onizawa and the innocent Nana. She comes to adore the dirty old man who makes her pregnant and who then, as a sign of his undying love, proudly buys her a cemetery plot next to his mausoleum. There is also something of Luis Bunuel in Mr. Itami's eagerness to disorient his audience with, perhaps, a sudden shot of a severed hand, or the lingering image of a corpse that's been some weeks in the water. Representing the film's conscience are Ryoko, Mishima and their comically gung-ho colleagues though, except for a parting glance at the end, they never betray their feelings in any overt fashion. Miss Miyamoto, in her Louise Brooks bob and wearing modishly baggy slacks, is a steadfast charmer, and a far more endearing crime buster than Batman.

Inoue, Haruyo. "Contemporary Transformation of Japanese Death Ceremonies." In Death and Dying in Contemporary Japan.

Urban funeral transformation; privatization and individualization of funerals; appearnace of alternative systems in graves and burials: free of succession graves, nature trend burials--scattering of ashes and tree burials, cherry burial--attempt to suppport nuclear family in age of privatization; rituals for the decesaed at home replacing buddhist altar

A

a 1998 Japanese documentary film about the Aum Shinrikyo cult following the arrest of its leaders for instigating the sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway in 1995. The film focuses on a young spokesman for the cult Hiroshi Araki, a troubled 28-year-old who had severed all family ties and rejected all forms of materialism before joining the sect.

Shikigami

a helper spirit utilized by a Yin and Yang practitioner a spirit that is utilized by an Onmyoji. In it's original form, they were paper human figures, but in folk renditions they take the form of oni or dōji (little child). When an Onmyoji curses someone, the shikigami possesses a piece of paper, a bird, frog, or dog, and is sent to the person who is to be cursed.

Shugendo

a highly syncretic where the focus of its practices is the development of spiritual experience and power. Having backgrounds in mountain worship, Shugendō incorporated beliefs and practices from early Japanese religious beliefs, Taoism and esoteric Buddhism. Shugendō literally means "the path of training and testing" or "the way to spiritual power through discipline."

shini-gesho

death makeup;i just found that it fends off evil spirits

"The Lost Decade: Gender and Religion in Flux" Barbara Ambros

demographic changes and gender debates; Reactions by religious organizations: conservatism and feminism; New religios movements: adapting to new realities; women and new age spirituality; because social changes, some coservative, others not

Drawing on tradition: Manga, Anime, and Religion in Contemporary Japan by Joylon Thomas

people dont say theyre religious, spirituality, manga and anime. anime allows new images to be created that live action films cannot and can depict internal states. dont know whether miyazaki can be religious.

mononoke

powerful, formless, intangible spirits that can be very dangerous. In classical literature they are associated with emotions like the bitterness of unrequited love, resentment, and hatred. The classical uses of the term don't correspond in any clear way to Miyazaki's calling this film "Princess Mononoke," though anger and resentment are part of San's character.

Recreation Religion in Drawing on Tradition by Joylon Thomas

recreating religion

content tourism

refers to any tourist activity that involves a visit to the location that is associated with the contents of a particular piece of literature, film, TV drama, manga, or anime People who go on "seichi junrei" per year: 1 million Economic Effect: over 2 billion dollars Employment Effect: 13,000 jobs Tax revenue: over 110 million dollars

seichi junrei

"Pilgriamges to Sacred Sites." "Seichi" is the Japanese term for "sacred site" and "junrei" means "pilgrimage." Here, the "sacred sites" are not historically religious sites as you might expect from the term, but rather refers to physical "real" spaces that became the basis for a scene in an animation TV series or film.

Butsudan

A Buddhist (household) altar; a shrine commonly found in temples and shrines in Japanese Buddhist Culture

Walter, Mariko Namba. 2008. The Structure of Japanese Buddhist Funerals. In Death and the Afterlife in Japanese Buddhism.

A brief history of Japanese buddhist death rituals; Denominational Characteristics of Funeral Rites: Their Origins and Differences: Tendai, Shingon, Jodo, zen, Jodo Shinshu, Nichiren; The structure and meaning of death rituals: initiatory stage, ordination of the dead (jukai), leading the deceased to the other world (indo), transfer of merit (eko and tsuisen); Some doctrinal questions

The Iron Triangle

A defining characteristic of Japan's economic miracle; A triangle made up of Bureaucracy, Politicians, and Big Business. 1. Bureaucrats make policies. 2. Politicians approve and provide legitimacy for policies made. 3. Big business and special interest provide amakudari positions/"entertain" bureaucrats in order to have a cohesive working relationship. 4. Bureaucrats influence business through ability to regulate/licence policy-making and administrative responsibilities 5. Big business and special interests provide funding for politicians in order to curtail/influence bureaucratic control 6. Politicians oppose bureaucratic policies because they have constituents/special interests to protect

Goma ritual

A fire ritual in Esoteric Buddhism derived from Hinduism Goma, or homa, was originally a fire offering to Heaven in Hinduism. Esoteric Buddhism adopted the idea of worshipping with fire, in that as the fire burned the twigs thrown into the fire, the wisdom of esoteric practice is also thought to burn away the afflictions and illusions of the mind. According to the teachings of Esoteric Buddhism, through these rituals the priest can channel the powers of the Buddha to bring practical benefits to sentient beings. These practical benefits included politically driven desires to the subjugation of political enemies.

Eitai Kuyobo (eternal memorial grave)

A grave that is permanently cared for by a religious organization (usually for thirty-three years after death). A radical departure from the traditional obligation to support the temple that houses one's ancestors. Individual, single-generation membership with no danka requirements.

Etoki

A group of specialists versed in the stories of emaki, doctrines, or history of the shrine, religion, or temple in question. The sermons given based on pictures went by the same name. A practice in which temple priests and itinerant preachers have used pictures to expound on religious doctrine, both for semi literate or illiterate commoners or for the edification of literate elites.

Kamidana

A household altar for kami

Cult

A particular form or system of religious worship or veneration, esp. as expressed in ceremony or ritual directed towards a specified figure or object. Freq. with of or modifying word. A relatively small group of people having (esp. religious) beliefs or practices regarded by others as strange or sinister, or as exercising excessive control over members, i.e., "other people's religions that I don't like.". a collective obsession with or intense admiration for a particular person, thing, or idea

kegare

A polluted and evil condition; the opposite of purity. A condition of taboo in Shinto. From ancient times transgressions (tsumi 罪) have been understood as the result of human behavior, but kegare is seen as the result of naturally occurring phenomena. It was thought that when this corruption adhered to the individual it also brought calamities to society. In general kegare can be purified by ritual ablutions (misogi 禊). However, people who upset the order of things by bringing pollution into a ritual space or into a community were treated as in transgression, and a ritual purification (harae 祓) was also required. In recent folklore studies one group of scholars has viewed kegare as a condition in which "vitality" or ki 気 has withered, in other words, vitality has dissipated

Onmyoji

A practicioner of the Way of the Yin and Yang, a leading specialist of onmyodo during the middle of the Heian Period in Japan

The Omoto Incident of 1935

A similar issue unfolded in 1935 in Japan, when the Special Higher Police targeted Ōmoto for violation of the newspaper law and supposedly disrespecting the emperor (the charge was lese majeste). The Special Higher Police were originally formed to suppress leftist thought, and they had put so many communists and socialists in jail that by the mid-1930s there was little reason to keep them going. In other words, the Special Higher Police had to demonstrate their ongoing significance or face the organization being dissolved. The secular newspapers ran numerous articles against Ōmoto, especially when university students started wearing their hair long, imitating Onisaburō. The papers created a panic about Ōmoto, claiming that the best and brightest were being beguiled into a shady religion. In 1935 the Special Higher Police gathered a force of 500 and completely destroyed Ōmoto headquarters. The leaders were arrested and kept in jail until the end of the war. This looks like a clear case of bureaucrats running amok in order to justify the continued existence of their organization

Pang, Carolyn. "Uncovering Shikigami: the Search for the Spirit Servant of Onmyodo,"

A study of scholarly discourse on shikigami reveals diverse understandings of what this thaumaturgical emblem of Onmyōdō (way of yin and yang) represents. From a metaphorical reference to shikisen (an augury using astrological calculations and an augury instrument called shikiban), to a type of magical curse, to a supernatural being, the various explanations offered by Japanese scholars highlight the ambivalent nature of shikigami and demonstrate the difficulties in establishing the exact nature of this enigmatic being. Although such variations in defnition are a result of changing textual constructions of shikigami in Japanese classical literature, literary narratives still function as a useful source of social and cultural studies of early Japanese society. Trough my study of shikigami, I seek to highlight the signifcance of Onmyōdō in Japanese religiosity and provoke further studies in Japanese folklore beliefs while examining the use of literary narratives in religious studies

Fudo myoo

A wrathful deity who is often the object of worship in a fire ritual

Eko (transfer of merit)

According to Buddhist tradition, the deceased wander in an interim state that lasts up to forty-nine days before being reborn. Prayers were to be offered every seven days up until the forty-ninth day following death. After the forty-ninth day ritual, a series of memorial rites continues to be performed on the first, third, and seventh anniversary and so on in a sequence of thirteen memorial rites, up through the thirty-third year following the death.

Thomas, Jolyon Baraka. "Horrific 'Cults' and Comic Religion: Manga after Aum,"

After the 1995 Aum Shinrikyō オウム真理教 sarin gas attacks, influential commentators suggested that enthralling apocalyptic narratives characteristic of manga (illustrated serial novels) made Aum members prone to extremism and violence. This article inverts this interpretation, showing that popular manga published after 1995 have exhibited—and reflected—morbid fascination with the sensational fodder provided by the Aum incident itself. Early manga responses advanced variations on a horrific "evil cult" trope in which marginal religions modeled on Aum were graphically depicted as hotbeds of sexual depravity, fraud, and violence. Over time, equally chilling—if less sensational—psychological thrillers appeared that interrogated the aspects of human nature that allow for "cult-like" behavior. Finally, one very recent manga has sublimated the formerly popular "evil cult" trope by divorcing "religion" from "cults" and rehabilitating the former through mildly irreverent comedy.

Waco Incident

An offshoot group of the Davidian Seventh-day Adventist Church that made headlines on February 28, 1993, when its Mount Carmel headquarters near Waco, Texas, was raided by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF); four federal agents were killed in the assault. A lengthy standoff between the group and government agents then followed. It ended on April 19, after 76 members of the group, including their leader David Koresh, died when the Mount Carmel complex was burned to the ground following an attempted entrance by Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents. The BATF had been founded during the Prohibition era, mainly to deal with bootleggers. By the early 1990s, there were proposals to close it down and hand its work over to the FBI. In other words, its head was on the chopping block, and it needed to demonstrate some rationale for its continued existence. Bureaucratic overkill: derives from a bureaucracy's determination to prove its ongoing relevance through policing religion. David Koresh's name suggested that he was a spiritual heir of the biblical King David and that he, like Koresh (Hebrew for Cyrus, the ancient Persian king), was a messianic figure—though not the Messiah, Jesus. (Cyrus is the only non-Jew to whom the title messiah, or "anointed one," is given in Scripture.) Koresh exercised his new authority by taking several "spiritual" wives from among the group's unmarried members, and in 1989 he asserted that he was the perfect mate for all female members and confided to the Davidians his intention to create a new lineage of children who he believed would eventually rule the world. Because several of Koresh's "spiritual" wives were teenagers, the community was accused of child abuse by a former member and an anticult activist. Those allegations were aired in a 1992 trial in which an ex-member sought custody of his daughter. Coupled with Koresh's launching of a retail gun business, those child abuse charges began to attract the attention of legal authorities. Investigators, unsophisticated in the apocalyptic language of the Bible adopted by the group, also worried that the Branch Davidians might attack their neighbors or even Waco while fulfilling an imagined end-time scenario. Early in 1993 BATF agents in Texas requested a search warrant for Mount Carmel but decided to make a surprise forced entry rather than serve the warrant.

Youkai

Any type of supernatural beings including monsters, spirits, etc. Japanese folk creatures

Okawa Ryuho

As a student, Ōkawa read widely in religion and philosophy and graduated from Tokyo University's Faculty of Law. Failing to pass the bar examination, however, he took a job in an elite trading company, where he gained experience in publishing. He left that job in 1986 to found Science of Happiness Ôkawa exemplifies a distinctive type of leadership, his authority stemming solely from revelation and lacking a personal history of suffering or religious quest. The years 1986 to 1991 were dominated by Ôkawa's reported revelations from a staggering range of deities and historical religious figures, including Jesus, Confucius, Nostradamus, Allah, Kûkai, Shinran, Dôgen, and Shinto gods.

shrine shinto

Composed of about 80,000 shrines and about 20,000 priests. Shinto does not have a "bible" or sacred text; Kojiki is not widely read in its original form, though there are manga and other contemporary versions of it that sell well. Shrine Shinto does not promote specific doctrines, but it implicitly affirms: The existence of the Kami The idea that they are active in this world The idea that they are renewed through human ritual and interaction The existence and importance of ancestors The special significance of Japan

Departures

Daigo Kobayashi (Masahiro Motoki) loses his job as a cellist when his orchestra is disbanded. He and his wife Mika (Ryōko Hirosue) move from Tokyo to his hometown in Yamagata, where they live in his childhood home that was left to him when his mother died two years earlier. It is fronted by a coffee shop that Daigo's father had operated before he ran off with a waitress when Daigo was six; since then the two have had no contact. Daigo feels hatred towards his father and guilt for not taking better care of his mother. He still keeps a "letter-stone"—a stone which is said to convey meaning through its texture—which his father had given him many years before. Daigo finds an advertisement for a job "assisting departures". Assuming it to be a job in a travel agency, he goes to the interview at the NK Agent office and learns from the secretary, Yuriko Kamimura (Kimiko Yo), that he will be preparing bodies for cremation in a ceremony known as encoffinment. Though reluctant, Daigo is hired on the spot and receives a cash advance from his new boss, Sasaki (Tsutomu Yamazaki). Daigo is furtive about his duties and hides the true nature of the job from Mika. His first assignment is to assist with the encoffinment of a woman who died at home and remained undiscovered for two weeks. He is beset with nausea and later humiliated when strangers on a bus detect an unsavoury scent on him. To clean himself, he visits a public bath which he had frequented as a child. It is owned by Tsuyako Yamashita (Kazuko Yoshiyuki), the mother of one of Daigo's former classmates. Over time, Daigo becomes comfortable with his profession as he completes a number of assignments and experiences the gratitude of the families of the deceased. Though he faces social ostracism, Daigo refuses to quit, even after Mika discovers a training DVD in which he plays a corpse and leaves him to return to her parents' home in Tokyo. Daigo's former classmate Yamashita (Tetta Sugimoto) insists that the mortician find a more respectable line of work and, until then, avoids him and his family. After a few months, Mika returns and announces that she is pregnant. She expresses hope that Daigo will find a job of which their child can be proud. During the ensuing argument, Daigo receives a call for an encoffinment for Mrs Yamashita. Daigo prepares her body in front of both the Yamashita family and Mika, who had known the public bath owner. The ritual earns him the respect of all present, and Mika stops insisting that Daigo change jobs. Sometime later, they learn of the death of Daigo's father. A reluctant Daigo goes with Mika to another village to see the body. Daigo is at first unable to recognize him, but takes offence when local funeral workers are careless with the body. He insists on dressing it himself, and while doing so finds a stone-letter which he had given to his father, held tight in the dead man's hands. The childhood memory of his father's face returns to him, and after he finishes the ceremony, Daigo gently presses the stone-letter to Mika's pregnant belly.

Lamb of God

Death of the Lamb of God Sets the Apocalypse in Motion: "Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing at the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. The Lamb had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits[a] of God sent out into all the earth." -Revelation 5:6.

Shuukyou asobi

Defined by Thomas' Drawing on Tradition, "refers to the religious entertainment and playful religion, point to instances where modifications of religious behavior and outlook occur within spaces equally devoted to entertainment or, alternatively, where religious practice and pedagogy simultaneously behave as entertainment experiences...can also indicate the process of drawing on existing religious schemata whole modifying them, emphasizing the plastic nature of religious doctrines and ideas (authors, artists, and directors playing with religious content)" uses it to think of films in japan, particularly anime, that uses religious motifs. Using them in a playful manner, without trying to advocate for a certain religion

Spirituality

Defined by Thomas' Drawing on Tradition, it is a subset of religion which includes shared attitudes that may not be found within the teachings or practices of any specific group that is legally incorporated or otherwise formally designated as a religion.

Compositing

Defined in Thomas' Drawing on Tradition, a technique in which artists draw on the viewer's ability to suppress her awareness of multiple layers of signification occurring within a single frame. The reader can stitch together the panels into a coherent narrative, even if they actually demand impressive imaginative leaps between character's internal monologues and shared dialogue, onomatopoeia, and so forth.

Cosplay

Defined in Thomas' Drawing on Tradition, cosplay is costume play, or imaginative mimicry, in which fans or audience members get in touch with their favorite characters, through dolls, toys, and models.

Closure

Defined in Thomas' Drawing on Tradition, it is the process whereby readers imaginatively fill in the space between two juxtaposed panels in a manga.

Kami

Deities in Shinto. They are difficult to define. A spirit, deity, or god. It can be a historical figure, animal, tree, etc.

Napier, Susan. 2001. "Confronting Master Narratives: History As Vision in Miyazaki Hayao's Cinema of De‐assurance,"

Despite these clearly reassuring elements, the film's ending is still a far cry fromthe resolutely upbeat ending ofTarzan.With its myopic vision in which the imperialism of the Victorian period and the technological future it presaged can be escaped simply by finding refuge in a jungle, Tarzan ultimately ignores historical reality for the sake of a reassuring fantasy. In contrast to this vision of U.S. culture, Japanese society remains aware of plurality and otherness. Miyazaki's earlier films reflected this awareness in an upbeat way, offering visions of other worlds and identities in a nonthreatening, even empowering manner. Mononoketakes a darker, more realistic look at this issue. In Ashitaka and San's agreement to live apart, the film suggests the pain involved in choosing identities in a world in which choices such as theirs are increasing. Although set in a historical past, the film reflects the extraordinary array of pluralities that exist in the complex world of the twenty-first century

Manga

Drawings or paintings that convey satire, parody or caricature as a form of amusement or entertainment; Japanese comics (not animation)

shin-shin shukyo (new-new religions)

During the 1970s the membership of most of the postwar new religions peaked. New kinds of religious groups emerged. They were dubbed "new-new" religions by journalists, and the label came to adopted by scholars also, in spite of recognized problems: The term is vague and hotly debated. It compounds the problems raised by the earlier term "new religion," as if timing alone could explain their emergence. The founders of new-new religions do not necessarily have a history of suffering and spiritual training, essential to all the founders of the previous generation of NRMs. Instead, they are more likely to proclaim authority on the basis of revelation not preceded by a period of spiritual searching. New-new religions recruit in large part through the published writings of the founders and do not necessarily stress communal activity

"Early Anime" Jonathan Clements and Helen McCarthy

Early anime: Old scrap of film found in 2005 leads to assumptions of anime starting around 1907. this date would allow Japan to claim they pioneered an entire entertainment medium. Rivalry and up onemanship was prevalent in early anime.low amounts of works from early animators. fairy tales and fables. Wartime Anime: tempted by funding and wide distribution.lead to creations like momotaro. but after the war, it became a taboo subject

Kibyoushi

Early modern illustrated novels. picture books beginning from the Edo period. "yellow-cover books". bound books that included pictures and made from low quality paper. initially for children, moved to adults with satire, jokes, and puns.

Doomed Megalopolis

Episode 1: "The Haunting of Tokyo"[edit] The story begins in contemporary Tokyo, with a voice over narrative concerning the state of the expanding city.[4] The narrator tells the tale of how Taira no Masakado went against the Emperor and was executed for his crimes. However, his hatred for the new capital of Edo has left a dangerous onryo that persists in the city to this day.[5] Throughout the years, Masakado's spirit was placated through the worship of the citizens of Tokyo, and he became deified as the city's guardian spirit. If his powerful spirit were to be awoken and/or disturbed though, his suppressed anger against the Japanese Empire would be unleashed and would cause havoc on a national level. The setting moves backward to 1908. Two figures appear in Tokyo at exactly the same time. One is Yasumasa Hirai, a master onmyoji, direct descendant of Abe no Seimei and leader of the Tsuchimikado Family; who has come to give advice to Baron Eiichi Shibusawa on how to make Tokyo the most blessed and successful city in the East. The other figure is Yasunori Kato, an evil Onmyoji who wishes to destroy Tokyo completely to appease his ancestors, the indigenous tribes of Japan who fought against the Imperial court in ancient times.[6][7] Kato plans to do this by awakening the raging spirit of Taira no Masakado as a weapon to demolish the city. To do this, he kidnaps a young woman (Yukari Tatsumiya), who is blessed with psychic powers, to use as a medium for Masakado's spirit. Hirai discovers this and attempts to stop Kato and save Yukari with his own magic. Hirai takes Yukari to the Tsuchimikado temple to perform the monoimi ceremony (recreating the events of one of Abe no Seimei's famous tales from the Uji Shūi Monogatari[8]). In the meantime, Yukari's friends fight Kato's shikigami outside the temple so Hirai can complete the ceremony. But Kato still infiltrates Hirai's protective circle with a magical intruder, stopping the ceremony. In a final act of desperation Hirai grabs a sacred hamaya and fires it at Kato; but Kato magically reflects it back, mortally injuring Hirai. With Hirai defeated, Kato escapes with Yukari. Episode 2: "The Fall of Tokyo"[edit] Kato attempts to employ Yukari's body as a medium to awaken Masakado's spirit. However, Masakado still refuses to be roused. As a secondary course of action, Kato impregnates Yukari with the magic of En hoping to conceive a medium with even more spiritual power than Yukari. Believing his magic has succeeded, Kato leaves Tokyo, planning to return when the child is of suitable age. Hirai's followers find Yukari and deliver her back to her brother's home. Tragedy strikes the nation as the Emperor Meiji passes away thus ending the Meiji period. In a display of devotion to the Meiji Emperor Hirai commits seppuku, an act which also serves to divine the year of Tokyo's destruction—the year of the Pig. The story then moves ten years forward to 1923 where Yukari's daughter, Yukiko Tatsumiya, is now a young girl. In Dalian, China Kato creates artificial earthquake waves which will be amplified out to Tokyo. Then he returns to Japan to kidnap Yukiko. Upon crossing Nihonbashi Bridge, Kato runs into several defense measures set by Tsuchimikado Clan, including a Kimon Tonkou spell set by Hirai's follower and Koda Rohan. Despite all this resistance, he still successfully makes his way to Masakado's grave and tries to invoke its spirit through the body of Yukiko. Furious, Masakado's spirit reacts by summoning a lightning bolt down upon Kato. However Kato's previous attempts to create an artificial earthquake were successful to disturb the Underground Dragon, whose violent undulations result in the Great Kantō earthquake of 1923. Episode 3: "The Gods of Tokyo"[edit] The plot shifts to the 1927. While rebuilding Tokyo, plans are put forth by Noritsugu Hayakawa to erect a subway system which will modernize the city. Hayakawa employs the talents of Torahiko Terada, a physicist and scientist in the field of earthquake studies, to oversee construction. Kato infiltrates the construction sites for the subway tunnel, and utilizes shikigami to hold the workers at bay while he focuses on a second awakening of the Underground Dragon, trying to create an earthquake larger than the Great Kanto one. Shibusawa calls in a Feng Shui expert (Shigemaru Kuroda), who pinpoints the source of these disturbances to foreign magic that is undermining the balance of the earth's spiritual energy veins. Since the construction workers are too frightened to continue their work, Terada decides that different action must be taken to complete the excavation. He enlists the help of Dr. Makoto Nishimura to use his robot Gakutensoku to finish the work. Terada reasons that since Gakutensoku is inhuman, he can't be tricked by psychic apparitions that would terrify normal men. Meanwhile, a beautiful young shrine maiden by the name of Keiko Mekata, has been summoned by Masakado's spirit to fight Kato. While praying at Masakado's shrine one day, she catches the eye of Yoichiro Tatsumiya, who courts her. The two eventually marry, and Keiko is initiated into the Tatsumiya household. As a member of the Tatsumiya household, Keiko provides spiritual protection for the family from the inside. Kato, prevented from rousing the Underground Dragon by Masakado, decides to kidnap Yukiko and use her as a sacrifice to amplify the Dragon's energy. After a battle at the Tatsumiya household, Kato escapes with Yukiko and Keiko pursues him underground. While contending with Keiko, Kato is distracted and doesn't notice the efforts of Gakutensoku, who drilling deep underground, has arrived at the "heart" of the Underground Dragon and self-destructs. This throws the chi veins into disarray, releasing Yukiko and foiling Kato's plan. Finally, Keiko uses Masakado's power to banish Kato. Episode 4: "The Battle for Tokyo"[edit] Wounded by Keiko, Kato has retreated to a small, desecrated temple on the outskirts of Tokyo. The dark onmyoji employs all his powers to shift the path of the moon so that it will rebound violently off the earth and disturb the Firmament Dragon, who will destroy Tokyo. Keiko receives spiritual aid from Kuroda and Masakado's spirit and sets off to stop Kato once and for all. Instead of fighting him however, she cleanses herself of all hatred and emotional conflict to channel the power of the bodhisattva Kannon, against whom Kato, an oni, is powerless. Bathed in the limitless compassion of the bodhisattva, the curse that had been fueling Kato for so long is appeased and he dissipates. The story ends in 1927 with Japan's first underground railroad system being opened and a quote by Koda Rohan, who hopes Tokyo will find peace for the time being.

Shingon Buddhism

Esoteric Buddhist school in Japan Shingon Buddhism, the "Mantra" School, is known as one of the Esoteric Buddhist schools transmitted to Japan Esoteric Buddhism has its roots in Indian Mahāyāna Buddhism and developed by incorporating ritual elements of Hinduism Esoteric Buddhism is a category of Buddhist teachings centering on attaining its spiritual and worldly goals through ritual practices

Repp, Martin. "Buddhism and Cartoons in Japan: How Much Parody Can a Religion Bear?"

First, we saw that there are different forms of comical depictions of Buddhist themes. Whereas the cartoons of the ChØj¨ giga are comical through depicting participants in a Buddhist ceremony as animals and through juxtaposing funeral and worldly benefit, the Tengu zØshi portrays abuse in monastic complexes and among monks in form of sarcasm or biting humor. RyØgen's depiction as a devil or tengu contains the ambiguous connotation of the subduer of evil and the sarcastic personification of evil. Quite differently, Hokusai's manga of the monks and the elephant expresses the sectarian strive in Buddhism in form of amiable humor. Norio's cartoon of the business-minded monk sitting just under the eyes of the Buddha consists of a contrast between the real and the ideal; it is rather a sobering parody of established, profit oriented temple Buddhism. Finally, the Nara commercial depicts Buddha in a cute design; for Buddhist representatives, however, it is irreverent Second, who were the agents of humor, parody and satire? The artists of theChØj¨ giga and probably also of the Tengu zØshi were professional monk painters, whereas Hokusai was, and No-rio is, a Buddhist lay person, both highly skilled in their arts. What is common to all these artists is that they were Buddhists themselves, and as such they caricatured Buddhist phenomena. In most cases, their motive was to depict critical issues in comical form in order to signify the necessity to reform. In the case of the poster design in Nara, however, the motive was purely economic, and for the company this interest had priority over religious respect. Third, the subject of ridicule was in the ChØj¨ giga's second last scene a certain kind of Buddhist practice differing from the one the artist probably adhered to. In its last scene, as well as in the cases of the Tengu zØshi, Hokusai, and No-rio, the topic of satire was religious abuse by Buddhist individuals and institutions. The Nara poster made the Buddha subject to laughter for commercial reasons only. In all other cases, the Buddha or his teachings served as basis or norm for the parody of actual Buddhist practice, representatives, and institutions. The second last scene of the ChØj¨ giga seems to be an exception since it caricatures also a Buddha. This may be the product of criticism by one Buddhist tradition against the popular Amida belief in the late Heian period. Finally, what where the effects which these cartoons left? It is difficult to estimate. In the case of the ChØj¨ giga and the Tengu zØshi, we cannot say. However, the fact that they were preserved over so many centuries indicates that they were much appreciated in certain circles, and very likely not only for their artistic value. The Tendai tradition depicting RyØgen as a devil on a talisman can be seen also as an attempt to neutralize the sarcastic criticism against him, or to keep it under control. In the case of Hokusai's manga, one can hardly imagine angry reactions against it because of its amiable humor. No-rio's cartoons are normally published in secular media. His depiction of the business-minded monk sitting in his office just under the eyes of the Buddha brings bystanders to laugh, but priests actually running a temple would react with indignation. Finally, even though the Nara commercial with the Buddha boring into his nose is cutely designed, it provoked the anger of the TØdai-ji representatives since it is irreverent. The last case may have imlications for the previous essays dealing with the Mohammad cartoons. The Nara poster clearly shows that not only extremely provocative depictions, but merely the lack of reverence can hurt religious feelings. It is apparently at this point where humor and parody reach their limit in religious circles. To summarize the present findings: Buddhism, just like other religions, is not deprived of humor and satire. On the contrary, it has a rich and manifold treasure of parody. However, there seem to be certain limits of ridicule in Buddhism, which is not much different from other religions either.

Gardner, Richard A. "The Blessing of Living in a Country Where There are Senryū!: Humor in the Response to Aum Shinrikyō,"

Following the sarin gas attack on Tokyo's subways in March of 1995，considerable effort has been devoted to explaining the rise of Aum Shinrikyo and its turn to violence. This paper aims to provide a contribution to efforts to understand how Aum has been perceived and interpreted in Japan by focusing on one aspect of the reaction to Aum that has received almost no attention either within or without Japan: the humor, joking, parody, and satire that formed a major part of efforts to understand and come to terms with Aum. It is argued that the reaction to Aum in Japan cannot be understood without taking into account the range of humor, parody, and satire relating to Aum that appeared throughout Japanese mass media. As a means of introducing this aspect of the reaction to Aum, senryu (comic or satiric verse) related to Aum and contributed by readers of two major Japanese daily newspapers are translated and analyzed.

Jinja Honcho (National Association of Shinto Shrines)

Founded in 1946, this organization claims broad authority over shrine rituals, personnel decisions. Around 79,000 of the total 80,000 shrines belong to NASS. Its Charter permits it to appoint Head Priests; It has established an annual calendar of ritual that all shrines are expected to perform; It sets a political agenda through its newspaper, Shrine Times (Jinja shinpō 神社新報). Some of Japan's largest and most important shrines such as Meiji Shrine, Yasukuni Shrine, and the Fushimi Inari Shrine, do not belong to NASS.

Asahara Shoko

Founder of Aum Shinrikyo. declared that he was the Lamb of God and an incarnation of Jesus, whose sacrifice would set off the destruction of the world. However, he only added this strain of apocalyptic language to his message after Aum Shinrikyō began to encounter difficulties in existing alongside ordinary society. poor, rejected from university, follower of agonshu

Turning to Gods in Times of Trouble Ian Reader

Got to Japan, friends knew interest in religion. said not religious, but doing religious things. common in japan. do things like go to shrines, hatsunode and obon. reluctance to believe. many just believe in times of trouble and ask the kami for help.

Nelson, John. 2000. "Performing Rituals." In Enduring Identities: The Guise of Shinto in Contemporary Japan.

Historical Structurings of Shinto Ritual; Matsuri; Ritual Pratcice in Contemporary Shrine Shinto;

Faure, Bernard. "Buddhism and Symbolic Violence," In The Blackwell Companion to Religion and Violence. Edited by Andrew R. Murphy.

Iconography; Mythology: The subjugation of Mahesvara; Ritual Violence;

Akira

In 1988, an apparent nuclear explosion destroys Tokyo and culminates in World War III. Thirty-one years later, in the city of Neo-Tokyo, Shotaro Kaneda has his bōsōzoku gang, the Capsules, battle their rival gang, the Clowns. A moment later, Kaneda's best friend, Tetsuo Shima, crashes his motorcycle into Takashi, an esper with psychic powers, who had fled from a secret government laboratory with help from a covert operative. Colonel Shikishima of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, assisted by another esper called Masaru, orders Takashi escorted back to his home and Tetsuo hospitalized. When Kaneda and his gang are interrogated, he encounters Kei, a member of the revolutionary group, and arranges her release along with the Capsules. Colonel Shikishima and Doctor Onishi discover that Tetsuo possesses psychic abilities similar to Akira, a fellow esper who caused Tokyo's destruction. Meanwhile, Takashi's friend Kiyoko has visions of Neo-Tokyo's destruction, and Shikishima orders Onishi to kill Tetsuo if the power grows out of control. Fleeing from the hospital, Tetsuo steals Kaneda's motorcycle, accompanied by his girlfriend Kaori. The Clowns discover and ambush the two but the Capsules rescue them. After Tetsuo suffers severe migraines and hallucinations, the JSDF takes him back to the hospital. During a terrorist attack, Kaneda rescues Kei from capture and joins the rebels when he overhears their plans to capture Tetsuo. At the hospital, the espers attempt to kill Tetsuo but fail. Tetsuo goes on a violent rampage through the hospital, intent on killing the espers. Kaneda, Kei and Shikishima attempt to stop Tetsuo's assault, but are unsuccessful. Learning Akira lies in cryonic storage next to the Olympic Stadium's construction ground in Old-Tokyo, Tetsuo escapes the hospital. Aided telepathically by Kiyoko, Kei escapes along with Kaneda to prevent Tetsuo from releasing Akira. Meanwhile, the JSDF stages a coup d'état in search of Tetsuo. Tetsuo ambushes Kaneda's friends Yamagata and Kai, killing Yamagata in the process. After being told of Yamagata's death, Kaneda follows Tetsuo to the stadium to exact revenge. Meanwhile, Tetsuo launches a rampage on Neo-Tokyo, eventually arriving at Akira's cryogenic storage dewar in the stadium. He fights Kei and exhumes Akira's remains but Shikishima explains that Akira was frozen and preserved for future studies. However, Kaneda battles Tetsuo and Shikishima uses a space weapon to kill Tetsuo, but their plans fail. Tetsuo destroys the weapon and fits himself with an artificial arm while studying Akira's remains. Meanwhile, as Kaori finds Tetsuo in immense pain, Shikishima reveals to Tetsuo that the espers' migraine-controlling drugs are to stunt the evolution of uncontrollable abilities. Tetsuo attempts to seek a cure from Kaori, but gets shot by Shikishima. Tetsuo's arm mutates and he attempts to kill Shikishima before Kaneda rescues Shikishima and ambushes Tetsuo. Unable to control his powers, Tetsuo mutates into a gigantic writhing mass and he engulfs both Kaneda and Kaori, killing and assimilating the latter. The espers awaken Akira, having grown beyond the requirement of a coherent biological form. Manifesting himself from the canisters, Akira reunites with his friends and triggers a second psychic explosion, dragging Tetsuo and Kaneda with it. As Tetsuo struggles against Akira's psychokinetic powers, the espers teleport Shikishima away from the stadium, and Takashi leaps into the explosion to save Kaneda. The other espers aid in the effort at the cost of being unable to return. In the explosion, Kaneda experiences Tetsuo's and the espers' childhood flashbacks, including how much Tetsuo trusted Kaneda and how the children were trained and altered before Tokyo's initial destruction. The espers help Kaneda escape and inform him that Akira will be taking Tetsuo to safety; Kiyoko reveals that Kei has begun to develop psychic powers. The explosion destroys most of Neo-Tokyo, killing Onishi in the process. In the aftermath, Kaneda discovers that Kei and Kai have survived, and they drive off into Neo-Tokyo while Shikishima watches the sun rise over the city. Tetsuo comes into control of his powers and he experiences a big bang in an alternate dimension.

Princess Mononoke

In Muromachi period Japan, an Emishi village is attacked by a demon. The last Emishi prince, Ashitaka, kills the demon before it reaches the village, but its corruption curses his arm in the battle. The curse gives him superhuman fighting abilities, but will eventually kill him. The villagers discover that the demon was once a boar god, Nago, corrupted by an iron ball lodged in his body. The village's wise woman tells Ashitaka that he may find a cure in the western lands Nago came from. Heading west, Ashitaka meets Jiko-bō, a wandering monk, who tells Ashitaka he may find help from the Great Forest Spirit, a Kirin-like creature by day and a giant "nightwalker" by night. Nearby, men herd oxen to Irontown, led by Lady Eboshi, when they are attacked by a wolf clan led by the wolf goddess Moro. Riding one of the wolves is San, a human girl. Later, Ashitaka discovers two injured Irontown men, and sees San and her wolf clan; he greets them, but they ignore him and leave. He carries the injured men through the forest, where he encounters many kodama, and glimpses the Forest Spirit. In Irontown, Ashitaka learns Eboshi has built the town by clear-cutting forests to claim ironsand and produce iron, leading to conflict with the forest gods. The town is a refuge for social outcasts, including former brothel workers and lepers, whom Eboshi employs to manufacture firearms to defend against the gods; Nago was turned into a demon by one of Eboshi's guns. Eboshi also explains that San, whom she calls Princess Mononoke, was raised by the wolves as one of their own, and resents humankind. San infiltrates Irontown to kill Eboshi, but Ashitaka intervenes, knocking them both unconscious. As he leaves the town carrying San, he is shot by a villager and falls unconscious. San awakens and is about to kill the dying Ashitaka, but hesitates when he tells her that she is beautiful. She takes him to the forest, and decides to trust him after the Forest Spirit saves his life. A clan of boars led by the blind boar god Okkoto attack Irontown to save the forest. Eboshi prepares for battle and sets out to kill the Forest Spirit under the supervision of Jiko-bō, who is working for the government. Eboshi intends to give the god's head to the Emperor of Japan in return for protection from local daimyo lords; according to legend, the severed head of the Forest Spirit grants immortality. In the battle, the boar clan is decimated and Okkoto is corrupted by gunshot wounds. Jiko-bō's men disguise themselves in boar skins and trick the rampaging Okkoto into leading them to the Forest Spirit. San tries to stop Okkoto, but is swept up in his demonic corruption. Moro stops him and Ashitaka dives into the corruption to save San. However, Ashitaka's infection is accelerated, and San is also cursed by the corruption. Eboshi beheads the Forest Spirit during its transformation into the nightwalker; corruption pours from its body, killing all life it touches as it searches for its head, which Jiko-bō has stolen. The forest begins to decay while kodama die. Moro, dying from injuries sustained in the battle, uses the last of her strength to bite off Eboshi's right arm. After bandaging Eboshi and convincing San to help him retrieve the Forest Spirit's head, Ashitaka and San follow Jiko-bō to Irontown, where they manage to return the god's head. Restored, the Forest Spirit falls into the lake, healing the land, and cures Ashitaka and San of the curse. Though she has grown close to Ashitaka, San decides to remain in the forest; Ashitaka will help rebuild Irontown, but tells San he will visit her. Eboshi vows to build a better town, and the forest begins to grow back.

Disciplined Selves by Dorinne Kondo

In response to the moral deterioration of Japan, ethics schools were built. founded in november 1975. goal is to train workers in the ways of ethics, stressing the important of putting into practice the teachings of the ethics movement in general. The school runs several diffeent seminars, programs tailored to meet the needs of different kinds of participants. 6 days 200 dollars. teachers were paid and had been part of movement. focus on group. activities include: opening exercises, wake up, cleaning, morning ceremony, vocalization practice, exercise/running, cold water ablution, morning gathering, meals, seiza, setting goals, diaries, closing ceremonies. special events: refresh time, sagyo, field of obligation, practice, marathon, play/farewell party

Toriyama Sekien

In the late eighteenth century, a multi-volume set of illustrated books by Toriyama Sekien (1712-1788) cataloguing more than 200 kinds of monsters (yōkai) called Illustrated Parade of One Hundred Monsters (Gazu hyakki yakō) appeared. There was a kind of asobi for telling such ghost stories

The Fundamentals of our National Polity 1937

Introduction The various ideological and social evils of present‑day Japan are the result of ignoring the fundamental and running after the trivial, of the lack of judgment and the failure to digest things thoroughly. This is because since the days of Meiji, so many aspects of European and American culture, systems, and learning have been imported and too rapidly. As a matter of fact, the foreign ideologies imported into our country are mainly ideologies of the Enlightenment that have come down from the eighteenth century, or extensions of them. The views of the world and of life that form the basis of these ideologies are rationalism and positivism, lacking in historical views, which, on the one had, place the highest value on, and assert the liberty and equality of, individuals and, on the other hand, place value on a world by nature abstract, transcending nations and races. Consequently, importance is given to human beings and their groupings, who have become isolated from historical entireties, abstract and independent of one another. ... Paradoxical and extreme conceptions, such as socialism, anarchism, and communism, all are based, in the final analysis, on individualism, which is the root of modern Occidental ideologies and of which they are no more than varied manifestations. Yet even in the Occident, where individualism has formed the basis of their ideas, when it has come to Communism, they have found it unacceptable; so that now they are about to do away with their traditional individualism, and this has led to the rise of totalitarianism and nationalism and to the appearence of Fascism and Nazism. That is, it can be said that in both the Occident and our country, the deadlock of individualism has led alike to a season of ideological and social confusion and crisis.... This means that the present conflict in our people's ideas, the unrest of their modes of life, the confused state of their civilization, can be put right only by a thorough investigation by us of the intrinsic nature of Occidental ideologies and by an understanding of the true meaning of our national polity. Then, too, this should be done for the sake not only of our nation but also of the entire human race, which is struggling to find a way out of the deadlock with which individualism is faced. ... There follows 8 subsections under such headings as: 1. Loyalty and Patriotism -- the emperor is the fountainhood of Japan's life and activities; to receive the emperor's great august Will as one's own is the rationale of making our historical "life" live in the present. Loyalty means reverence for the emperor and to follow him implictly. To walk this Way of loyalty is the sole Way in which we subjects may live...hence, offering our lives for the sake of the emperor does not mean self-sacrifice but the casting aside of our little selves to live under his august grace. 2. Filial Piety 3. Loyalty and Filial Piety as One = a characteristic of our national morals, and this factor is without parallel in the world. 4. Harmony = the product of the great achievements of the founding of the nation, and is the power behind our historical growth; it is also a humanitarian Way inseperable from our daily lives. To paraphrase, western individualism is a history of conflict and class wars; in our nation there are individual differences but they overcome differences and converges into one. 5. The Martial Spirit Our martial spirit does not have for its objective the killing of men, but the giving of life to men...War, in this sense, is not by any means intended for destruction, overpowering, or subjugation of others; it should be a thing for bringing about the Great Harmony, that is, peace, doing the work of creation by following the Way. 6. Self-Effacement and Assimilation Living out the unity between Soverign and Subject. The spirit of self-effacement is not a mere denial of oneself, but means living to the great, true self by denying one's small self. 7. Bushido The outstanding characteristic of our national morality. Meeting death with a perfect calmness. This Bushido shed itself of an outdated feudalism at the time of the Meiji Restoration, increased its splendor, became the Way of loyalty and patriotism, and has evolved before us as the spirit of the imperial forces. 8. Conclusions Our Mission Our present mission as a people is to construct a new Japanese culture by adopting and sublimating Western cultures with our national polity as the basis and to contribute spontaneously to the advancement of world culture. Our nation early saw the introduction of Chinese and Indian cultures and even succeeded in evolving original creations and developments. This was made possible, indeed, by the profound and boundless nature of our national polity, so that the mission of the people to whom it is bequeathed is truly great in its historical significance.

"Positively Promoting Pilrgimage" Ian Reader

It is widely argued that the Japanese mass media generally only report on religions and religious organizations negatively. This paper shows, however, via an examination of mass media portrayals of pilgrimage in Japan, that there are contexts in which activities at religious centers are very positively presented in the mass media. Since the 1920s, pilgrimages have been represented in an extremely favorable light by broadcasters, journalists, newspapers and national television broadcasting organizations, with such representations making a significant contribution to the growth of pilgrim numbers in recent times. However, a close examination of how pilgrimages are presented in the mass media, indicates that they are treated primarily as symbols of culture and tradition rather than as manifestations of religion—a differentiation that raises questions about the reasons behind the seeming negative stance of the mass media towards religious organizations and religion in general.

Soshiki

Japanese Term for funeral; Buddhist Priest Chants Sutras to lead the dead Into a "new life," with family and mourners present; 1. "Ordination," Receiving of the Buddhist precepts, bestowing a posthumous name 2. Leading the dead to the other world (indō)

Tsuya

Japanese term for wake; chanting by buddhist priest; family greets and entertains guests The initiatory stage -The sutra recited is determined by the particular sect; the function is to ritually purify the deceased and to welcome the Buddha to the ritual space as a preparation for the deceased's posthumous ordination. -The wake is usually informal and conducted by immediate family members and relatives of the deceased. Traditionally, the body was bathed by family members prior to being placed in the coffin, but in contemporary urban settings, this task is more likely to be performed by professional washers, who arrive in a van in which the body will be washed prior to the wake. -In general, cold water is run in the bathtub and then hot water added before the corpse is placed in the tub. This is called sakasa-mizu or "reverse water," since hot water usually goes into the tub first for ordinary bathing for the living. Like the pillow sutra recitation, yukan serves as a purification process, preparing the deceased for his or her departure to a buddha land or other enlightened realm. After being bathed, the body is dressed in white clothing, signifying the garments of an ordained monk or a pilgrim. ) -After the body has been bathed and dressed, it's placed into a coffin. One or two priests are invited to attend the wake. A small funeral table for offerings is set up and incense offered; candles are kept lit throughout the night. Traditionally, vegetarian food and sake will be served. The function of the wake is to remember and reflect upon the deceased. Through the recitation of the pillow sutra and the washing of the body, the way to buddahood is ritually opened for the deceased. The funeral proper is held immediately the next day.

indo

Leading the Deceased to the Other World -Departure of the casket -Cremation and gathering the remains -Installation of the remains in the grave -Memorial rites After the ordination, the priest recites scriptures that ritually guide the dead person to the Buddha's realm and given a new name for this "new life."

Apocalypse

Literally means "lifting the veil" Apocalypse refers to one part of a larger cosmic process: the end of the world, and the anticipation of a new one. To know about the apocalypse is generally regarded as gaining access to esoteric knowledge, some truth that has been hidden. Often it requires a special being to reveal that previously hidden truth or to open the gates to the new world usually implies a violent ending

Spiritual Education in a Japanese Bank Thomas Rohlen

Many Japanese companies train their new employees according to a philosophy of "spiritualism," a set of ideas about human psychology and character development that inspired much of the country's pre war education. Spiritualism's debts to the Zen, Confucian and samurai traditions are quite apparent. it emphasizes social cooperation and responsibility, an acceptance of reality, and perseverance. Its educational methods emphasize specially constructed training experiences. As a case study in the anthropology of education, Japanese company spiritual education points to the value of (1) studying educational processes outside formal school systems, (2) considering native concepts of psychology in analyzing educational processes; (3) finding relationships between educational techniques and techniques found in religious conversion, psychological therapy, and social initiation; and (4) discovering avenues of education that proceeds by non-verbal means. 10-16 hours, 6 days a week Zen Meditation, Visits to military bases, rotoo (going to houses and offering work), weekend in the country, and endurance walk

Chojugiga

Martin Repp's article for this week suggests that the parody seen in the final section of this work, which was created by a Buddhist Tendai monk Kakuyū (1053-1140), is satirizing the lavish donations received by priests following a funeral as performed by a different sect. If he is right, then we can see continuity between this work and "The Funeral". The critique has been produced by a highly skilled artist and seems to direct its satire to the greed of the Buddhist priesthood. a famous set of four picture scrolls, or emakimono, belonging to Kōzan-ji temple in Kyoto, Japan

Momotarou

Momotarou's Divine Sea Warriors; Peach Boy; first full length Japanese animated film; Propaganda film for WWII; Momotaro was an immensely popular figure in Japan during World War II, appearing in many wartime films and cartoons.[5] Momotaro represented the Japanese government, citizens were animals and the United States was the oni, the demonic figure. Even though it is not directly mentioned, it is implied that Onigashima was Pearl Harbor. It was used to convey the idea that Japan would fight against the wicked, yet powerful United States and victory could only be achieved if the citizens supported the government. Also, the food and treasure that Momotaro and the animals earned after conquering the oni was supposed to reflect the glory that the powerful Japanese empire would have had after defeating the United States.

Kukai

Monk who transmitted the teachings of Esoteric Buddhism to Japan. known as the founder of the Esoteric Buddhist tradition in Japan, the Shingon School. According to legend, Kukai travelled to China as a young novice to study the Esoteric tradition and recieved the most profound, secret teachings from his master Huiguo. According to Kukai, this transmitted teaching is truth in its most pure form and can be traced back to the Universal Buddha, who is beyond all conceptual knowledge and language

"The Transformation of a Recent Japanese New Religion: Okawa Ryuho and Kofuku no Kagaku" Trevor astley

Over the last five years Kofuku no Kagaku has been one of the most prominent among the newer Japanese religious movements. Its leader, Okawa Ryifho, proclaims himself to be the rebirth of the Buddha, citing as proof the astonishing number of books he has written. This paper traces the organizational development of Kbfuku no Kagaku, the evolution of its teachings, and its shift to active involvement in sociopolitical issues.

Pana Wave

Pana-Wave is an offshoot of a religious group called Chino-Shoho ("True Law of Chino") based in Shibuya, Tokyo, founded by a woman called Yuko Chino in 1977 and combining elements of Christianity, Buddhism and New Age doctrines. In April 2003 the convoy was ordered by police to move on from a road in Gifu Prefecture but they refused, resulting in a stand-off which was reported in the national media. Pana-Wave alleged that a close encounter with an undiscovered 10th planet, predicted for 15 May that year, would cause the Earth's poles to flip over and lead to catastrophic earthquakes and tsunamis which would destroy most of humankind, and that they were looking for a safe location to ride out the catastrophe. TV images showed members dressed completely in white, complete with white hoods, surgical masks and white boots. Their vehicles were decorated with swirl patterns which they believed neutralised the invisible waves, and even the steering wheel was covered in white plaster. Nearby trees, bushes and crash barriers were also covered in white fabric. TV crews were first shunned by members who feared that TV cameras were emitting harmful waves, but were later allowed closer as long as they covered themselves and their equipment in white material. This camp was eventually broken up by three hundred police, some in riot gear, who threatened to arrest them for obstructing traffic. The convoy moved on, setting up camp intermittently, but many in Japan were unnerved by the group, which evoked memories of Aum Shinrikyo, a religious terrorist group which carried out the deadly Sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway in 1995, and the convoy continued being turned away from village after village. In the lead-up to the supposed doomsday, some one hundred riot police and TV crew followed the highly photogenic convoy around rural Japan for several weeks to keep tabs on their activities. On 14 May, the day before the predicted doomsday, police raided twelve locations associated with the group on the pretext of minor vehicle registration offences. However, nothing was found which suggested that they posed a danger to society. When the May 15 doomsday passed with nothing more serious than a minor earthquake in Tokyo which injured one boy who fell off his bed and broke an arm, a member thought to be Chino's second-in-command made a statement that they believed that they had miscalculated the date, and a new date of May 22 was set. However, as this date again passed without incident, media attention faded and the group sank back into obscurity. On 25 October 2006, Chino died aged 72."

Reader, Ian. "Sites and Sights: Temples and Shrines as Centers of Power and Entertainment," In Religion in Contemporary Japan.

Power, Place, and demarcations of the holy; legends, miracles and the development of the lore; seeking conception and safe birth; conception, birth, fertility, and the dynames of oral lore: a short postscript; scenic settings, cable cars, and tourism; pilgrimages, culturla tours and holy places; economics, modern transport and the promotion of centers of power; the seven good gods offortunes and railway pilrgimages

The Future Buddha Maitreya

Presently, he is a Bodhisattva: a person who is able to reach nirvana but delays doing so out of compassion in order to save suffering beings. In future, or in his Pure Land called the Tusita Heaven , he is a Buddha: Buddha is someone who has realized the enlightenment, is also used specifically to refer to the historical founder Sakyamuni.

"Reading Shouwa History through Manga" Roman Rosenbaum

Tezuka's Astro boy became a symbol of post-war Japan. astroboy part robot and part boy showed how japan was caught between the military spirit and the post war humanist spirit. therapuetic characters for traumas. one of the young heroes of japan like momotaro that brings another generation of children in japan up. used events of the day for creation, ambassador and year that treaty was to be signed. shows country's psychological landscape through allegory

Laws of the Sun

Sets Out Ōkawa's Cosmogony and Personal Mission Cosmogony: story of how the world began El Cantare—the supreme deity Human life evolves through the creation, development, and destruction of different civilizations In other galaxies and on Venus Ancient Greece, the Aztecs, etc. Mu, Atlantis-present world system

What is Shinto? Inoue Nobutaka

Shinto is a religion that is hard to define. it involves kami worship and can be described as folk religion or associated with it. Influenced by other religious traditions. its not just Japan, other parts of east Asia as well. blends with Buddhism occasionally.

Shinto

Shrine Shinto Sectarian Shinto, or Shinto-Derived New Religious Movements Includes groups as old as Kurozumikyō (f. 1814) As well as many groups founded more recently Folk Shinto Imperial Shinto

Dorman, Benjamin. "Pana Wave: The New Aum Shinrikyo or Another Moral Panic?" Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions,

Since the Aum Shinrikyô affair of 1995, the Japanese authorities have been quick to demonstrate that they are firmly in control in situations involving religious groups that espouse millennial ideas, or other groups rumored to be acting against social norms. In April 2003 the Japanese mass media began reporting intensely on a virtually unknown new religious movement named Pana Wave. A massive police investigation was launched immediately on the premise that the group appeared to resemble Aum Shinrikyô in its early days. Although the press coverage and police involvement again raised the public's fears over dangerous religious groups, the media dropped the story quickly after the investigation yielded little more than vehicle violations. The Pana Wave affair represents a post-Aum Shinrikyô moral panic in which the reaction to the perceived threat far outweighed the reality of the situation.

Ikeda Daisaku

Sokka Gakkai's third generation leader who took over in 1958 and even in retirement continues to guide the group, though others are nominally in charge

Drakakis, Athanasios. "Onmyodo and Esoteric Buddhism," In Esoteric Buddhism and the Tantras in East Asia.

Te term Onmyōdō 陰陽道 generally refers to a divination system based on ancient Chinese thought that also includes other elements such as Indian astrology and Japanese religious rituals. Recent scholarship has shown that Onmyōdō did not exist as a quasi-religious system in China; instead it appears to be a Japanese formation. However, it would be impossible to understand the formation and the role of Japanese Onmyōdō without examining its historical roots in China.

Spirited Away

Ten-year-old Chihiro Ogino and her parents are traveling to their new home when her father takes a wrong turn. They unknowingly enter a magical world that Chihiro's father insists on exploring, believing it to be an abandoned amusement park. Her parents sit at an empty, but seemingly-operational, restaurant stall, and begin to devour the fresh food in a piggish manner; meanwhile, Chihiro discovers an exquisite bathhouse across a bridge, where a young boy named Haku warns her to get out before the impending sunset. Frantically, Chihiro returns to her parents, only to discover that they have literally transformed into pigs. She attempts to escape, but the way by which they came has since become submerged. Frightened and alone, she observes as the world she ventured into reveals itself as a luxurious retreat for spirits to revitalize themselves. Haku finds Chihiro, and advises her to demand a job from the bathhouse's boiler-man, Kamaji, a spider-like being (yōkai) who prepares requested treatments for guests. Kamaji and his assistant Lin send Chihiro to Yubaba, the cruel and tyrannical owner of the bathhouse. While she initially refuses Chihiro's service, Yubaba reluctantly hires her in exchange for her identity, renaming her Sen (千?). While visiting her parents' pigpen, Sen finds a goodbye card with her real name written on it. Haku tells her how Yubaba controls people by taking their names, informing her that she will become trapped in the spirit world if she forgets her name, as had happened to him. While working, Sen invites a silent masked creature named No-Face inside, believing him to be a customer. A 'stink spirit' subsequently arrives, and Sen is quickly assigned to tend to the guest by her nauseated superiors. She discovers he is actually the powerful guardian spirit of a polluted river. In gratitude for cleaning him, he gives Sen a magic emetic dumpling. Sen is congratulated by her gleeful coworkers, who heretofore had shunned her as an outsider. Later, while most of the staff sleep, No-Face tempts a worker with gold. The greedy employee takes the bait, only to be swallowed whole. No-Face transmutes and begins demanding food, producing fake gold to tempt the naive staff. As the workers swarm him, hoping to be tipped, he devours two of them and grows larger. Sen discovers paper shikigami attacking a dragon and recognizes the dragon as Haku transformed. When a grievously-injured Haku crashes into Yubaba's penthouse, Sen follows him upstairs. When she reaches Haku, a shikigami that stowed away on her back transforms into Zeniba, Yubaba's twin sister. She transforms Yubaba's baby son Boh into a mouse, creates a decoy baby, and turns Yubaba's bird creature into a tiny bird. Zeniba tells Sen that Haku has stolen a magic golden seal from her, and warns Sen that it carries a deadly curse. After Haku dives to the boiler room with Sen and Boh on his back, she feeds him part of the dumpling, causing him to vomit both the seal and a black slug, which Sen crushes with her foot. With Haku unconscious, Sen resolves to return the seal and apologize for Haku. Before she leaves the bathhouse, Sen confronts the now-massive No-Face and feeds him the rest of the dumpling. No-Face chases Sen out of the bathhouse, steadily vomiting out those he has eaten and thus gradually returning to his former self. Sen, No-Face, and Boh travel to see Zeniba. Enraged at the damage caused by No-Face, Yubaba blames Sen for inviting him in and orders that her parents be slaughtered. After Haku reveals that Boh is missing, he promises to retrieve Boh in exchange for Yubaba freeing Sen and her parents. Sen, No-Face, and Boh arrive at Zeniba's house, where Zeniba, now the benevolent "Granny", reveals that Sen's love for Haku broke her curse and that Yubaba had used the black slug to control him. Haku appears in his dragon form and flies both Sen and Boh back to the bathhouse. No-Face unexpectedly shows itself as a very good spinner for Zeniba and accepts her proposal to stay as a worker. On the way back, Sen recalls a memory from her youth in which she had fallen into the Kohaku River but was washed safely ashore. After correctly guessing that Haku is the spirit of the Kohaku River (and thus revealing his real name), Haku is completely freed from Yubaba's control. When they arrive at the bathhouse, Yubaba tells Sen that in order to break the curse on her parents, she must identify them from among a group of pigs. After Sen correctly states that none of the pigs are her parents, she is given back her real name Chihiro. Haku takes her to the entrance to the magic world and promises to see her again in the future. Chihiro reunites with her restored parents, who do not remember what happened. They walk back to their car and drive away.

Lost Decade(s)

The Lost Decade or the Lost 10 Years (失われた10年 Ushinawareta Jūnen) is the time after the Japanese asset price bubble's collapse within the Japanese economy. The term originally referred to the years from 1991 to 2000, but recently the decade from 2001 to 2010 is often included, so that the whole period is referred to as the Lost Two Decades or the Lost 20 Years (失われた20年, Ushinawareta Nijūnen). Over the period of 1995 to 2007, GDP fell from $5.33 to $4.36 trillion in nominal terms, real wages fell around 5%, while the country experienced a stagnant price level. While there is some debate on the extent and measurement of Japan's setbacks, the economic effect of the Lost Decade is well established and Japanese policymakers continue to grapple with its consequences.

Norito

The Sound of Shinto Prayers; Recitation at a Shrine of Shinto Prayers

yukan (hot water ritual)

The bathing process is said to have Buddhist origins. (The custom of dying persons bathing before beginning their deathbed was frequently described in medieval Japanese sources, but today, this is done after death.) -In general, cold water is run in the bathtub and then hot water added before the corpse is placed in the tub. This is called sakasa-mizu or "reverse water," since hot water usually goes into the tub first for ordinary bathing for the living. Like the pillow sutra recitation, yukan serves as a purification process, preparing the deceased for his or her departure to a buddha land or other enlightened realm. After being bathed, the body is dressed in white clothing, signifying the garments of an ordained monk or a pilgrim.

Onmyoryo

The bureau of the Yin and Yang

The Rajneesh Movement

The city was located on the site of a 64,229-acre (25,993 ha) Central Oregon property known as the Big Muddy Ranch, which was purchased in 1981 for $5.75 million ($14.1 million in 2011 dollars[1]). Within three years, the neo-sannyasins (Rajneesh's followers, also termed Rajneeshees in contemporaneous press reports) developed a community,[2] turning the ranch from an empty rural property into a city of up to 7,000 people, complete with typical urban infrastructure such as a fire department, police, restaurants, malls, townhouses, a 4,200-foot (1,300 m) airstrip, a public transport system using buses, a sewage reclamation plant and a reservoir. The Oregon Attorney General invalidated the Rajneesh incorporation of its town, citing violation of the principle of separation of church and state. Numerous Christian leaders across the state campaign to evict the group from the state entirely, calling it, "a cancer in our midst." Criminal investigation led to several arrests of leaders and Rajneesh's deportation

Gordon, Andrew. "Global Power in a Polarized World-Japan in the 1980s" in A Modern History of Japan: From Tokugawa Times to the Present.

The emergence of Japan as a prosperous, confident, and peaceful nation was a striking development of postwar global history. At home, from the 1970s through the 1980s, some people swelled with pride bordering on arrogance at national achievements. They chafed at the jealous criticism of foreigners. Some spoke nostalgically of the vanishing of older ways of life. They worried that the younger generation had lost the focused commitment of their seniors. Others argued for a greater openness to the world, more tolerance of variety, or more equality in the worlds of men and women. They protested that ordinary Japanese, working long hours and commuting long distances from cramped homes, were not fully sharing the fruits of affluence. Views from outside mixed attitudes of envy with admiration. In the eyes of some, the image of Japan turned sharply from economic miracle to economic menace. Others looked to a "Japanese model" as an alternative form of capitalism more successful than the Western or American version. In this regard, the decade of the 1980s, in particular, was a remarkable moment of satisfaction and congratulation, unimaginable in the early postwar era and premature in retrospect.

Bubble Economy

The final years of the economic miracle period in Japan 1987-1990. The Japanese asset price bubble (バブル景気 baburu keiki, lit. "bubble economy") was an economic bubble in Japan from 1986 to 1991 in which real estate and stock market prices were greatly inflated. The bubble was characterized by rapid acceleration of asset prices and overheated economic activity, as well as an uncontrolled money supply and credit expansion. More specifically, over-confidence and speculation regarding asset and stock prices had been closely associated with excessive monetary easing policy at the time. By August 1990, the Nikkei stock index had plummeted to half its peak by the time of the fifth monetary tightening by the Bank of Japan (also known as BOJ). By late 1991, the asset price began to fall. Even though the asset price had visibly collapsed by early 1992, the economy's decline continued for more than a decade. This decline resulted in a huge accumulation of non-performing assets loans (NPL), causing difficulties for many financial institutions. The bursting of the Japanese asset price bubble contributed to what many call the Lost Decade.

"Political Struggles and Settlements of the High Growth Era" Andrew Gordon

The histories of politics and economy in postwar Japan offer a study in contrasts. Across three decades, the economy grew so quickly and consistently that even the United States began to study "the Japanese model" for lessons of success. The political world, in contrast, witnessed numerous sharp struggles. People argued over how to distribute the fruits of economic gain. They fought over the divisive question of Japan's international alignment. From the 1960s into the 1970s, the intensity of political confrontation seen in the previous decade diminished somewhat. But some new issues came to the fore, centered on the costs and dilemmas of affluence. Domestically, the nation confronted the problem of protecting people from pollution, as extraordinary growth incurred extraordinary environmental costs. Internationally, Japan's place in the Cold War struggle between the capitalist and communist worlds became less controversial, while tension over trade imbalances and economic friction within the capitalist world grew more intense. The story of the postwar economy is thus inseparable from the turbulent postwar history of political struggle and settlement.

Abe no seimei

The legendary practitioner of the Way of the Yin and Yang (February 21, 921 - October 31, 1005) was an onmyōji. In addition to his prominence in history he is a legendary figure in Japanese folklore and has been portrayed in a number of stories and films. Seimei worked as onmyōji for emperors and the Heian government, making calendars and advising on the spiritually correct way to deal with issues. He prayed for the well-being of emperors and the government as well as advising on various issues. He was also an astrologer and predicted astrological events.

Three mysteries

The practice of making mudras, chanting mantras, and visualizing a Buddhist deity in Esoteric Buddhism The three mysteries are the conceivably profound and sublimely pure physical, verbal, and mental activities of the buddhas, which all beings originally and inherently possess. 1. Mystery of the body: practiced by forming with the hands the mudras of the deity whose yoga is practiced 2. Mystery of speech: practiced by repeating the mantra of the deity, 3. Mystery of mind: practiced by visualizing the deity and entering the contemplative state of the deity

Seishin Sekai Boom

The term "seishin sekai" is made up of two terms: "seishin" which means "spirit" and "sekai" which means "world." So a rough translation would be the "spirit world." This term was popularized in the 80s and is said to derive partly from the "New Age" movement in the United States. books on spiritual world, magazines

Breen, John. "Resurrecting the Sacred Land of Japan: The State of Shinto in the Twenty-first Century."

This article explores a subject overlooked in both Japanese and non-Japanese scholarship, namely the state of Shinto in twenty-first century Japan. It addresses Shinto from the perspective of the Shinto establishment, and adopts a material approach, focusing on the material objects known as jingū taima or Ise amulets. The approach is justified by the Shinto establishment's ongoing campaign to disseminate Ise amulets to ten million Japanese homes. This article asks why the Shinto establishment devotes its energies to the amulet campaign and what the campaign discloses about twenty-first century Shinto. It examines the Ise amulets as material objects, explores their manufacture and distribution, and reports on growing resentment amongst shrine priests towards the campaign. It is argued here that, for the Shinto establishment, the Ise amulet campaign is a vital strategy in its declared aim of resurrecting in the postwar the sacred land of Japan.

"Cultural Nationalism in Japanese Neo-New Religions: A comparative study of Mahikari and Kofuku no Kagaku" Tsukada Hotaka

This study examines the way nationalism has been expressed in the worldviews and teachings of the neo-New Religions (shin shin shūkyō 新新宗教)—movements that came to prominence in the 1970s following Japan's period of postwar economic growth. Focusing on two of these movements—Mahikari 真光 (True Light) and Kōfuku no Kagaku 幸福の科学 (formerly known as the Institute for Research in Human Happiness, but today as Happy Science)—this comparative case study documents the sources of their ideas, the logic of those ideas, and changes that have occurred in them since their establishment.

White, Merry. Perfectly Japanese: Making Families in an Era of Upheaval.

Twenty first century blues; the crossover; filiality on new years day; getting virtue or just getting older; retirement at turbo speed; now, its like heaven; targeting the elderly; 20/20 vision and generation; generations of the future; managing without a map; life expectancy--a mixed boon; can a revesed pyramid stand?; who will pay for the elderly; managing the message

Sokka Gakkai

Value Creation Society. Beinning in the 1930s as a tiny offshoot of the Nichiren Buddhist sect, it tooks off in the 1950s and claimed 7 million adherents by 1960s. aggressive proselytizing. ritual 30 minuts of chanting, solve immideiate problems, like a credit card One of the religions created during the New Religious Movement. It stems from Nichiren Buddhism and some of its traits are: small group meetings for reciting abridged versions of the Lotus Sutra, providing counseling on members' problems, and a greater emphasis on the group's founder than Nichiren. The largest NRM of the period, it grew from around 3,000 members at the end of the war to 750,000 households in 1958, to around 8 million by the end of the 1960s. Sōka Gakkai International claims around 12 million members in 192 countries. It derives from Nichiren Buddhism and has recitation of an abridged version of the Lotus Sutra before replicas of Nichiren's mandala as its main practice. It places strong emphasis on reverence for Ikeda Daisaku, its third generation leader who took over in 1958 and even in retirement continues to guide the group, though others are nominally in charge. It is a lay society that does not require priestly mediation for any aspect of religious life.

Gojira

When the Japanese freighter Eiko-maru is destroyed near Odo Island, the Bingo-maru is sent to investigate, only to meet the same fate with few survivors. A fishing boat from Odo is also destroyed, with one survivor. Fishing catches mysteriously drop to zero, blamed by an elder on the ancient sea creature known as "Godzilla". Reporters arrive on Odo Island to further investigate. A villager tells one of the reporters that "something large is going crazy down there" ruining the fishing. That evening, a ritual dance to appease Godzilla is held during which the reporter learns that the locals used to sacrifice young girls. That night, a large storm strikes the island, destroying the reporters' helicopter, and an unseen force destroys 17 homes, kills nine persons and 20 of the villagers' livestock. Odo residents travel to Tokyo to demand disaster relief. Evidence of villagers and the reporter describe damage consistent with something large crushing the village. The government sends paleontologist Kyohei Yamane to lead an investigation to the island, where giant radioactive footprints and a trilobite are discovered. The village alarm bell is rung and Yamane and the villagers rush to see the monster, retreating after seeing it is a giant dinosaur, which then roars, and returns to the ocean. Yamane presents his findings in Tokyo, estimating that Godzilla is 165 feet (50 m) tall and is evolved from an ancient sea creature becoming a terrestrial animal. He concludes that Godzilla has been disturbed from its deep underwater natural habitat by underwater hydrogen bomb testing. Debate ensues about notifying the public about the danger of the monster. Meanwhile, 17 ships are lost at sea. Ten frigates are dispatched to attempt to kill the monster using depth charges. The mission disappoints Yamane who wants Godzilla to be studied. Godzilla survives the attack and appears off-shore. Officials appeal to Yamane for ideas to kill the monster, but Yamane tells them that Godzilla is unkillable, having survived H-bomb testing, and must be studied. Yamane's daughter, Emiko, decides to break off her arranged engagement to Yamane's colleague, Daisuke Serizawa, because of her love for Hideto Ogata, a salvage ship captain.When a reporter arrives and asks to interview Serizawa, Emiko escorts the reporter to Serizawa's lab. After Serizawa refuses to divulge his current work to the reporter, gives her a demonstration of his recent project on the condition she must keep it a secret. The demonstration horrifies her and she leaves without breaking off the engagement. Shortly after she returns home, the sound of Godzilla's footsteps approaching is heard. Godzilla surfaces from Tokyo Bay and enters the city, scattering residents from its path. A passing commuter train collides with Godzilla, who then destroys the train. After further destruction, Godzilla returns to the ocean. After consulting with international experts, the Japanese Self-Defense Forces construct a 100 feet (30 m) tall, 50,000 volt electrified fence along the coast and deploy military forces to stop and kill Godzilla. Yamane returns home, dismayed that there is no plan to study Godzilla for its resistance to radiation, where Emiko and Ogata await hoping to get his consent for them to wed. When Ogata disagrees with Yamane, Yamane tells him to leave. Godzilla resurfaces and breaks through to Tokyo, unleashing a more destructive rampage across Tokyo. The Tokyo Tower and the Diet building are destroyed and there is a large loss of life. Distraught by the devastation, Emiko tells Ogata about Serizawa's research, a weapon called the "Oxygen Destroyer", which disintegrates oxygen atoms and the organisms die of a rotting asphyxiation. Emiko and Ogata go to Serizawa to convince him to use the Oxygen Destroyer but he initially refuses. After watching a program displaying the nation's current tragedy, Serizawa finally accepts Emiko and Ogata's pleas. A navy ship takes Ogata and Serizawa to plant the device in Tokyo Bay. After finding Godzilla, Serizawa unloads the device and cuts off his air support, taking the secrets of the Oxygen Destroyer to his death. The mission proves to be a success and Godzilla is destroyed but many mourn Serizawa's death. Yamane reveals his belief that if nuclear tests continue, another Godzilla may rise in the future.

Miller, Laura. "Extreme Makeover for a Heian-Era Wizard." In Mechademia, Vol. 3, Limits of the Human (2008). University of Minnesota Press, pp. 30-45.

Who was Abeno Semei; Seimei Today; Making Sense of Seimei

Genze Riyaku

Worldly Benefits such as academic success, luck in marriage, help in securing divorces, healing, etc. Japanese petition deities for these. Thomas' Drawing on Tradition

Kobayasha Yoshinori

Yasukuni-ron: "There are two ways of thinking about separation of religion from state: as an absolute or limited separation. . . . Almost all the countries that have separation for religion from state take the limited form, in which the state is only prohibited from proselytizing for some particular religion or participating in religion. However, Japan keeps on upholding a complete separation, resulting in weird feuds, claiming that it's a constitutional violation for the Police Agency to hold prayers for traffic safety, or for a public high school to have a kamidana in its martial arts hall, or for the city office to use a Daruma doll for a donation box."

Fancy Dance

Yohei, a punk rocker, has to become a Buddhist monk in order to inherit a mountain temple. Yohei though initially rebelling against the tough monastic discipline learns to adjust. Then his girlfriend shows up, enticing him to return to his rock 'n' roll roots

Eiheiji

a mountain temple established by sect founder Dōgen (1200-1253 道元) in Fukui. It is in a remote area, and the winters are very cold. Dōgen established a set of rules for each and every behavior, from washing one's face to meditation. The monks in training are called unsui (雲水) 'clouds and water', and they follow a rigorous training program that certifies them as qualified to serve as a temple priest. In Dōgen's day the training lasted over a decade, but now has shrunk to three years. one of Japan's most famous Buddhist seminaries and training center. A novice's career begins with a stylized begging to be admitted; he may be kept waiting for as long as 3 days. Seminary and Training Center for Sōtō Zen Sect the desire for food is rigorously suppressed, and the trainees find it very difficult to be satisfied with the diet, which amounts to less than 2,000 calories a day

Kojiki

a mythic compilation of the year 712

Millenarianism

a period of a thousand years, especially when calculated from the traditional date of the birth of Christ the prophesied thousand-year reign of Christ at the end of the age (Rev. 20:1-5) a utopian period of good government, great happiness, and prosperity.

Emaki

a pre-modern form of media which consisted of a picture scroll. early as the 13th century. used for advertisements, aesthetics, teaching

Deguchi Nao

a woman from an impoverished family in a small rural town called Ayabe, Kyoto Prefecture became possessed (kamigakari) by a deity she identified as Ushitora no Konjin and starting to transmit his words. The local police assumed that she had gone insane and threw her in jail. Though she had no education, she began to write down her revelations, using a nail to scratch characters on the wall of her cell. She later drew a group of followers around her through healing. In 1898 she met a man who later adopted the name Deguchi Onisaburō and began to organize her prophecies and attract believers with spirit healings. With Onisaburō as the main organizer, as as the one who transcribed Nao's revelations, Omoto began to grow beyond Nao's home town

Ara-mitama/nigi-mitama

a wrathful aspect/peaceful aspect of a kami's spirit

Napier, S. J. 2001. "Waiting for the End of the World: Apocalyptic Identity," In Anime from Akira to Princess Mononoke: Experiencing Contemporary Japanese Animation.

apocalypse in nausicaa, akira, legend of overfiend; Evangelion

White, Merry. Perfectly Japanese: Making Families in an Era of Upheaval.

are japanese families in crisis?; making babies for the state and keeping granny at home; the ie family structure; models or makeshifts?; marking time; families in postwar japan; the aftermath of war; dismathling the ie; he 1950s middle class or ozzie and harriet japanese style; the booming 1960s: work, home and the good woman; consumption and credentials in the 1970s; bubble and boom in the 1980s; mating marriage and divorce; narita rikon or the honeymoons over; a taxi driver's spell on the 1990s; separation--in role, name, and laundry; what's in a name; new wors for the new family; women who say no

eta/hinnin

are untouchables, really just relevant to Departures and how certain roles were looked down upon often because they connoted kegare and were disgusting

Okuyama, Yoshiko (2013) "Shinto and Buddhist Metaphors in Departures," Journal of Religion & Film:

cinematic language is rich in example of religious metaphors. One Japanese film that contains religious tropes (figurative language) is the 2008 human drama, Departures. This paper focues on the analyiss of religious metahors encoded in selec film shots, using semiotics as the theoretical framework for film analysis. The specific metaphors discussed in the paper are the Shinto view of death as defilement and Buddhist practices associated with the metaphor of the journey to the afterlife. The purpose of this paper is to augment the previous reviews of Departure bye explicating those religious signs hidden in the film.

Cool Japan Initiative

described as a form of soft power. It is a concept coined in 2002 as an expression of Japan's popular culture. The concept has been adopted by the Japanese government as well as trade bodies seeking to exploit the commercial capital of the country's culture industry. "Japan's creative industries such as content, fashion, animation have been gaining popularity worldwide, Japanese industries cannot fully transform their attractiveness into business. To resolve these problems, the Japanese Government is advancing the "Cool Japan Initiative." Actively promote Japanese attractive goods and services on a worldwide scale; become a driving force for Japan's economic growth

Economic and Social Transformation by Gordan Andrew

economy boomed. GNP increased, people started saving more, compulsory education so better quality of workers. migration to cities, baby boom, women roles changes, technology like shinkansen, entrance tests and rounin, arranged marriages, salarymen and office flowers. new religions. tv and entertainment

William Tsutsui "Gozdzilla on my mind"

had cultural references, important, the american one wasnt good, stripped it of its value. still important today. effects werent bad.

Jinja Honcho English Website:

http://www.jinjahoncho.or.jp/en/spiritual/index.html

Murakami, Haruki. Underground.

interviews of aum; Mitsuhara inaba (still active member); Hajime Masutani (lives alone and hides fact that part of Aum); Miyuki Kanda

animism

is the worldview that natural physical entities—including animals, plants, and often even inanimate objects or phenomena—possess a spiritual essence. Specifically, animism is used in the anthropology of religion as a term for the religion of some indigenous tribal peoples,[4] especially prior to the development of organized religion.[5] Although each culture has its own different mythologies and rituals, "animism" is said to describe the most common, foundational thread of indigenous peoples' "spiritual" or "supernatural" perspectives. The term is an anthropological construct rather than one designated by the people themselves. Animism encompasses the belief that there is no separation between the spiritual and physical (or material) world, and souls or spirits exist, not only in humans, but also in some other animals, plants, rocks, geographic features such as mountains or rivers, or other entities of the natural environment, including thunder, wind, and shadows. Examples of animism can be found in forms of Shinto,Taoism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Wicca or contemporary Paganism.

tokoyo no kami

kami of the everlasting world, has something to do with a prophecy of a new world and a caterpillar kami. gov't at the time didn't like it because the group promoted the sacrifice of worldly possessions, so farmers were casting off all their livestock

Muen-shi (disconnected death)

literally "to be without bonds," is a multivalent term that encapsulates the fears of Japanese who do not have graves, as well as those who lack relatives to maintain their graves into the future. The problem of muen in the national spotlight recently implicates twenty-first century Japan as a society that is not only incapable of caring for its dead, but also cannot even identify them.

Jeff Kingston "Japan's quiet transformation: Social Change and civil society in the Twenty-first Century"

lost decades, LDP still in power, bubble pooped, people lost everything, still preoccupied with the past. hanshin awaji earthquake, aum shinrikyo incident, nuclear accident at tokaimura. corruption in politics, ijime (bullying), enjo kosai, no more lifetime employment

my home-ism

matricentric cult of domesticity. shift from prewar (relative) passivity of mothers to complete dedication to family and home life

Kokoro

means heart. important for ethics school. goal was to polish the heart, shape it into a sincere heart. should carry out into every day lives

Hardacre, Helen. "Aum Shinrikyo and the Japanese Media: The Pied Piper Meets the Lamb of God." In History of Religions,

media coverage of aum following the subway attack; narrativization, homogenization, and mythicization of the news; press clubs and their dependence upon "official sources"; patterns in the relation between aum and the media; patterns in the relation between aum and the media; "innocent until officially charged"l; social reflections and a repentant media;conclusion: disciplining religion and the young

"Japan's quiet Transformation" jeff Kingston

nationalism; legacies; pan-asian fantasies; yasukuni shrine visits; reconciliation tango; symbols that divide; world cup 2002; unfinished business; identity social transformations; hidden scourge; divorce; suicide; troubled youth; sexploitation; parasite singles; challenging patriarchy; on strike; childcare; women and work; aging society; elderly care; pension and medical care solvency; labor shortage implications; prospects

new middle class

nuclear families in the 1950s, used to be farmers in countryside and manufacturers and small traders in cities. moved to growing suburbs and lived in danchi. mom took a part time job , children had their own bedrooms

jukai

ordination of the dead; In order to dispatch the dead to a superior postmortem realm, the deceased lay person is symbolically ordained as a Buddhist monk or nun. Posthumous ordination usually starts with the sprinkling of water over the body and snipping off a tuft of hair from the head, if this has not already been performed prior to the wake. -A brief text expressing repentance of sins is recited on the deceased's behalf immediately before the posthumous ordination. The basic formula calls for the deceased to receive the precepts (jukai) of the triple refuge—in the three treasures of the Buddha, dharma, and sangha.

matsuri

shrine festivals

Science of Happiness

the largest of the new new religions, claiming 10 million, founded by Okawa Ryuho While the doctrines, deities, and past leaders of many different religious traditions are incorporated in Science of Happiness, Buddhism plays the most prominent role. The group's ideal spiritual life revolves around the early Buddhist idea of the Noble Eightfold Path, which in Ôkawa's interpretation will lead both to the elevation of the individual soul and the betterment of society. The highest goal is to attain the enlightenment of the bodhisattva Bonten (Brahmâ), a state accompanied by spiritual powers such as supernormal sight, hearing, astral travel, and mind reading critique of the media Japan should be led by an enlightened religious sage; The Occupation eradicated religion from politics and education in order to destroy Japan's spiritual strength. Religion should be reinstated in politics and education. Gender equality is a false goal.

Aum Shinrikyo

the religious group that released sarin gas in the Tokyo subway system in 1995 The religious world in Japan is still feeling the after-effects of the Aum incident of 1995. Japanese society was deeply shocked by the incident, not only because of the sarin gas attack, but because it seemed to indicate that the "best and brightest" were particularly at risk of becoming so completely alienated from society that they would drop out entirely to follow a religious guru. The incident was perceived as apocalyptic, as spelling the end to an era. In some ways that proved to be true, as new anxieties about religion in general emerged and put even temple Buddhism on the defensive for years. In the aftermath, laws on government oversight of religion were strengthened, so that the basic premises of the relation between religion and state changed. New anime and manga dwelling on the potential of religion to be anti-social or to exploit followers were produced. established in 1985 by Asahara Shôko as a group of about fifteen devotees of yoga. In 1987, the group was renamed Aum Shinrikyô, and in 1989 it registered with Metropolitan Tokyo as a religious body, giving it tax exempt status. At the time, it claimed about 4,000 members, of whom 380 were "ordained" (shukke), meaning that they lived communally, took vows of celibacy, and cut off contact with the outside world, usually donating all their assets to the religion. One of the most persistent criticisms of Aum concerns its policy of requiring ordinands to sign over all their assets. This means not only real estate and bank accounts, but every material possession, down to clothing, telephone cards, the personal seals used to transact all public financial dealings in Japan, and postage stamps. It has frequently been alleged that Aum has not stopped with the ordinands themselves, but has fraudulently acquired ordinands' families assets by setting the ordinand's seal to various legal documents. Buddhism plays the largest role in Aum doctrine, and Aum holds that the ideal path for believers is to progress through Theravada and Mahayana forms to the ultimate "stage," Tantrism, its own adaptation of Tibetan Buddhism. At the same time, however, and not always reconciled with Buddhist ideas, Hindu and Christian motifs are also very prominent. Asahara recognizes the Hindu deity Shiva, Lord of Destruction, as his supernatural guru. But Christian ideas have arguably come to equal the Buddhist doctrinal component. The narrative of Jesus' election, persecution, and sacrifice came to play a central role, and in this case the slander of the religion by the tabloid was taken to fulfill the prophecy in Matthew 24: 9: "Then they will hand you over to be tortured and will put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of my name."

Onmyodo

the way of yin and yang traditional Japanese esoteric cosmology, and a mixture of natural science and occultism. It is based on the Chinese philosophies of the Five Elements and Yin and Yang, introduced into Japan at the beginning of the 6th century. It was accepted as a practical system of divination. These practices can be seen as a syncretism of Taoism, Buddhism, and Shinto, and evolved into the system of onmyōdō around the late 7th century. Onmyōdō was under the control of the imperial government, and later its courtiers, the Tsuchimikado family until the middle of the 19th century, at which point it became prohibited as superstition.

The Funeral

there is a married couple, Wabisuke and Chizuko, who are film stars. Unexpectedly Chizuko's father dies, and the couple must drop everything, take their two sons and the family cat, and go to the countryside home where the father has died, comfort the widow, Kikue, and hold a funeral within a couple of days. Wabisuke and Chizuko are accompanied by their manager, who handles much of the financial arrangements. Chizuko has a sister who comes with her husband and their two spirited sons. The man who has died also has a brother, Chizuko's uncle Shōkichi. He gives a lot of advice, based on his knowledge of religious tradition, most of which is rejected by the main couple as too troublesome in some way or other. Shokichi Amamiya (Hideji Otaki) is a difficult 69-year-old man, married to Kikue (Kin Sugai). He dies suddenly of a heart attack, and it falls to his daughter Chizuko (Nobuko Miyamoto) and son-in-law Wabisuke Inoue (Tsutomu Yamazaki) to organize the funeral at their house. Among other things, the family have to choose a coffin, hire a priest, hold a wake, learn formal funeral etiquette and hold the service itself. During the three days of preparation, various tensions within the family are hinted at, such as resentment of a rich but stingy uncle, Inoue's affair with a younger woman, and possibly an affair the dead man himself had with a female gateball player. After the service, the long suffering wife delivers a dignified speech to the family regretting that the hospital would not let her be with her husband as he died.

New religious Movements

• Religion under the Postwar Constitution o Article 20-complete freedom of religious belief and separation of religion and state o Article 89-prohibits the state from patronizing any religion o Many court cases testing the limits of these provisions have been fought since 1945 and continue in the 21st century • The Religious Corporations Law o The religious corporations law allows religious bodies to operate publicly through a simple registration process, eventually totaling over 180000 o The RCL allows religious corporations to incorporate in order to Own property Operate public facilities like schools, hospitals, museums, etc. Own for profit businesses, such as publishing houses to distribute their books, magazine, videos, etc. Enjoy lower rates of taxation on their for profit activities in recognition of religions contribution to public good o The Rush hour of the God (kamigami no rashu awaa) From the late 1940, thousands of religious organizations registered under this law • Some were ordinary parish temples, neighborhood shrines, Christian churches that had existed before 1945 • Some had been undercover in some form to excape persecutuin before 1945 • Some leaders who had been imprisoned by the wartime regime got out of jail and started over • Many were entirely new inentions or organizations founded by breaking off from an organization • Shared Characteristics of the Postwar NRMs o Although their doctrines could be Buddhist, Shinto, Christian, or completely novel, they developed a similar profile Charismatic leadership Emphasis on counseling and healing Ancestor worship Strong belief that diligent effort is sufficient to accomplish anything • Less emphasis on magical or fatalistic beliefs that attribute influence to forces beyond human control