Religion in Contemporary Japan

What role does religion play in contemporary Japanese society and in the lives of Japanese people today? This text examines the major areas in which the Japanese participate in religious events the role of religion in the social system and the underlying views within the Japanese religious world. Through a series of case studies of religion in action – at crowded temples and festivals in austere Zen meditation halls at home and at work at dramatic fire rituals – it illustrates the immense variety energy and colour inherent in Japanese religion. It also discusses the continued relevance and responses of religion in a rapidly modernizing and changing society.