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The Chinese and Japanese stories of capturing yaoguai or yōkai and obtaining treasures in haunted houses share a common origin from 'Xì Yāo' narratives. The core motif chain remains largely consistent, despite distinct differences in the treatment of yaoguai. In China, these beings are often expelled or even killed, whereas in Japan they are usually appeased and revered. The underlying reasons can be largely attributed to the influence of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism in China, which perceive yaoguai as ominous and associate them with calamities. In contrast, the integration of Buddhism and Shintoism in Japan has created a cultural landscape that offers a pathway for yōkai to ascend to the status of deities. The dissemination of similar stories primarily relies on the stability of the motif chain, while variations beyond it serve as essential conditions for the acceptance and dissemination of these stories across regions, ethnicities, and even nations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Bulletin of the Institute of Ethnography of the Serbian Academy of Sciences & Arts / Glasnik Etnografskog Instituta SANU is the property of Institute of Ethnography, SASA and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Japan is a country that is home to polytheistic religions, namely Buddhism and Shintoism. However, in comparison to Buddhism, which is spread widely, Shinto is mainly found in Japan. Thus, foreign visitors are most likely to encounter Shinto and Shinto shrines for the first time when they visit Japan. It can be argued that developing an understanding of the major religion(s) of a country can enhance cultural understanding. However, a clear definition of Shinto is an ongoing debate in Japan and among scholars across the world. Hence, this research tries to understand through Content Analysis of English and German language travel / guidebooks how Shinto is presented to foreign tourists. Previous research showed that these texts can be a major source to learn about other religions. The ‘Shinto Paradigms’ as identified by Aike Rots build a framework to analyse the content. He identified six paradigms, each attributed to certain themes which can be used to define Shinto. The results show that most western travel information sources present Shinto in the context of the ‘Ethnic Paradigm’ that portrays Shinto as an indigenous religion which is deeply intertwined in the Japanese life. However, some of the same sources also show traits of a more recent definition approach, the ‘Environmental Paradigm’ which strongly connects nature and the environment with Shinto. These findings have implications for marketing Shinto shrines for tourism, as a common presentation of Shinto does not exist that can shape the tourist’s experience and understanding of the host culture. Further, the paper shows that the paradigms of Rots provide a base framework for further tourism related Shinto studies, while reflecting the difficulties of portraying a congruent definition of Shinto. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The “modernity” of Japan is to overcome and transcend other principal civilizations. From the perspective of historical context, Japan first overcame the influence of traditional Chinese order and civilization by “leaving Asia”. Then Japan resisted the West to eliminate the psychological depression of the failure to “join Europe” and constantly surpassed and overcome its previous modern identity, in an attempt to achieve the pattern of leading Asia and rivaling Europe and the United States.From the perspective of religious context, through institutionalization and homogenization of God and human, Shinto rose to the national religion at the ideological level, and then became the religion that dominated the national consciousness in the process of “integration of politics and religion”. As a result, it fulfilled the two transcendences in the face of “modernity”,and realized the integration of internal thoughts, and making a contribution to foreign aggression. Therefore, it has become an important factors for Japan to launch many aggressive wars from the 19th century to the 20th century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines Jūzenji 十禅師, a medieval god worshiped within the Sannō cult at Hie Shrine during the twelfth to sixteenth centuries. The article demonstrates that Tendai thinkers promoted Jūzenji to a supreme ontological status since his liminal and ambivalent character afforded him the unique role of redirecting the sinful desires of the flesh into awakening. Three different figures promoted Jūzenji. First, the Tendai abbot Jien 慈円 (1155–1255) constructed ritual programs that raised Jūzenji to the apogee of the Sannō Shintō pantheon, which combined with engi literature concerning Jien's sexuality, permitted the re-envisioning of Jūzenji as a libidinal god. Second, the preceptors of Mt. Hiei (kaike 戒家) transformed Jūzenji into an embodiment of the precepts, which enabled Jūzenji to encapsulate morality and thereby render sexual sins null. Third, Tendai Sannō Shintō theologians (kike 記家) interweaved Jūzenji with the doctrine of the threefold truth (santai 三諦), which became the basis of the Taimitsu sexual initiation known as Chigo Kanjō 児灌頂. As such, this article offers an important case study whereby a subsidiary god outshines its own godhead for the purpose of legitimating sexuality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Japanologists have identified the intellectual movement called Kokugaku ("national learning") as early modern Japan's version of nativism, even though it bears no resemblance to the original American version of nativism from the 1840s, namely Know-Nothingism. Instead, Kokugaku had striking intellectual and institutional similarities with pre-Civil War Transcendentalism. Americanists have associated Transcendentalism with the broader ideological phenomenon known as exceptionalism, rather than with nativism. For this reason, this article proposes to reclassify Kokugaku as exceptionalism, instead of nativism, via a comparison between it and Transcendentalism. The intellectual linchpin between Transcendentalism and exceptionalism is Fichte, whose ideas influenced Japan's literary genre known as Nihonjinron ("theories of Japanese[-ness]"), the modern successor of Kokugaku, a connection that bolsters the intellectual legitimacy of the view that Kokugaku and Transcendentalism are analogous versions of exceptionalism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the concept of covenantal pluralism in a context of postwar Japan, with a focus on the legal framework separating the state from religion and guaranteeing the rights of religious minorities. The article argues that while there are relatively few instances of sectarian strife, the lack of agreement on how to interpret the category of religion, in particular in relation to Shrine Shinto, continues to lead to struggles between different camps. The article also questions the feasibility of covenantal pluralism as an ideal in a country where national identity is so closely linked to ideas of social homogeneity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scholars of Japanese religion have recently drawn attention to the global repositioning, "greening", and international popularization of Shinto. However, research on Shinto ritual practice and material religion continues to focus predominantly on cases located within the borders of the Japanese state. This article explores the globalization of Shinto through transnational practitioners' strategic glocalization of everyday ritual practices outside of Japan. Drawing upon digital ethnographic fieldwork conducted in online Shinto communities, I examine three case studies centering on traditional ritual offerings made at the domestic altar (kamidana): rice, sake, and sakaki branches. I investigate how transnational Shinto communities hold in tension a multiplicity of particularistic understandings of Shinto locality and authenticity when it comes to domestic ritual practice. While relativistic approaches to glocalization locate the sacred and authentic in an archetypical or idealized form of Japanese tradition rooted in its environment, creolization and transformation valorize the particularities of one's personal surroundings and circumstances. Examining these strategies alongside recent and historical cases in Shinto ritual at shrines within Japan, I propose that attending to processes of "parallel glocalization" helps to illuminate the quasi-fictive notion of the religious "homeland" and close the perceived gap in authenticity between ritual practices at home and abroad. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) again took control after the 2012 general election, Japan's ruling party politicians increasingly associated themselves with Shinto Seiji Renmei, a political organization that is affiliated with Shinto, the country's native religion. What are the motivations for joining such a group, considering Japan has institutional regulations regarding the separation of politics and religion, in addition to there being no sign of rising religiosity among the Japanese population? I explain this puzzle by focusing on politicians' electoral incentives in a changing environment of Japan's party politics. As the opposition became fragmented after 2012, the ruling party's candidates found it electorally advantageous to appeal to the core supporters rather than the centrist floating voters. An empirical analysis of an original dataset supports my argument. The findings suggest the changes in Japan's political landscape might affect the future strategies of LDP politicians, particularly regarding the coalition with Komeito. Overall, this study proposes that there is a need to pay closer attention to politicians' strategic use of religion in politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to the International Register of Organ Donation and Transplantation, Japan is one of the countries with the lowest number of registered deceased donors. In 2019, Japan was ranked 61st out of 70 countries. The authors of this article have decided to explore the reasons for this phenomenon. In the first part of the work, religious influences (Shinto and Buddhism), the tradition of gotai manzoku, the importance of altruism and the family in the perception of death and organ transplantation by the Japanese are considered. The second part of the article presents the arguments of Alan Shewmon, who believes that brain death is not death in the biological sense. Undermining die brain's death criterion raises doubts concerning death of patients in irreversible coma, what in result discourages transplantology in Japan. In the third part, the authors compare the results of JOTN, IRODaT and the Fact Book of Organ Transplantation 2018 in Japan from 2010 to 2018. The aim of the article is to explain the cultural determinants of transplantology in Japan, taking into account die influence of philosophical and bioethical aspects of human death. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Bohai University (Philosophy & Social Science Edition) / Bohai Daxue Xuebao (Zhexue Shehuikexue Ban) is the property of Bohai Daxue and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The Ise sankei mandara (Ise Pilgrimage Mandalas) depict Ise’s shrines and temples, the roads leading to them, and local attractions. While the three versions under investigation appear to be based on a common model, close study reveals slight differences in detail and emphasis. These variations provide clues to the struggle for power and authority among Ise’s Buddhist temples and allow for discussion of such issues as patronage and meaning. More generally, these differences show that sankei mandara are not static, generic representations but, rather, historically specific paintings that articulate changing institutional claims in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three approaches to scholarship are 'scholarship as a way,' which aims at perfection of character; 'scholarship as a method,' which clearly limits objects and methods in order to achieve precise perception and new knowledge; and 'scholarship as an expression,' which takes various approaches to questions and inquiry. The 'humanities' participate deeply and broadly in all three of these approaches. In relation to this view of the humanities, Japanese Shinto is a field of study that yields rich results. As a religion of awe, shrine groves, community, arts, and entertainment, it offers a research field that joins together the study of human beings, nature, society, and expression. Though we elucidate the characteristics of Shinto and its differences with Buddhism, we also draw attention to the seven dimensions of 'place, way, beauty, festival, technique, poetry, and ecological wisdom,' and then finally take up 'research on techniques of body and mind transformation' as a comprehensive and creative development in the 'humanities.' [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the interpretations of the Shinto and Ise Jingū religions during the postwar. Topics discussed include the signing of the Japanese Instrument of Surrender by Japan Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu on September 2, 1945, the definition of Shinto as an invention of Meiji Restoration that supports modernization, centralization, and expansionism, and the political aspects of Japanese religion.

Christian wedding ceremonies have, since the mid-1990s, displaced the Shinto rite and continue to remain Japan's wedding ceremony of choice. In apparent contrast, the vast majority of Japanese individuals claim to be "nonreligious" or mushūkyō. Using the Christian wedding ceremonies of contemporary Japan as a context, this article explores the way in which claims of "non-religiousness" are used to both reject and affirm religious behaviors. Most typically, nonreligious attitudes reject religious positions perceived as abnormal, foreign, unusually intense, deviant, or unhealthy while simultaneously affirming the importance of religion to affective acts of belief. Furthermore, nonreligious individuals tend to rely heavily on religious professionals and to vicariously entrust specialized acts of prayer and ritual to religious authorities when desirable and appropriate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the history of the sociology of religion in Japan. Topics include the application of secularization theory, Christianity and other religions like Buddhism and Shinto, and new religions, as well as Japanese martial arts and spirituality. It also highlights the Japanese sociological research of some sociologists including Kiyomi Morioka, Hayashi Makoto, and Robert Neelly Bellah.

An introduction is presented in which author discusses about Shinto, a Japanese religion and about Hayao Miyazaki, the best contemporary Japanese animator and his films in which the themes, cultural aspects, and spirituality that are as important to Japan as their religion is.

Apocalypse is a fundamental category in the interpretation of crisis of post-modern society. On the one hand, it is known the universal character of the apocalyptic symbol, on the other its origin deeply rooted in the Western culture. At the same time, there are few words evoking "the end of the world", as the Japanese names of Hiroshima and Nagasaki - or even Fukushima - scenes of apocalyptic disasters whose memory awakens the darkest nightmares worldwide. Japan has also developed a large number of beliefs and popculture products with an apocalyptic background, which does not directly result from an eschatological vision of the world. This paper aims to chart a path through the catastrophic realities and representations of ancient and modern Japan, highlighting the key points in the development of a particular imagination of the end. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers the author's insights regarding the linguistic critique on the shinto and Yasukuni in Japan. The author discusses several topics, which include the two questions which arises after the Second World War, such as Northern Island question or mondai and Yasukuni, Japanese nationalism and imperialism, and dilemma over the visits of the members of the Japanese Government to the Yasukuni Shrine.

Religion played a prominent role in the Allied Occupation of Japan (1945-1952) that followed the brutal Pacific War (1941-1945). Officially, the occupiers were to promulgate religious freedom, separate religion from the state, and encourage the Japanese people to develop a 'desire for religious freedom'. Promulgating religious freedom was the easy part. Separating religion from the state without infringing on religious freedom was far more challenging, and the ambiguous objective of instilling a desire for religious freedom in the Japanese populace was nearly impossible to measure. This review article provides a brief overview of trends in Occupation research, traces historical changes and paradoxes in Occupation religions policy and examines the unexpected and frequently ironic outcomes of that policy. It provides a cursory look into the postwar efflorescence of 'new religions' and the politically fraught category of 'State Shintō'. It closes with an overview of archives and records on the Occupation. Video abstract () [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper rethinks the article of religious freedom of the Meiji Constitution of 1889 and calls into question the liberalist paradigm employed to understand the Constitution and modern Japanese history. In this liberalist framework, the Constitution manifests the peculiar and authoritarian nature of the pre-war Japanese state. In particular, the 28th article, which provides for the conditional freedom of religious belief, is seen as no more than a cover for social control by the state. This paper examines the histories of the ideas of religion and freedom, and the religious freedom article, and argues that the most appropriate task is not to measure how much religious freedom the Meiji Constitution failed to guarantee against a de-historicised liberalism, but rather to consider the function of the very inclusion of religious freedom in the Constitution. I argue that the inclusion of religious freedom as a generic type of liberty in the Meiji Constitution was instrumental in the creation of the private modern individual as a subject-citizen. It is through this private individual citizen that the modern state as a public, secular authority was created. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article takes up the fundamental question of when in Shintō history structures that could be called Shintō shrines first appeared. Inoue begins with a consideration of problems with the traditional view, here associated most closely with Fukuyama Toshio, who drew on the research of Tsuda Sōkichi, Yanagita Kunio and Ōba Iwao. Fukuyama had held that Shintō shrines emerged naturally out of the animism of Japan's early agricultural society. Against this view, Inoue argues that the establishment of Shintō shrines must be seen as intimately connected with the establishment of the Ritsuryō state in the late seventh century, the state based on the criminal and administrative law system introduced from China. Further Inoue asserts that in the background of that development must be seen the influence of the Chinese Sui and Tang Empires and the introduction and spread of Buddhism into Japan. Inoue argues that, far from being a natural development, the appearance of Shintō shrines was the result of deliberate governmental action inspired by Chinese models as they were adapted to the Japanese situation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As it's stated in the title, this article aims to analyze the theory of Japanese paternalism that underlies traditional management found in Japanese companies. This type of management is unique worldwide and contributes significantly to the advancement of the Japanese archipelago from the period after the Second World War. We present the evolution of Japanese paternalism, from its appearance to the Great Japanese Crisis, based on spiritual teachings of Confucianism, Shintoism and Budism, and after that we discuss about its features: lifetime employment system, advancement within the company, new recruits and their integration into the system. Another objective of this paper is to highlight the differences between the two types of organization, that we can find in the Japanese and western company. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The influence of Buddhist thought, cosmologies and practices on the formation of folk kagura and other minzoku geinō (folk performing arts) forms in medieval Japan is widely recognized. The Buddhist worldview was often spread through the ritual performing arts of the yamabushi (Shugendō practitioners) of medieval times. Today the evidence for such influences is relatively obscure, due to the impact of Shintō policies since the nineteenth century. However, traces of Buddhist cosmologies, ideas and practices can still be found, to a greater or lesser degree, in most forms of kagura. Such 'traces' may range from but a preserved memory of abandoned practices in some schools, to explicit Buddhist texts in others. This paper presents examples of Buddhist 'echoes' in a number of kagura schools from around Japan. These serve to illuminate the extant to which Buddhist ideas and practices were imbedded in the ritual texts and kami uta of the various kagura schools, in their dance choreographies, and in the structures of their kagura spaces. A special characteristic common to all (otherwise extremely variegated) kagura forms is the construction of the kagura space as a symbolic universe. This paper argues for a probable Buddhist origin of the kagura stage-universe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mizuko kuyo is a Japanese (Buddhist, Shinto, New Religious, other) memorial service for infants or young children who have died through some misfortune, including disease, miscarriage, and, increasingly, elective abortion. Indeed, abortion is the predominant form of contraception for many Japanese families. Here we consider, in Weberian terms of the rationalization of institutions, how Internet accessibility and its created virtual reality of the mizuko kuyo has driven its popularity along the dimensions of privatization, bureaucratization, and commodification in decisions to perform the ritual by Internet. We utilize a sample of Tokyo mizuko kuyo Web sites and the contexts of their advertisements and available services for mizuko kuyo, including fee structures and other advertising "lures," to analyze this merging of traditional and modern technological paths of spirituality along Weberian theoretical lines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today Japan is in many ways more religiously free than most Western nations, although levels of religiosity are also comparatively quite low. Key areas for research freedom related research include: the historical causes of Japan's astonishingly rapid turnaround post-World War II from a nation that actively discriminated against minority religious groups to one that supports religious freedom; religious freedom conditions in Japan's prisons and detention facilities; challenges of cultural integration of immigrants bringing greater religious diversity to Japan; faith-based charity and disaster relief; and the small but still worrisome faction of nationalist Japanese who are seeking to reestablish state-sponsored Shintoism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a Shinto religion-related series of legal cases which reportedly address the "Establishment Clause" contained in Japan's Constitution, the apparent evolution of Japan's religion jurisprudence, and the relationship between culture and religion. The Japanese Supreme Court and various cultural and legal norms in Japan are assessed, along with then-Japanese Emperor Meiji's promulgation of a Constitution in 1889. Shintoism and the free exercise of religion is examined.

In a wide range of contemporary debates on Japanese cultures of technological practice, brief reference is often made to distinct Shinto legacies, as forming an animist substratum of indigenous spiritual beliefs and cosmological imaginations. Japan has been described as a land of Shinto-infused ‘techno-animism’: exhibiting a ‘polymorphous perversity’ that resolutely ignores boundaries between human, animal, spiritual and mechanical beings. In this article, we deploy instances of Japanese techno-animism as sites of theoretical experimentation on what Bruno Latour calls a symmetrical anthropology of nature-cultures. In staging a dialogue between actor-network theory and Japanese techno-animism, we show how Shinto cosmograms provide an enlivening and alternative diffraction device on several of the ontological motifs manifested in Latour’s work. In particular, by mobilizing the territory of a ‘new’ animism debate in anthropology – manifested in the work of Philippe Descola and Eduardo Viveiros de Castro – we attempt to infuse Latourian ‘multinaturalism’ with new, other-than-western analytical energy. Extending actor-network theory, we argue, Shinto cosmograms offer an interesting vantage point for interpreting the immanent, affective, enchanting and enabling powers of non-humans in contributing to collective life. By thus broadening the ‘cosmopolitical’ imagination beyond Latour’s own European-Catholic frame of reference, Shinto techno-animism offers up a wider reflection on contemporary entanglements of science, politics, ecology and cosmos. This reflection, we conclude, opens up a new intellectual territory, allowing us to trace techno-animist streams of thinking both ‘East’ and ‘West’, beyond the confines of the scientific naturalism indigenous to European thinking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is an English translation of 'Shinkoku no yukue' (神国の行方 'Where to next for Shinkoku thought?'), the final chapter of Shinkoku Nihon (神国日本'Japan, Land of the Gods') by Satō Hirō. In this chapter, Satō traces the history of the controversial notion of Japan as 'shinkoku' - a divine 'land of the gods' - that is often associated with ultranationalism in Japan. Taking issue with what he sees as the common misunderstanding of shinkoku thought in contemporary Japan, Satō argues for the way it ought to be conceptualized and studied in future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents information on the portrayal of the character Kami in Japanese motion pictures with respect to their interpretation and existence as a living essence of a thing. The kamis are portrayed as a metaphor for human beings and carry a lot of human essence in the Shinto system of Japan. The films directed by Hayao Miyazaki portraying the character of kami include "Castle in the Sky," "My Neighbour Totoro," "Ponyo" and "Howl's Moving Castle." Information on the legal theory and legal reform regarding the portrayal of the character in motion pictures is also presented.

The article deals with an active mission among Japanese immigrants in Brazil, including the support of the Japanese government and the Japanese Catholic Church. The article rejects the hypothesis of an easy accommodation of Catholicism in Japan and suggests that for a proper analysis of the process one has to take into account the specific character of the missionaries activities as well the latent dispute between the nationalist Shintoism and the Brazilian Catholicism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From age-old Japan, people have thought gods and goddesses were omnipresent, especially in forests, mountains, and the sea. It was believed that these gods and goddesses were there to protect us. Though these gods and goddesses did not appear as figures, people worshiped them, and this kind of worship developed into the religion known as Shintoism. It is believed that in the 6th century in the Nara period, Buddhism was transferred to Japan from China via Korea. Since then, Buddhism has influenced Shintoism. The Japanese naturally accepted the interconnectedness of Buddhism and Shintoism. The reason is that Buddhism did not deny the original Japanese local gods and goddesses even though they had different characters to Buddha and his various divinities, and vice versa. The play Chikubushima was written by an unknown writer and first performed in the Muromachi period. In the play, Benzaiten (a Buddhist goddess, a water goddess) and Chikubushima Ryujin (a dragon god, a water god) vow that they offer salvation, and attempt to realize the wishes of the audience and reign over the country safely. Chikubushima Ryujin is identified with Benzaiten, i.e., as another aspect of Benzaiten. From ancient times, Ryujin was worshipped in many places in Japan as a god of Shintoism. We can find an equal amalgamation of Shintoism and Buddhism here. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After having contextualized the immigration flows between Japan and Brazil, the article focusses on the history and sociology of Christianity among Japanese-Brazilians. As for the younger generations Brazilian Catholicism tended to substitute Shintoism in terms of a religious orientation fostering national identity. On the other hand, statistical data indicate that among decasségui, that is, Japanese descendants born Brazil who returned to Japan as foreign workers, Pentecostalism is on the rise. In order to explain the growing popularity of Pentecostalism, the article refers to approaches suggested by the economy of religion, including the social-network-theory. This conceptual basis even allows some speculations about the future of Christianity and other religions among the Brazilian foreign workers in Japan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Take kagura … is a Japanese religious dance that has been performed in Iwate prefecture for centuries. It is primarily used as a purification ritual, although it is also a form of popular entertainment. The most significant deity for local inhabitants is Hayachine dai gongen …, which they believe is the incarnation of Mt. Hayachine. The deity appears in a specific dance, the gongen mai …, and together with the dai gongen forms a core of practices and beliefs surrounding Take kagura for performers and their audiences. The images and associations of the deity in the mountain that these people hold are expressed through concepts such as terror, beauty, purity, and gratitude. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores the religious aspects of property and taxation issues in Kamakura era Japan. It is suggested that the power to tax was reflective of sacred authority and the authors illustrates connections between salvation and economic prosperity in medieval Japan. Emphasis is given to an analysis of legal documents that demonstrate the resolution of conflicts and how they relate to the practices of Buddhism and Shintoism. Other topics include shrines and temples collecting taxes, the desire for material gain as a religious motivation, and tax evaders as heretics.

The article offers information on the relationship between the religion and physical and mental health in individuals in Japan. It is mentioned that Japan is a modern, democratic nation with strong economy and global political influence. The cultural and religious beliefs in Japan belongs to Shinto, Buddhists and folk rituals where religiosity predominates over theology and doctrines. According to researcher Satsuki Kawano, Japanese religious rites manifests embodiments of moral behavior and thoughts. It has been observed that in Japanese life satisfaction and happiness is directly associated with the religiousness.