Practically Religious : Worldly Benefits and the Common Religion of Japan

by Reader, Ian; Tanabe, George Joji

• ISBN13: 9780824820909
• ISBN10: 0824820908
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1998-11-01
• Publisher: Univ of Hawaii Pr

Summary

Praying for practical benefits (genze riyaku) is a common religious activity in Japan. Despite its widespread nature and the vast numbers of people who pray and purchase amulets and talismans for everything from traffic safety and education success to business prosperity and protection from disease, the practice has been virtually ignored in academic studies or relegated to the margins as a product of superstition or an aberration from the true dynamics of religion. Basing their work on a fusion of textual, ethnographic, historical, and contemporary studies, the authors of this volume demonstrate the fallacy of such views, showing that, far from being marginal, the concepts and practices surrounding genze riyaku lie at the very heart of the Japanese religious world.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	xi
Introduction	1	(7)
Buddhism and This-Worldly Benefits	8	(5)
Shito and Practical Benefits	13	(1)
Genze riyaku in Japanese Religion	14	(9)
A Common Religion	23	(9)
Overview of the Book	32	(5)
Benefits in the Religious System: Settings and Dynamics	37	(34)
Comprehensive Responses: Types and Extent of Practical Benefits	45	(5)
The Social Geography of Benefits: Benefits and Religious Identity	50	(3)
Changing Times and New Benefits	53	(7)
Practical Benefits, Religious Institutions, and Ritual Processes: The Case of Kawasaki Daishi	60	(8)
Individual Wishes and Social Requests	68	(3)
Scripture and Benefits	71	(36)
This-Worldly Promises: The Lotus Sutra	73	(4)
Benefits in Early Buddhist Teachings	77	(3)
Benefits as Divine Blessings: The Flower Garland Sutra	80	(2)
Benefits as Windfall: Fujii Masao	82	(2)
Benefits as Objectives: Iijima Yoshiharu	84	(3)
Benefits as Concession and Mystery: Ocho Enichi	87	(2)
Benefits as Folk Syncretism: Tsuruoka Shizuo	89	(5)
Postmodern Jodo Shin Catholicism: Sasaki Shoten	94	(3)
Enculturation through Coexistence: Nara Yasuki	97	(3)
Sutra Buddhism as Folk Religion	100	(2)
Kubosa: Bourgeois Benefits in Shinto	102	(5)
Buying Out Chance: Morality, Belief, and Prayer	107	(33)
Good Luck (koun) and Moral Luck (kaiun)	108	(7)
Material Spirituality	115	(5)
Social Welfare and Repayment of Gratitude	120	(3)
Materialism, Selfishness, and Prayers for All	123	(3)
Belief and Disbelief in Magic	126	(10)
Prayer and Purchase	136	(4)
The Providers of Benefits: Gods, Saints, and Wizards	140	(38)
Personalization and Purchase	143	(3)
Ninomiya's Pill and the Gathering of Gods and Buddhas	146	(9)
Intensifying Assimilation: The Impact of Meiji Disestablishment	155	(1)
The Seven Gods of Good Fortune	156	(7)
The Place of the Gods	163	(3)
The Benefits of a Saint: Kobo Daishi	166	(4)
Wizards	170	(6)
The Diverse Gathering	176	(2)
The Dynamics of Practice	178	(28)
The Open Display of Desire	181	(1)
Purchase, Practice, and the Price of Benefits	182	(6)
The Importance of Plurality	188	(2)
Rituals, Intimacy, and the Role of Priests	190	(2)
Actions, Amulets, and Obligations	192	(3)
Return and Renewal: The Cycle of Purchase and Gratitude	195	(2)
Leaving Messages: The Use of Votive Tablets	197	(2)
Pilgrimage and the Pursuit of Benefits	199	(2)
Social Organizations and the Pursuit of Benefits: Ko and Kaisha	201	(3)
The Dynamics of Practice	204	(2)
Selling Benefits: The Marketing of Efficacy and Truth	206	(28)
Creating a Religious Department Store	206	(3)
Marketing Reputation through Stories	209	(3)
Advertising through Events, Festivals, and Rituals	212	(3)
Contemporary Media	215	(2)
New Technologies: Selling Benefits by Fax and Internet	217	(5)
Material Goods: Wholesale Suppliers	222	(3)
Competition and Survival	225	(4)
Marketing Truth	229	(2)
Stagnation and Vibrancy	231	(3)
Guidebooks to Practical Benefits	234	(22)
A Nineteenth-Century Example	235	(4)
Contemporary Guidebooks	239	(3)
Guidebooks and the Reporting of Miracles	242	(3)
Unusual Benefits: The Example of the Nippon zenkoku goriyaku gaido	245	(2)
Common Religion in a Modern City: Tokyo goriyaku sanpo	247	(6)
The Religious Landscape	253	(3)
Conclusions	256	(7)
Notes	263	(22)
Bibliography	285	(14)
Index	299