Religion and Social Crisis in Japan Understanding Japanese Society through the Aum Affair

by Kisala, Robert J.; Mullins, Mark R.

• ISBN13: 9780333772690
• ISBN10: 0333772695
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2001-08-11
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Summary

At the time Aum Shinrikyotilde; emerged, most Japanese assumed that they lived in one of the most well-ordered of societies, a model that had much to offer the chaotic Western world. This assumption was shaken on March 20, 1995 when the deadly nerve gas sarin was released on the Tokyo subway system. Since that incident, the "Aum Affai" has had widespread repercussions and shaken the Japanese psyche in a serious way. This volume provides a window onto contemporary Japanese society by considering the various reactions and responses to this crisis precipitated by this deviant religious movement.

Author Biography

Robert J. Kisala is Associate Professor and Permanent Fellow at the Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture, Nanzan University, Japan.

Mark R. Mullins is Professor of the Sociology of Religion and Christian Studies in the Faculty of Sociology, Meiji Gakuin University, Japan.

Table of Contents

Preface	vii
Notes on Contributors	ix
Introduction	1	(18)
Robert J. Kisala
Mark R. Mullins
The Evolution of Aum Shinrikyo as a Religious Movement	19	(34)
Shimazono Susumu
The Reaction of the Police and Security Authorities to Aum Shinrikyo	53	(18)
Christopher W. Hughes
The Legal and Political Fallout of the ``Aum Affair''	71	(16)
Mark R. Mullins
Opposition to Aum and the Rise of the ``Anti-Cult'' Movement in Japan	87	(20)
Watanabe Manabu
Religious Responses to the ``Aum Affair''	107	(26)
Robert J. Kisala
Aum and the Media: Lost in the Cosmos and the Need to Know	133	(30)
Richard A. Gardner
Back to Invented Tradition: A Nativist Response to a National Crisis	163	(16)
Matsudo Yukio
When Prophecy Fails: The Response of Aum Members to the Crisis	179	(32)
Maekawa Michiko
General Bibliography	211	(14)
Index	225