On Being Nonreligious in Contemporary Japan - by Ian Reader & Clark Chilson (Hardcover)

About the Book

The book shows how negativity and antipathy for religion relate to religious decline in Japan today.

Book Synopsis

Challenging the notion of the nonreligious in Japan being religious through tradition and institution, this book demonstrates how negativity and antipathy for religion relate to religious decline in Japan today. Why do most Japanese say they are 'nonreligious' (mushukyo)? Since the 1990s, scholars have answered this key question for understanding religion in contemporary Japan as follows: although the Japanese say they are nonreligious because they do not identify with a particular religious tradition or institution, they are in fact religious through their traditional practices; New Year's visits to shinto Shrines, Buddhist mortuary rites and festivals (matsuri) are typically seen as customs rather than as religious.

Challenging this answer, this book argues that many Japanese say they are nonreligious because they actually dislike religion and want to distance themselves from it. To support this argument, the book explores how religion is in decline in Japan today. Demonstrating how negative images of religion are produced in the mainstream media, in popular culture, and by various groups and people, this book also explores specific case studies such as anti-cult organizations, lawyers, government agencies, intellectuals, and religious organizations.

Ian Reader and Clark Chilson argue that popular negative images and perceptions about religion create an 'ecology of dislike', which encourages disassociation from religion and exacerbates problems for religions today. Overall, this book provides a new perspective on religion in contemporary Japan that has implications for our understanding of secularization in the modern world.

Review Quotes

'Religion is in a precarious situation in contemporary Japan. Temples and shrines are closing, religious engagement is declining (even within new religious movements), the 'spiritual boom' appears to over, and 'religion' has increasingly become part of a negative narrative. In this book, Ian Reader and Clark Chilson provide a compelling analysis of the field of 'being nonreligious', offering insightful observations and critical discussions. Highly recommended for all students and scholars of religion in Japan!'
Jørn Borup, Aarhus University, Denmark

'This book is a timely treatment of why the majority of Japanese today identify themselves as mushukyo (nonreligious). In parsing this term, the authors' examine the role of mass media and popular culture in shaping the negative perception of religion as something dangerous (abunai), which helps us understand the well-documented patterns of disaffiliation and institutional decline.'
Mark Mullins, University of Auckland, New Zealand

'This book offers a masterful survey of the decline of religion in contemporary Japan. What does it really mean when Japanese say they are not religious? Reader and Chilson brilliantly argue that the hostility toward what many Japanese perceive to be toxic religions is a major factor behind increasing secularization and the rise of religious 'nones' in Japan.'
Mark MacWilliams, St Lawrence University, USA

About the Author

Ian Reader is Professor Emeritus at the University of Manchester, UK. He has written and taught widely on religion, especially in Japan. His books include Religion and Tourism in Japan (Bloomsbury, 2023) and Dynamism and the Ageing of a Japanese 'New' Religion (Bloomsbury, 2019)

Clark Chilson is Associate Professor in Religious Studies at the University of Pittsburgh, USA and is author of Secrecy's Power: Covert Shin Buddhists in Japan and Contradictions of Concealment (2014). He has written numerous articles on religion and on non-religious spiritual care in Japan.