July–August 2005, Volume 32
Women in Contemporary Japanese Religion and Society
Essays
Women as Shamans, Religious Founders, and Feminists
by Susumu Shimazono
Susumu Shimazono is a professor in the Department of Religious Studies of the University of Tokyo. His special fields are the comparative study of religious movements and the history of religion in modern Japan. He has also taught as a guest professor at universities in the United States, France, and Germany. His recent publications include “Iyasu chi” no keifu (The Genealogy of “Healing Wisdom”) and Posutomodan no shin shukyo (Postmodern New Religions).
In the Palace of the Dragon King
by Christal Whelan
The exception to the rule of institutional exclusion of women in Japanese religion seems to be the new religious movements, this scholar says, where some women managed to actualize their visions of a more inclusive world.
Japanese Women and Religion
by Fumiko Nomura
A teacher at a women’s university believes that the simplicity of her young students–a quality that goes beyond unaffectedness or earnestness–is what should truly be called “spiritual.”
The Latent Religiosity of the Japanese
by Emiko Namihira
There are many who have awakened to the fact that people cannot be fulfilled through living for themselves alone but are fulfilled by helping other beings.
Japan’s Mountain Gods
by Jun’ichiro Ishikawa
The Japanese have dwelled in fields and mountains since ancient times. Because the fields and mountains provide the necessities of daily life, people have long worshiped mountain gods as the local guardian deities.
Niwano Peace Prize
Toward a Global Ethic
by Hans Kung
The 22nd Niwano Peace Prize was awarded to the Roman Catholic theologian Dr. Hans Kung, president of the Global Ethic Foundation in Germany and Switzerland. Together with his contributions to interfaith dialogue and cooperation, Dr. Kung’s advocacy of a “Global Ethic” as a way of realizing world peace has won him recognition around the world. The prize was presented in Tokyo on May 11.
Reflections
Living by the Precepts
by Nichiko Niwano
Buddhists have the Six Perfections and observance of the five precepts as the standards of daily life. We are taught to live by the Buddha’s precepts. Why is keeping those precepts important?
The Tranquil Realm of Nirvana
by Nikkyo Niwano
The Stories of the Lotus Sutra
The Bodhisattva Never Disrespectful
by Gene Reeves
It is significant that this bodhisattva tells everyone he meets, including those who are arrogant, angry, disrespectful, and mean-spirited, that they are bodhisattvas.
Conference Report
The 19th IAHR World Congress Discusses the Role of Religion in Issues of Conflict and Peace
by Gaynor Sekimori
Essay
A Leadership of Openness and Interreligious Dialogue: A Visit with His Holiness Pope John Paul II
by Ignacy-Marek Kaminski
In the author’s student days in Krakow, Poland, the young Cardinal Karol Wojtyla, the future Pope John Paul II, served as a spiritual counselor. Professor Kaminski, now a permanent resident of Japan, met the ailing pope in his Vatican apartment in January, with his two Eurasian children. He believes that the late pope’s legacy of open leadership and interreligious dialogue will long live in people’s hearts.
Gotama Buddha (73)
The Beginnings of Deification (1)
by Hajime Nakamura
In outward form, Sakyamuni was no different from other bhikkus. Later depictions of him with beautiful hair and a halo, surrounded by disciples, were errors in terms of historical truth.
