Nanzan Guide to Japanese Religions

by Paul L. Swanson (Editor), Clark Chilson (Editor)

For updates online, visit the Nanzan Guide site at Nanzan Library of Asian Religion and Culture.

The Nanzan Guide to Japanese Religions combines, for the first time in any language, state-of-the-field theoretical and critical discussions with concrete resources students and scholars need to conduct research on Japanese religions. Even seasoned scholars typically approach their research in an unsystematic manner, becoming familiar with a particular area of inquiry while remaining largely unaware of what exists in the rest of the field. This inefficient method hinders particularly less-experienced researchers and circumscribes their lines of inquiry. The Nanzan Guide provides both beginners and specialists with a reference that will serve as a basic introduction to Japanese religions and allow them to conduct research more proficiently and in greater depth.

Overlapping and thought-provoking chapters, written by leading specialists, offer a variety of perspectives on the complicated and multifaceted field of Japanese religions. The essays are divided into four religious traditions (Japanese religions in general, Shinto, Buddhism, folk religion, new religions, Christianity); the history of Japanese religions (ancient, classical, medieval, early modern, modern, contemporary); major themes (symbolism, ritual and the arts, literature and scripture, state and religion, geography and environment, intellectual history, gender); and "practical" essays (finding references and using libraries, working with archive collections, conducting fieldwork). A chronology of religion in Japanese history is also provided.

Genres: Japan, Japanese Literature

478 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2005

Reviews

[Angel 一匹狼]

So, the cover is very nice. But this book is basically a list of authors quoting themselves and each other without much depth or interest. If you are trying to learn about Japanese Religions, little will you find here. And if you are trying to find information for research (without taking into account that it is dated), it is an unnecessary four hundred pages of repetition and pointlessness. A twenty pages long list would have been more than enough if what you want is to create a reference list, because you will learn (almost) nothing (that "broad outlines of Japanese religious traditions" quote on the flap copy....where is it?). And the last part, research about research about research is hilarious, with a list of words like CD-Rom, mouse, modem (in English and Japanese... is this for research students of Japanese religions?, won't they know what a modem is, and the word in Japanese? (it is 2006!), and why is it a "commonly used library term"?), and search engine: Yahoo! Japan, Google!!!, Amazon!!!

Next time, write something that has a purpose.

3.5/10

(English; original)

[hoffnarr]

Very useful bibliographies and overview of the literature, if somewhat dated now.

[Jessica Zu]

good reference book ... maybe also good for teaching, i.e. taking excerpts and read them out to students :)

re-reading ... for general exams

[Ceef]

This book is an invaluable overview of the state-of-the-art in studies of Japanese religion.