Shinto & Japanese New Religions

The Religion, Scriptures, and Spirituality (Revised)

by Byron Earhart, Ben Kingsley (Narrator), Pat Childs (Producer)

The traditional religion known as Shinto was present in Japan from prehistoric times, long before Buddhism and other traditions arrived from the Asian continent. Shrine Shinto, centered around local shrines and seasonal festivals, has greatly influenced Japanese culture. Sect Shinto is characterized by more highly organized institutions, which attract many members; folk Shinto consists of beliefs and practices apart from these institutions, especially in the home. This presentation also discusses the dynamic new Japanese religions formed during the last century and a half. The Religion, Scriptures, and Spirituality series describes the beliefs, religious practices, and the spiritual and moral commitments of the world's great religious traditions. It also describes a religion's way of understanding scripture, identifies its outstanding thinkers, and discusses its attitude and relationship to society.

Genres: Religion, Nonfiction, History, Spirituality, Japan, Audiobook, Asia

Audio Cassette

First published September 15, 2006

Reviews

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

So I was browsing through audiobooks at the public library, looking for something about Japan that wasn't about the years surrounding WWII - BTW definitely not as easy as I thought it would be. Found this and saw that it features none other than Sir Ben Kingsley on the ones and twos. That gilded voice made me feel like I was learning about the way of the kami at a fancy-but-stuffy royal garden luncheon. The book itself was a bit of a slog at times, but it did present a wealth of information in an easily-accessible manner.

[Joshua · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting overview of the evolution of Japanese religious thought from the medieval period to the modern era.

[Silas · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good introduction to some basic concepts of Shinto, as well as how the relationships between different religious ideas are not conceived of as in conflict in Japan, and unlike some other books I have read on Shinto, it takes a greater look at the practice of Shinto as compared to its origins or mythic ideas, which are touched upon briefly. This book is somewhat short, so it doesn't go into a great deal of depth, but is still a good resource.

The latter half of the book touches upon some newer religious movements that bear some relation to Shinto, and contrasts that they often center upon one important founder like Western religions tend to do, but also includes some statements from members of those religions, rather than simply describing those religions, which I appreciate. This is much more of an introduction than an in-depth analysis, particularly since half of the book is dedicated to Shinto, and the other half devoted to several different new religions. Still, I found having the description of social norms of religion in Japan useful in understanding these new religions, so I think including both parts was worthwhile. If you are looking for intense theology or sociological analysis, keep searching, but this is a good starting step.

[Felipe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Informative, but I really wish they could have (a) gotten a narrator with a bit more ability re: the pronunciation of Japanese words (and/or just trained him better) and (b) less heavily emphasized the "stereotypical Japanese accents" on all of the Japanese readers. (It is entirely possible that those were all their natural accents, which... fine, but they were all nearly identical, and as someone who hears English from Japanese native speakers every day, I can tell you that that level of uniformity is dubious at best).

Also, wow, they got pretty positive / defensive about cults at the end there didn't they? (Not to mention never even mentioning the word cult, and conspicuously lacking any mention of Soka Gakkai's political arm...) I suppose they needed more info to fill the book, as Shinto is such a non-formalized religion, but... tone, guys.

[Loki · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this to be a rather interesting read, though I preferred the earlier parts of the book that focused more upon Shinto and Buddhism in Japan than the later half that was more about the new religions. Though that was interesting, it felt more broad.
I enjoyed Ben Kingsley's narration, as well as the various Japanese readers. There was a western man that I didn't particularly enjoy when he would narrate snippets, but that's not a terrible thing.
The main issue with the work is that it is rather brief for the subject matter, but it does provide an interesting overview.

[Rin · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5/5 stars.

I listened to the audio book. It's an interesting topic but the presentation was dry and bland; it was presented similarly to an essay or thesis defense. I found my attention wandering and I'm not sure if any of the information will stick in the long run.

[Alex Shrugged · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this history and summary of Japanese religions really helpful. I had always wondered about the symbols I've seen in anime and the idea of kami.

I'll very likely listen to this audiobook again.

[Outgribing · Rating 2 out of 5]

An extremely basic introduction with very little analysis offered. Probably helpful if you are very new to Japanese religion, but in that case I'm not sure how many readers want to get into depth about Shinto and a few new religions only.

[Ctny · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think you could just read the wikipedia page or surf the google results- not much extra here.

[AttackGirl · Rating 2 out of 5]

Why compare it to Christianity? Ugh small mind small world

[Justin Frick · Rating 3 out of 5]

High level, but interesting. Was hoping for a little more depth on Shinto, but the back half on the “new religions” of Japan was pretty interesting too.

[Darcy Conroy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Full of interesting information, this audio book makes for a good introduction to Japanese religions and spirituality. I was looking forward to hearing Kingsley narrate but, for some reason, he adopts a tone right out of a British war-time newsreel which, while amusing, highlights when the script occasionally oversimplifies topics (carefully explaining them in "Western" terms,) and the piece slips into the patronizing. Nevertheless, the information is clearly presented, aided by voices other than just "newsreel Ben" for quotes from other scholars etc...
A small warning for those who are not used to listening to Japanese speaking with a heavy "Katakana English" accent - a few of the Japanese readers might be a little difficult to understand.

[Gary Castaldo · Rating 4 out of 5]

The only negative comes from the Audio formatting. They used Japanese people with heavy accents for some of the reading. This made it difficult in some parts to understand. Otherwise it was very informative and I would recommend it to everyone.