Tradition and modernity in the new religious movements of Japan

要旨

Two facts about the new religious movements (shinko shukyo)1 in modern Japan are indisputable. One is that since the mid nineteenth century vast and far-reaching changes have taken place in practically every sphere of Japanese life. O n the sur face, at least, very few things in contemporary Japan appear to be what they were before the Meiji Restoration of 1868. This is trueno doubt, of almost any country in the world, but the rate of change in Japan and the contrast with the apparent strong bias against change in the preceding 350-year Tokugawa period place Japan in a unique position with regard to rapid social change.

主題