Centre for the Study of. Japanese religions. CSJR Newsletter. January 2004 Issue 9

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1 Centre for the Study of Japanese religions CSJR Newsletter January 2004 Issue 9

2 In this issue 2 From the Centre Chair Centre Activities 3 CSJR Seminar Schedule Japanese Religions Forum 4 Cult of the Stars in Japanese Religious Practices 5 Numata Lecture Series 6 CSJR Post Doctoral Fellowship Book Reviews 9 Shinto- A Short History Conferences 10 EAJS Conference in Warsaw Post Graduate 10 MA Japanese Religions 11 A Case Study of Buddhist Priests in Japan 12 Chinese Intellectual s Reconstruction of Confucianism 12 CSJR Research Studentship Japanese Religions and Popular Culture 14 Feature: Year of the Monkey From the Centre chair A Happy New Year to everybody! London is quiet and gloomy in this beginning of 2004, while in Japan it is the usual hectic time around shrines and temples, with people of all ages paying their first respects to kami and buddhas. Last term passed quickly as always, with new students arriving and the old one completing their degrees. The Numata Lectures given by Prof. Matsuo Kenji of Yamagata University, which the Centre co-sponsored, were quite successful in gathering a large audience of interested auditors from different backgrounds, making the discussion, in particular, very alive. Our warmest thanks to Prof. Matsuo for coming to London and share his knowledge with us. In the next pages you will find a report on the lectures and a note from Prof. Matsuo himself on his experience in London. In the spring term we will resume our usual seminar series, with a promising range of lectures by international speakers on different aspects of Japanese religiosity. I hope to see many of you in the audience! We also announce the forthcoming CSJR workshop organized by Meri Arichi on the Cult of stars in Japanese religious practice. On the post-graduate research side, the Japanese Religion Forum, the venue for PhD students presentations, has reopened, too. This issue of the newsletter carries a dedicated section to introduce post-graduate research in Japanese religions at SOAS and beyond. In keeping with the aim of the CSJR to function as a centre for scholars of Japanese Religion in UK, its membership is open to students outside SOAS, and we welcome Mitsu Horii, who is doing his postgraduate work at the University of Canterbury in Kent, and Anja Andreeva from the University of Cambridge. Both have already taken active part in our activities and we look forward to the results of their research. Finally, as always with the winter issue, we include the titles of the dissertations presented this year for the Masters programme in Japanese Religions, which the Centre sponsors. Well done! As previously announced, with this issue we also start a new information section dedicated to publications and conferences related to Japanese religions. Tim Fitzgerald reviews A Short History of Shinto, and Anja Andreeva reports on the section on Japanese religion of the European Association of Japanese Studies conference. Finally, I would like to draw your attention to two positions offered by the Centre: a postgraduate studentship for students interested in pursuing a PhD in Japanese religions at SOAS from September 2004, and a one-year postdoctoral fellowship, also teneable at SOAS from September We shall be grateful if you could circulate these notices with interested students and scholars. We look forward to an exciting new year. This is the Year of the Monkey, as we are reminded in the feature article that concludes this newsletter is certainly going to be a very active year for all of us at the CSJR. Lucia Dolce 2 Front Cover: New Year s celebrations in Japan. Oshôgatsu is the time when people flock to temples and shrines to pray for a prosperous and healthy year. Ise shrine is one of the most popular destinations for thousands of Japanese, both young and old. The cover features believers receiving a purificatory blessing (oharae) before making their offerings to the gods. Offerings for the new year usually consist of kagami mochi (two flat, round mochi placed one on top of the other) and pine branches, auspicious for longevity (left). People also engage in neighbourhood pilgrimages to a series of temples where the seven gods of good fortune (shichifukujin) are worshiped. From January 1st the icons of these gods are unveiled to the public for a few days and worshippers queue to receive a stamp from each of the seven temples as evidence to their pilgrimage (cover). All photographs by Lucia Dolce

3 Centre Activities CSJR Seminars SOAS, Thornhaugh Street Russell Square, WC1H OXG 5.00pm-6:30pm Room G3 22 January The Medieval Origins of Shinto Mark Teeuwen, University of Oslo 29 January The Worship of Confucius in Early Modern Japan James McMullen, Pembroke College 5 February Samurai Spirituality in the Tokugawa Period- The Raison d etre of the Warrior in Times of Peace Reiko Tanimura, CSJR Research Associate 26 February Hie-Sannô Mandara: The Iconography of Kami Meri Arichi, SOAS 11 March Moving Towards Academia: The Transformation of Buddhist Learning Institutions in Modern Japan Silvio Vita, Italian School of East Asian Studies, Kyoto 29 April Nara Buddhism Masatsugu Hongo, Ritsumeikan University 13 May Reactions of Nasake: Wu Wei in pre-edo Japanese Narratives Lone Takeuchi, Independent Scholar ALL WELCOME For further information please contact the convenor Lucia Dolce (ld16@soas.ac.uk) (020) Japanese Religions Forum The Forum, convened once a month in term time, brings together post-graduate students, MA and PhD, working on Japanese religions from all academic departments at SOAS. The Forum aims to encourage a multidisciplinary approach to the study of Japanese religions. Time: 5:00-6:30 pm Place: Room G3 15 January Philip Swift, SOAS Turning towards God (kamimuki): practice, belief, and conversion in Japanese New Religions 19 February Tullio Lobetti, SOAS Finding a home for the noble souls: The problem of Yasukuni jinja and the post-war Japanese constitution 18 March Marc Buijnsters, Leiden University Myôe and the Problem of Orthodoxy in the View on Mappô 6 May Carla Tronu Montane, SOAS Christianity in Early Modern Japan 3

4 Centre Activities The Cult of Stars in Japanese Religious Practices CSJR Workshop September 2004 (to be confirmed) evince the popularity of the cults. The study of visual and textual sources related to the cult of stars has so far not attracted the attention it deserves, especially in Western languages. The symposium aims to provide an international and interdisciplinary forum for the study of religious practices related to constellations and planets throughout Japanese history, and to encourage further research on this fascinating topic. For registration and further information, please contact the Project co-ordinator, Dr. Meri Arichi (CSJR Post-doctoral Fellow) on Venue: SOAS, University of London The religious significance of constellations and planets in pre-modern Japan is evident in a rich variety of visual representations and textual references. The theory of zodiac from the Hellenistic origin and the knowledge of twenty-eight constellations from Indian and Chinese astronomy were transmitted to Japan in the ninth century by the Esoteric Buddhist monks who consequently contributed to the dissemination of Esoteric scripture on astronomy, Sukuyo-kyo, and encouraged the formation of the cult of stars in medieval Japan. The example such as the twelfth century Star Mandala in the Horyu-ji temple, Nara, depicts Sakyamuni Buddha of the Golden Wheel surrounded by the personified images of the seven stars of the Ursa Major (Great Bear), the nine planetoids, the twenty-eight constellations, and the twelve signs of zodiac. Icons of these were created for the Esoteric rites focused on stars which were frequently performed both in Tendai and Shingon temples to protect individuals or the country, or to eliminate the negative forces in the world. The combinatory nature of the Japanese religious tradition has attracted many studies on the honji-suijaku theory and its related practices in recent years, but the combination was not only between Buddhism and the kami worship tradition. A complex fusion of astrology, astronomy, yin and yang principles, geomancy, calendar making and divination exerted a strong influence on Buddhist practices as well as on the lives of people. The religious beliefs focused on individual stars such as Daishogun, the personification of the planet Venus, or Myoken, the Polar Star deity, flourished in pre-modern Japan, and the surviving visual representations of these deities 4

5 Centre Activities Members Activities and Publications Meri Arichi Translation of Professor Whitfield s essay on the Dunhuang fragments in the British Museum Ars Buddhica no.271, November John Breen Meiji tenno no Ise sangu: sono sozosei to hakaisei in Shinto kokusai gakkai ed., Ise jingu to koshitsu, Tokyo: Tachibana shuppan, Brian Bocking Study of Religions: the New Queen of the Sciences? BASR (British Association for the Study of Religions) Occasional Paper series, published by BASR, c/o Dept of Religious Studies, University of Leeds, 2003 Also Published in: Steven Sutcliffe (ed) Ordering Religion: Empirical Studies, Ashgate Publishing, Forthcoming Lucia Dolce Lucia Dolce delivered a report on her research at the meeting of the Canon Foundation in Europe, Bruges, November 2003; will give a paper on Ritual and the Study of Japanese Religion in the panel Constituting Japanese Religion as an Object of Concern at the AAS convention, San Diego,California March 4-7. Publications: Nel nome del vero dharma: ortodossia, strategie di legittimazione e conflitti religiosi nel buddismo giapponese, in Verso l altro. Massimo Raveri, ed., Marsilio, 2003, pp (in press). Yukiko Nishimura Research at the photo archives of the Bukkyo Bijutsu shiryo senta (Centre of Buddhist Texts and Images) in Nara and also at the archives of the Tokyo National Museum. (October-December). Attended the conference of Nihon Bukkyo Sogo kenkyu gakkai (Association of General Studies of Japanese Buddhism), Waseda University, Tokyo, 14 December Centre Activities Review of the Numata Lectures October-December 2003 Anna Andreeva This year the Numata lecture series was delivered by Professor Matsuo Kenji (Yamagata University), a leading expert in Japanese medieval Buddhism, and the Bukkyô Dendô Kyôkai visiting scholar at SOAS. Ten lectures entitled The Characteristics of Buddhism in Medieval Japan and a seminar on Reading and Interpretation of Chomonshû, a collection of sermons by the Ritsu monk Eizon ( ) attracted a broad audience and were a great success. The event took place under the auspices of the Centre for the Study of Japanese Religions (Chair: Dr. Lucia Dolce) and the SOAS Centre of Buddhist Studies (Director: Dr. Tadeusz Skorupski). Those interested in Japanese Religions can hardly underestimate the importance of the doctrinal developments which took place during the Kamakura period ( ). However, the question of identifying and historically modelling Kamakura New Buddhism remains a tantalizing problem for scholars both in Japan and in the West. Most of the recent investigations of the topic take Kuroda Toshio s kenmitsu taisei theory as their cornerstone and treat it as the basis for their own argument. Matsuo Kenji s model is based on the paradigms of the official monks and reclusive monks in the religious establishments of the Kamakura period, kansô and tonseisô respectively. One could argue that the approach to medieval history based on such division of the priesthood might be overly simplistic, when one takes into consideration the overall landscape of Japanese religions during the 12th- 14th centuries. In fact, Professor Matsuo s view of medieval Buddhism provided a deep insight for those who question basic definitions. One should not be misled by the labelling old and new as the theory is of a firm historical gravity and a result of exhaustive research into the nature of activities propounded by medieval monastic leaders such as Eizon, Ninshô, Hônen, Shinran, Nichiren, Dôgen and Ippen. Matsuo Kenji presented a detailed description of the development of the so-called Kamakura New Buddhism. He maintained that the growth of medieval towns was a catalyst for the emergence of a new category, which he defines as troubled individual. The new social groups of believers, comprised of hinin. women, warriors and tradesmen, presented an untapped potential for expansion of the new teachings. The focal point was centred on the arrival of the religious reformists of the tonseisô priesthood, who, according to Matsuo, enabled themselves to break free from ritual defilement by performing the selfprofessed Dharma, anointment and 5

6 abdicating from the realm of official establishments. The revival of the Vinaya precepts propagated by the Ritsu leaders Eizon and Ninshô, and corresponding traditions developed in other religious movements, for instance, Zen, proved to be another dimension for expanding the historical picture. Professor Matsuo suggested that an explanation of the economical background of the religious developments in the Kamakura period might be found in the phenomena of religious fund-raising or kanjin campaigns. The salvation of hinin, the deceased, and women, and funerals conducted by the Ritsu priesthood were issues which never failed to draw the attention of the audience. Professor Matsuo ascribed the main argument, in favour of the rising Kamakura New Buddhism, to the liberation of the reclusive monks from the tenets of ritual defilement. This propelled them to positions of power which enabled them to deliver their teachings to the new audience previously ignored by the official establishment. The interpretation of some historical facts by Professor Matsuo provoked discussion and many queries from the audience. The later involvement of the Ritsu leaders with the secular power structures expectedly raised the suspicion that the actual historical evidence might possibly go beyond the conventional perception of Eizon and Ninshô as Mother Theresas of the medieval world. The esoteric initiations of nuns at the official ordination platforms offered another fascinating chance for debate. One can say it is only to the good that such problems were mentioned, and that further investigations will undoubtedly contribute to the overall advance of the field. The seminars held by Professor Matsuo after the lectures presented an opportunity for all the attendants of the Numata series to enquire deeply into the realm of the propagation of the Buddhist thought in the Kamakura period. The Chomonshû, a collection of Eizon s sermons compiled by his follower Kyoe, is a document which vividly reflects the quest for salvation of the population, regardless of social status, commenced by Buddhist monks in the early medieval era. The complexity of the language of this source was certainly a challenge for the students, but the detailed explanations of the lector assisted a better understanding of specific words and definitions. It was a pity that due to the lack of time the translation of the text remained unfinished. Special thanks go to the audience who devotedly attended the lectures and seminars, and did not miss the slightest chance to improve their knowledge of the topic. Extraordinary is the fact the this year s Numata lectures attracted not only students and scholars of Japanese Religions, but also those with a deep interest in Buddhist Art, Indian philosophy, and contemporary Japanese history. The thoughtful remarks and parallels drawn by the representatives of the Theravada tradition of Buddhism and the Anglican Church, respectively, only contributed to a uniqueness of the topic. Bearing in mind the many benefits received by all the participants during the Numata series, once again I would like to thank Professor Matsuo for delivering his lectures, his broad knowledge, and his endless patience in answering CSJR Post-doctoral fellowship in Japanese religions, The SOAS Centre for the study of Japanese religions invites applications for the one-year CSJR Postdoctoral fellowship in Japanese religions (any area) to be held at SOAS from September The main purpose of the fellowship is to enable the holder to bring his/her recently completed PhD thesis to publication during the year at SOAS. Whilst at SOAS, the CSJR Fellow will be expected to contribute some teaching on Japanese religion within existing courses, depending on his/her research field, and to take part in the Centre s activities, including the CSJR seminars and fora. In addition, s/he will be expected to organise a workshop/symposium in his/her speciality. Financial and administrative support will be available to this end. The Fellow will have access to appropriate study facilities and will be a member of the Senior Common room and a full member of the SOAS library. The fellow s annual stipend will be 23,259 (including London weighting). Applications consist of a curriculum vitae and a list of publications, an abstract/ summary of the applicant s doctoral thesis, a clear statement of the candidate s academic plans for the postdoctoral year (including a proposal for the workshop) and the names of three referees. Five copies of these documents together with a covering note should be sent to Human Resources Department, SOAS, Russell Square, London, WC1H 0XG. The closing date for applications is Friday 5 March Interviews will be held on April For informal inquiries, please contact Dr. Lucia Dolce, Chair, Centre for the study of Japanese religions, SOAS, Russell Square, London, WC1H 0XG. ld16@soas.ac.uk 6

7 questions. Congratulations go to the hosts of the lectures, the Centre for the Study of Japanese Religions, and the Centre of Buddhist Studies at SOAS. This year the series was indeed a great contribution to the study of Japanese Religions here in Europe. I do not doubt that many students who attended Professor Matsuo s lectures and seminars will incorporate their knowledge in advancing their respective fields of research. Anna Andreeva is a PhD candidate at the University of Cambridge. Her research is concentrated on the activities of the Ritsu lineage in the Kamakura period, and on one of the examples of medieval kami worship, Miwa Shinto. Centre Activities Reflection Upon a Difficult But Enjoyable Task Kenji Matsuo I came to SOAS to give a series of ten lectures and seminars, entitled The Medieval City and the Formation of Japanese Buddhism. In my seminars, my students and I translated into English The Chomonshu (the collections of Eizon s sermons). Today I finished my last lecture. I feel indeed that the time has flown like an arrow. Just when I find that I am getting used to giving lectures in English, the day of the last lecture has come. So, I feel a little sad and I will miss giving the lectures. Before giving these lectures, I had very little confidence that I would complete my task. Every time I finished a lecture, I regretted not being able to explain more in proper English. Contrary to my expectations, there were large audiences at my lectures and lots of questions during the question and answer sessions. And I was very surprised that the questions were extremely good and hit the nail on the head. I think that this is because students at SOAS are very intelligent and well educated. Anyway, now I am greatly relieved that I managed to finish my task. I thought that as one of the Japanese academics, specializing in Japanese Buddhist studies, it would be very exciting for me to give lectures to a non- Japanese audience about Japanese Buddhism in English. But, actually, it was very difficult and stressful for me to give lectures in English. Every time I gave a lecture, I was afraid that the audience might flee. But, to my happiness, quite a large audience came to listen to my lectures. Although I was so busy preparing my lectures and seminars that I had to work even on Saturdays and Sundays, I would very much thank the audience, the conveners Dr. Skorupski, and Dr. Lucia Dolce, and also Dr. John Breen for supporting me. Thank you very much indeed. Bookreview Shinto - A Short History Inoue Nobutaka (ed.), Ito Satoshi, Endo Jun and Mori Mizue, Shinto - A Short History, London and New York: Routledge Curzon, 2003, pp 223, ISBN (hbk); (pbk). This is the English translation of a book first published by Shin yosha in Japanese in 1998 and written by four outstanding Japanese academics. It contains a translators introduction; an introduction by the distinguished sociologist of religion Inoue Nobutaka entitled What is Shinto? and 4 substantial historiographical essays on Shinto divided into historical periods. The first is the Ancient and classical Japan: the dawn of Shinto by Mori Mizue; the second The medieval period: the kami merge with Buddhism by Ito Satoshi; the third The early modern period: in search of Shinto identity by Endo Jun; and the fourth by the editor, Inoue Nobutaka on The modern age: Shinto confronts modernity. At the end of the book there is a useful section of suggested further reading in both English and Japanese divided into different categories, either a general category of books or alternatively a list for a specific historical period. There are also 16 pages of index, which increases its usefulness as a reference work. These sensible features go some way to backing the claim on the back cover that the book does not pre-suppose prior knowledge of Japanese religion, and is easily accessible for those new to the subject. However, it should also be said that these erudite Japanese historians have put a lot of data in their articles, and the book would not be light reading for many people. But still, it contains a wealth of knowledge and interest, and would stand as a handy and reliable source of information data for lecturers and students. The translators Mark Teeuwen and John Breen have established for themselves a deserved reputation not only as translators but also as distinguished historians in their own right. Recently they published an outstanding volume of essays by different contributors, Japanese and non- Japanese, Shinto in History: Ways of the Kami (University of Hawaii Press, 2000). In their translator s introduction to both volumes the editors raise the problem of the identity of Shinto and point to the dislocation between a prevalent image of Shinto created by the Meiji Establishment for ideological nationalistic purposes, and what the vast majority of ordinary Japanese people do and think at shrines. Theoretically, Shinto A Short History is interesting for similarly trying to confront a widespread problem of reification in religious studies. Its central problematic is that its putative topic, Shinto, does not refer to anything clearly identifiable or not before the construction of shrine or state Shinto by the Meiji. This book challenges nationalist projections back into immemorial history of an unbroken indigenous system of 7

8 belief and practice called Shinto. Shinto is the elusive, discontinuous ghost image of Kuroda s famous analysis, a ghost image of illusory continuity generated by the use of a single term to stand for multiple shifting formations of cultural institutions and practices over centuries of social change. Logically, therefore, it could be argued that the book should only be focused on a critical problematisation of the category, perhaps treating it as a myth or fiction generated by ideological forces, the Meiji emperor system being the major case in point. Yet though this book valuably sets the problem up, and is to be congratulated for that, it fails to make much in the way of theoretical gains. Indeed, it could be argued, only slightly unfairly, that this book is keeping the fiction alive in some way, and that a more critical treatment would have looked at its role in the modern academy, both Japanese and non- Japanese. For Shinto is the central topic of the book, flagged up in capital letters alongside the usual list of other reified religions. Even the titles set Shinto up as having a History, a Dawn, and a confrontation with Modernity. In the absence of a sense of irony, this does not easily sustain an image of Shinto as myth, a political fiction constructed during Meiji for the purpose of redefining power relations. For the authors in this book continue the tradition of using the term as a noun and as a descriptive and analytical category, and thus at the very moment that they question the term they modify but maintain its operation. The editor, Inoue Nobutaka, has written the Introduction What is Shinto? and the final essay on the modern period. In his introduction he explains why the term Shinto is so difficult to define. The only generalisation about Shinto that stands for all time is that it has always had something to do with shrines and kami (p1). Professor Inoue rightly questions the various categorisations of Shinto into shrine Shinto, sect Shinto, folk Shinto, and seems intent to radically deessentialise the concept of Shinto by making its meaning closely dependent on very specific historical contexts. Shinto, understood as shrine and kami-directed practices, flows into and mingles with the dominant institutions and practices of its day, and is hardly distinguishable as a separate identity. Shinto changes radically from one era to another and is thus discontinuous with what came before and what came after. The epistemological status of the term is thus radically challenged, and as a reader I found it difficult to see how the present theory improves on Kuroda s. The different historical contexts are defined by the four eras, and there seems to be a correspondence between each era and a different prevailing religious eco-system made up of individual religions (p3). One problem here seems to be that the essentialised idea of individual religions contradicts the intended deconstruction of them. It also isn t clear whether the eco-systems determine the eras, or the eras determine the eco-systems. For within each era there are radical changes occurring too. Even within the period designated Ancient and Classical Japan so effectively described by Mori Mizue, we are given a picture of quite fundamental changes in social order, cosmology and technology over a period of several centuries that were in part propelled by imported cultures from East Asia. In her essay (and this is generally true of all the essays) Professor Mori shows a succession of different historical contexts, different social formations, different economic systems, different technologies, changes in modes of oral or written transmission, periods of dependence on specialist immigrant clans, transformed conceptions of how power is legitimated, different ways of conceiving of lineage and descent, changed status for women as a result of changed ways of constructing gender, different relationships with foreign powers such as China, evolving concepts of kami which suggests a widely inclusive continuum and identity between the social and the divine, changes in shrine and temple organisation and their ritual specialists and kinds of rituals, and different ideological imperatives generally. The more the reader gets into the impressive historiographical detail, the less useful does the editor s interpretive structure seem. Since another upper-case entity Buddhism has (we are told) been a presence and influence in Japan for a long time, there has been a complex relationship historically between these two: Even if we were to use the term Early Shinto to refer to some archaic prototype of Shinto, we would find that such a distant ancestor of Shinto would already have been transformed in important ways by Chinese forms of Buddhism. (p2) Ito Satoshi, in his chapter on the medieval period, also emphasises the fragility of our categories when he says In spite of what many Shinto theologians have claimed, Shinto has not existed throughout Japanese history as some unchangeable religious bedrock supporting the structure of Japanese culture. (p68) But Buddhism too is problematic, for as Inoue says Buddhism in classical Japan was fundamentally distinct in character from modern Japanese Buddhism. (p3) Nor is the term Buddhism an especially stable term for Professor Ito, for Buddhism, too, has undergone such radical changes during its long presence in Japan that many have expressed doubts whether its Japanese forms can still be called Buddhism at all. (p.68) There are thus two different relativities, diachronic and synchronic. Diachronically speaking, we cannot assume a continuous identity through history for either Shinto or Japanese Buddhism or Japanese folk religion. Whatever is referred to as Shinto (or by implication Buddhism, Taoism, or Confucianism) in one era has only a very problematic relationship with whatever is described as Shinto in another. Synchronically, we cannot assume that Shinto, Japanese Buddhism, or folk religion can be clearly distinguished from each other. For example it is impossible to draw a line between folk religion and some fictional pure Shinto. (p2) We should think in terms of ecosystems (p4) for specific historical periods. In the eco-system at any given period we can identify an eclectic combination of elements from Shinto, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism and, more recently Christianity. A new era is marked by a new ecosystem determined by changes in the constituents, network and substance. The reader might get the feeling from such ideas that this will be a theoretically radical book, challenging these reified 8

9 entities in much the way that essentialised entities called religions are being widely challenged in other, non-japanese cases. There is now widespread questioning of our central categorial practice in religious studies, and the various reified constructions such as Shinto, Buddhism, Hinduism, Confucianism and Christianity that have been its fruits. Tension exists between the act of describing and analysing a religion and the realisation that such a category imposes an awkwardness and [perhaps unintended] substantialisation on the organisation of the data. We seem to move constantly between affirmation and denial of the existence of Shinto or the legitimacy of the idea. Interestingly enough, this problem seems to be mirrored in the late medieval idea of sankyoitchi translated as three creeds which Professor Endo then represents as Shinto, Confucianism and Buddhism (p.110). Though this doctrine was intended to assert the unity of the three creeds, by doing so it apparently has to separate them first into these uppercase entities, and then reunite them in the form of a trinity. So the very doctrine of sankyoitchi seems to imply that three religions organised around three separate creeds preexisted the appearance of Yoshida and Shirakawa Shinto in the early modern period. This process appears to undo all the assurances given that Shinto had not previously existed as a distinct and separate religion. Again, the doctrine of shinbutsu shugo seems to tacitly assert the conceptual distinction between Shinto and Buddhism at the same time that it proclaims their identity. There may be a different way of putting it that makes a difference. For one thing, shinbutsu shugo, translated literally, seems like a proclamation of the fusion or identity of kami and buddhas, which is a quite different nuance from a contemporary analytical claim about the fusion of Shinto and Buddhism thought of as religions. This reader wonders if the analysis should not instead be drawn in terms of a modern fiction or myth of religion and religions with its own ideological function in the contemporary academy. Somehow a critical analytical vocabulary is needed that side-steps the contradiction inherent in description that both de-essentialises the term and yet simultaneously uses language that sets it up. Of course, one of the functions of the historian is to show us the continuities, how different periods characterised by different hegemonic structures became transformed or partly transformed into different ones through time. The four historians do this with impressive detail, and as a source book for data it is a serious scholarly work. But the difficulty of writing a book about a subject whose identity is the central problematic remains, and will remain until more imaginative second order descriptive and analytical categories are developed. Reviewed by Dr Tim Fitzgerald, University of Sterling, Department of Religions Conferences Report on the EAJS Conference Warsaw, August 2003 Anna Andreeva The 10th International Conference of the European Association for Japanese Studies took place in Warsaw during August 27-30, More than 400 participants from Europe, the United States and Japan took part in this event. For three days thought-provoking papers were presented and the heated discussions ensued. The cultural program, arranged by the Organizing Committee, included a warm reception at the residence of the Japanese Ambassador, a performance of Chopin given by leading Polish pianists, and a post-conference trip to Krakow. The Conference was divided into eight sections, covering a range of areas from Japanese religion and arts, to anthropology and economics. The section on Religion and the History of Ideas proved to be exceptionally interesting. Its experimental motto, Concepts of Secrecy encouraged a number of scholars to present some outstanding research. Although only 5 papers out of twenty-two addressed the topic directly, it offered an opportunity for vivid discussions. Most of the papers delivered on the first day addressed the historical impact of Japanese Esoteric Buddhism (mikkyô) in the early and medieval periods. Martin Lehnert (Zurich University) presented a historical description of Buddhist Esotericism in Chinese Tang period Buddhism and his theoretical considerations on the hermeneutics of secrecy in that context. Robert Borgen (Davis University, California) gave a talk on the Japanese monk Jôjin and his account of a pilgrimage to China in Sergiy Kapranov (Kyiv, Ukraine), concentrating on the Ise monogatari zuinô, considered to what degree religious thought and esoteric religion influenced Japanese classical literature. The next session provided discussions about the concept of secrecy in the realm of kami worship. Bernard Faure (Stanford) addressed the issues of Shintô-Buddhist associations and veneration of the deities Shôten, Matarajin and Jûzenji. Marc Teeuwen (Oslo University) introduced his approach to the medieval collection of esoteric Shinto rituals, the Reikiki, as an example to illustrate how mikkyô ritualism manifested in kami worship. Christian Steineck (Bonn) questioned the perception of Dôgen s way of reasoning by indicating that Dôgen, too, had 9

10 used secret or esoteric forms of practice to communicate his religious teaching. Lucia Dolce (SOAS, University of London), presented a view on the process of the esoterization of the Lotus Sutra, one of the central texts of Japanese Tendai, which had traditionally been considered to be exoteric. Her paper provided an understanding of the dynamism of mikkyô as a category in the Heian and medieval periods. Fabio Rambelli (University of Sapporo) raised a vivid discussion by questioning the whole concept of secrecy in early and medieval Japanese religions. From the debate it was understood that the esoteric culture of early and medieval Japan invited a special way of communication that went beyond the language and rationality. The second day was dedicated to the Tokugawa period. Anne Walthall (Irvine University) illustrated the employment of secrecy by Tokugawa shoguns for exercising their power. The theme of politics was continued by Beatrice Bodart Bailey (Tokyo University) who discussed the relationship between shogunal ceremonies and political domination in the 17th century. Kate Wildman Nakai (Sophia University) gave a paper on the critique of secrecy in the writings of the late Mito scholars. Catharina Blomberg (Stockholm) and Ann Wehmeyer (Florida) addressed the culture of mysticism surrounding the samurai sword and the reconstruction of the so-called divine age script (jindai moji) by the Kokugaku scholars. Karine Maranjian (St. Petersburg) dealt with the Sanskrit Studies of Keichû. Bettina Gramlich Oka presented a portrait of an anti- Christian writer, Tadano Makuzu ( ). Dorothea Filus (Tokyo) gave a paper on kakure kirishitan (Hidden Christians) of the Nagasaki region. The day was rounded up by Andriy Nakorchevski (Tokyo University), who experimented with a twotyped conception of Japanese pilgrimage. The last two sessions on Day 3 were mainly related to contemporary religion and intellectual thought. Rosemarie Bernard (Waseda University) provided a vision of change of ancient ritualism at Ise Shrines, due to the impact of modern mass media. The paper of Monika Schrimpf (Tokyo University) was dedicated to a new religion, Shinnyoen. Ernst Lokowandt (Tôyô University, Tokyo) provoked a heated discussion with his approach to the complex matter of Shinto ethics. The last paper of the section was presented by Agnieszka Kozyra (Warsaw University) and addressed a typology of paradoxical judgments in Zen koans. CSJR member, Anna Schegoleva, presented a talk, in the Anthropology section, entitled Marketing the Ghosts: Personal experiences in Japanese contemporary ghost stories, in which she addressed the inter-influence of ghost story formation and the Japanese mass-media. The next EAJS Conference for Japanese Studies will be hosted in 2005 by the Department for East Asian Studies at the University of Vienna. It is especially scheduled a year earlier than usual in order to coincide with EU-Japan Year of People-to-People Exchanges which was designated in November 2002 by Japanese Prime Minister Jun ichiro Koizumi and EU President Kostas Simitis. Post Graduate The SOAS MA Programme in Japanese Religion is the first European taught graduate programme devoted to the study of Japanese religions. The degree provides an overview of Japanese religion, both past and present, and supplies the tools of analysis for further research in the field. The degree comprises four components: three taught courses and a dissertation and may be completed in one calendar year (full time), or in two or three calendar years (part-time). The programme centres around the course Religious Practice in Japan: Texts, Rituals and Believers. which presents religious phenomena in Japan in their historical context and devotes attention to specific themes relevant for the understanding of the social aspects of Japanese religion and the influence of religion upon Japanese culture. Students have the opportunity to select other courses, depending on their specific interests and previous knowledge, in order to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the characteristics of Japanese religion. Options include the study of Asian context, contemporary developments outside Japan, and methodologies for the analysis of religious phenomena. Please note that two new courses directly related to Japanese religions have been recently created for the programme: East Asia Buddhist Thought is a thematic course which every year explores one major form of Japanese Buddhism, studying its specific doctrinal tenets, textual corpus and characteristic forms of worship, and the influence that it exerted on the culture Japan; Directed Readings in Japanese Religions is a guided independent research project which enables students to conduct an in-depth study of one specific topic in Japanese religions. A previous knowledge of the Japanese language is not required for entry in the programme. However, students with a sufficient knowledge of Japanese and an interest in approaching primary sources will be able to take Readings in Japanese Religions. In addition, the degree offers language courses in modern Japanese. Students on the programme will benefit from seminars, discussion groups, guest lectures, and international workshops organized by the Centre for the study of Japanese religions. Application forms are available from the Faculty of Arts and Humanities, SOAS. For further information on the programme see the SOAS webpages or contact the Director of Studies, Dr. Lucia Dolce, Room 334, ext 4217, ld16@soas.ac.uk 10

11 Post Graduate MA Japanese Religions Dissertations Naomi Hilton Issues of Universalism and historical development in Byakko Shinko-kai Yoshiko Imaizumi The Interactive creation, negotiated development and reinvented tradition of Meiji Jingu Shrine Janet Klippenstein Deprivation, Survival, and Discipline: a critique of current approaches to the study of women in Japanese new religions and Mizuko Kuyo Kieko Obuse Exploring the Japaneseness in Japanese Christianity: how does Uchimura Kanzo use Bushido to promote Christianity? Carla Tronu Montane Christian marriage in premodern Japan: an assessment of the transformations in the Jesuit sources used to teach and administer the Sacrament of Matrimony to the Japanese in the late 16th and early 17th centuries Yumiko Matsuzawa Mitchell The role of healing in Japanese new religions Akemi Solloway An analysis of the seminal works on Bushido Karen Ward How was Nichiren able to transform mappo into a positive persepctive? Post Graduate PhD Research at SOAS on Japanese Religions Noriko Furukawa Arts and New Religions in Japan: The Fuji Museum (Dr. Dolce, Study of Religions) Usami Hirokuni Social crisis and religious change in pre-kamakura Japan (Dr. Breen, East Asia) Chi Ho Ivan Hon Japanese and Chinese intellectuals views on state and religion mid 19th- early 20th (Prof. Bocking, Study of religions) Yoshiko Imaizumi The Meiji jingu (Dr. Breen, East Asia) Yukiko Nishimura Worship of Avalokitesvara in Japan (Dr. Dolce, Study of Religions) Anna Schegoleva Ghosts in Japan: re-constructing horror in modernity (Prof. Bocking, Study of Religions) Philip Swift Ghosts and spirit possession in Japan s new religions (Dr. Martinez, Anthropology) Carla Tronu Montane A sociology of the Christian mission to Japan (Dr. Breen, East Asia) Post Graduate Research Projects Professionalisation and deprofessionalisation of Buddhist priests: A case study of Buddhist priests in contemporary Japanese society Mitsutoshi Horii This study explores the dynamics of professionalisation and deprofessionalisation in relation to Buddhist priests in contemporary Japanese society, by conducting a number of in-depth interviews with them. This is a study of religious professionals of a non-christian traditional religious institution in a non-western social context. However, there is broader sociological significance to this study than a mere application of social theory to a different cultural context. Sociological studies about the religious profession have been rarely done, and virtually no previous empirical sociological studies focus on institutional and ideological dynamics of religious specialists of traditional religious institution. In this study, I hypothesize that the professionalisation and deprofessionalisation of Buddhist priests are highly interrelated in a complex way. T here are two major impacts shaping these processes. One is secularisation and the other is the rise of the lay Buddhist movement. These elements simultaneously professionalise and deprofessionalise Buddhist priests in contemporary Japan at both the institutional and ideological levels. Thus a key question is how Buddhist priests themselves construct and reconstruct their own meanings and identities (as priests) in the context of the tensions between professionalisation and deprofessionalisation in contemporary Japanese society. First of all, the secularisation process in contemporary modern society has professionalised and deprofessionalised religious specialists in traditional religious institutions. In contemporary modern social systems such as Japan, Japanese Buddhist priests can be sociologically defined as a professional group. While they deal with Buddhist religious worship and ritual, they are also often directors and administrators of religious bodies. They can be classified as a profession along with other secular professions. Thus, Buddhist priests, as a profession, are highly integrated into the Japanese capitalist economy. For example, they play a liturgist role in exchange for monetary profits. It is a secular feature of Buddhist temples and priests that financial resource is necessary for temples to be run and priests, as both directors and administrators, are responsible for gaining these resources and for its book-keeping. At the same time, secularisation process of Japanese society has stripped Buddhist priests of many of their traditional social roles. In pre-modern Japan, they were administrators of the local population. Buddhist temples and priests used to have close links to the secular authorities such as the government. However, after the rise of the modern government in the early 19th century, secular 11

12 authorities took over Buddhist temples administrative roles to govern the population. In addition, by decriminalising clerical marriage and meat-eating, the modern Japanese state attempted to put Buddhist priests out of the public realm, and confined them into the sphere of religious affairs, which was defined as purely private. Secondly, the rise of lay Buddhist organisations in the postwar era has caused professionalisation and deprofessionalisation of Buddhist priests in a different level from that caused by secularisation. This is professionalisation and deprofessionalisation at an ideological level. A number of large lay Buddhist organisation have developed. These organisations usually hold their own groups of religious specialists, who are responsible for systematisation and preservation of teachings. They also have their own executives, bureaucrats, spokesmen, lawyers, etc. Seeing the rise of these new religious professionalisms, Buddhist priests try to differentiate themselves from lay Buddhist professionals as more authentically religious. To do so, priests tend to express their importance in the performance of Buddhist rituals for example, they are the only professionals who can deal with funerals. However, this kind of professionalisation, ironically, has been undermining priests legitimacy as religious leaders. Such a ritual oriented professional feature of Buddhist priests is often criticised as business-like rather than religious. Moreover, emergence and increasing popularity of funerals without the presence of Buddhist priests seems to have potential to deprofessionalise Buddhist priests from their liturgist roles. For example, so-called friends funerals have been promoted by the largest lay Buddhist organisation, Soka Gakkai. This has made a number of lay Buddhists able to avoid the notoriously expensive traditional Buddhist funerals. Furthermore, an ideological basis of Buddhist priests professionalism has been radically deconstructed. For example, in the aftermath of its schism in 1992 with Nichiren-shu priesthood, Soka Gakkai redefined the concept of priests and priesthood. For Soka Gakkai, priests are not a group of people in one way or another differentiated from the laity any more, but rather a way of life. It claims that anyone who strives for the sake of others happiness is a priest, and therefore the priesthood is an organisation of those people, namely Soka Gakkai. This kind of conceptualisation certainly undermines the religious legitimacy of Buddhist priests. Given this, this study will provide a rich and detailed sociological discussion on the tension between professionalisation and deprofessionalisation, as experienced by Japanese Buddhist priests. This study is based on qualitative data collected through a number of indepth interviews with individual Buddhist priests. Interviews were conducted in the initial fieldwork during July-Sep and during June-Sep Interview questions are designed to find out Buddhist priests understandings of their roles, especially given the pressures of secularisation and the challenge posed by lay Buddhists. By analysing the self-image of Buddhist priests, this study will show how they define and redefine themselves in relation to the professionalisation and deprofessionalisation dynamic in contemporary Japanese society. Mitsutoshi Horii is a PhD candidate at the University of Kent, School of Sociology and Social Research. He seeks to examine the dynamics in the occupational structure of the Buddhist priest in Japan, in relation to secularisation and the lay movement. CSJR Research studentships, 2004 Applications are now invited for the CSJR research studentship in Japanese religions to be held at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, from September The studentship is for training leading to a PhD in Japanese religions at SOAS. It will consist of a remittance of fees and a bursary of 9,350 per year in the first year of postgraduate study, and is renewable for up to a further two years, subject to satisfactory progress. The Studentship is open to outstanding students of Japanese religions regardless of nationality. Closing date for applications is March The selection will take place during April The CSJR studentship may be awarded to candidates proposing to register full-time for a research degree (MPhil/PhD) at SOAS in September 2004, and to those who enrolled full-time in September 2003 or after for a research degree at SOAS. Candidates must have applied for a research degree at SOAS by March 31, 2004 in order to be considered for the CSJR Research Studentship. Application forms and further particulars are available from: The Registrar, School of Oriental and African Studies, Thornaugh Street, Russell Square, London, WC1H 0XG. For informal inquiries, please contact Dr. Lucia Dolce, CSJR Chair, SOAS, Russell Square, London, WC1H 0XG, ld16@soas.ac.uk Further details on the CSJR and its activity may be found on the centre webpage: 12

13 Research Projects Chinese Intellectuals Reconstruction of Confucianism in the Late 19th and Early 20th Centuries Chi Ho Ivan Hon I am currently doing research on Chinese intellectuals attempts to reconstruct Confucianism in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries, taking into consideration how it was influenced by Japanese thinkers of that time period My research refers to their attempt to deconstruct traditional old Confucianism and construct a modern, new Confucianism by transforming the focus, orientation and application of Confucianism, as well as reformulating its content. This was linked with their attempt to preserve, protect, reform and strengthen Confucianism as well as to re-establish a meaningful continuity with tradition (of which Confucianism was a major component) in face of the rapid changes in China, and the challenge of western ideas and culture (e.g. Christianity) in that period. Since the three Chinese intellectuals in my research (Kang Yu-wei, Liang Chi-chao and Zhang Tai-yan) were also the leaders of the reform and revolutionary movements in this period, which aimed at strengthening China and transforming it into a modern nation, it was also linked with their attempt to promote reforms and revolution in China as well as to transform Confucianism into an ideology applicable for modern China. Although the research focuses on China, since Kang Yu-wei looked upon Meiji Japan as a model of reform, while Liang Chi-chao and Zhang Tai-yan were heavily influenced by the ideas of Japanese thinkers as well as Western ideas transmitted through them during their exile in Japan, Japanese thinkers and their ideas are frequently used as references in the research. The aim of my research is to find out how and why these three thinkers attempted to reconstruct Confucianism, how it was linked with their reformist and revolutionary activities, as well as how it influenced the cultural and intellectual development of China in the 20th Century. Although many previous studies had already been done on these three thinkers thoughts and political activities, my research differs and contributes in several ways. Firstly, it compares the three thinkers. Secondly, it examines the link between their reconstruction of Confucianism and their political activities. Thirdly, it explores the issue of the religiousness of Confucianism. Fourthly, I put Japan into the picture as point of comparison and reference. and adopt it as the guojiao of China. Since the notion of religion was introduced to China through Japan where there were similar debates on Shinto, religion and kokkyo in the late 19th century, I also examined Japanese interpretations and views on these issues for comparison and reference. Second, I examined their attempt to reconstruct the images of Confucius. I found that they had made three different representations of Confucius (religious, human and historic representation), which led to arguments on the true identity of Confucius (whether he was a deity, religious master or historical figure) as well as his religious and historical status. I also found that they all tried to use Confucius as a cultural symbol of China, which I suggested was part of their attempt to use Confucianism as a form of cultural nationalism. Third, I examined their attempt to reinterpret Confucian notions. I found that their arguments on the reinterpretation of Three Ages had turned into a dispute between Chinese reformers and revolutionaries on the political system of China in the early 20th Century. They had also challenged Chinese intellectuals notion of historical development, culture and race. Finally, I examined the impact of their reconstruction of Confucianism. I found that it had a direct impact on Chinese intellectuals critique of Confucius, Confucianism and Chinese tradition during the New Culture and May Fourth Movement as well as the emergence of New Confucianism. It had also indirectly contributed to the discourse on Confucianism s impact on modernisation and economic development as well as employing Confucianism as the national ethical system and content of moral education in the modern period. In the future, I would like to put this study in a larger context by comparing Kang, Liang and Zhang s views on religion and morality; culture and tradition; and nation and history with those of contemporary western thinkers. Chi Ho Ivan Hon is a PhD candidate in Japanese Religions at the University of London, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS). His main area of inquiry is Japanese and Chinese intellectuals views on state and religion in the mid 19th and early 20th centuries. The method I used for this research was to analyse the writings of these three thinkers in this period. I tried to examine their attempts to reconstruct Confucianism from three perspectives. First, I investigated their attempt to redefine, reposition and re-evaluate Confucianism as a school of thought. This investigation led to the analysis of their arguments on whether Confucianism was a religion, and if so, whether it should be transformed into a religion and adopted as the state religion of China. I found out that it was an important debate among Chinese intellectuals, Western missionaries and scholars in that period due to the influence of the Western notion of religion as well as Kang s attempt to transform Confucianism into a religion 13

14 Japanese Religions and Popular Culture 2004: Year of the Monkey Janet Leigh Foster On New Year s Eve at the Tôshôgu shrine in Nikkô, monkey sculptures, which adorn the stable of the Sacred Horse, spring to life. Dressed as Shinto priests, they dance and sing for their equine companion. This year the Sacred Horse will undoubtedly be treated to an especially festive performance, given that 2004 is the Year of the Monkey. Characterised by its namesake, the Year of the Monkey portends to be an active one, auspicious for innovation, communication, and the performing arts. The monkey is ninth in the twelve-year lunar cycle of the Asian Zodiac in which each year is named for an animal. Originally from India, the animal Zodiac was first recorded in its present form in ancient China, and made its way to Japan centuries later. The system was used as a means for understanding otherwise unexplainable phenomena in the every day life of an agrarian society, a sort of astrology, astronomy, meteorology and psychology combined. The animal cycle was used to codify not only years, but also days, months and hours. Monkey hours were from three to five in the afternoon. This was the time when the cumulative effect of wine enjoyed with lunch caused people to act silly, like monkeys. There is a traditional link between Japanese monkeys and entertainment. According to legend, Ame-no-uzume, was the first lead performer in a troupe called the Female Monkey Dancers (sarume). Sarume is the precursor of kagura, the sacred Shinto music and dance performed at shrines as an offering of entertainment to deities. It stems from Japan s mythological age, when Ame-no-uzume performed an uproarious dance that so amused the assembled gods, their laughter lured the sun goddess, Amaterasu, out of a cave in which she had sequestered herself, leaving the world in darkness. When Amaterasu emerged to join the fun, she brought the sunshine with her. Japanese monkey fossils date back as far as 500,000 years. At that time Japan was still attached to the Asian land mass and it is thought that the monkey might have migrated from China. As monkey communities spread and flourished throughout the Japanese nation, so did legends about them. Songoku, of Chinese origin, is perhaps the most famous monkey of all. He began his life as a hedonist who drank too much at a feast and ended up in Hell. He escaped, but not without having stolen the official registers of the inferno. After being given a chance to explain himself, as a way to keep tabs on him, he was given the position of Guardian of the Heavenly Stables. Songoku did not retain his job at the stables for very long, but the image of the monkey is associated with protection of horses. Carvings of monkeys can be found at the entrance to stables where horses used by Shinto priests are kept. The basis for this is not the legend of Songoku, but rather the monkey s association with Saruda-hiko, a Shinto tutelary deity. The Japanese word for monkey is saru, a word that, because of its sound, offers a connection between the monkey and Saruda-hiko, whose name sounds like monkey-field (saru-ta). Saruda-hiko is a guardian of the roads, and shrines dedicated to him are often found at important crossings. In former times, horses were the most common transport, and petitioners made offerings to Saruda-hiko for their protection. These often took the form of small straw horses. Zaru is a negative verb ending in Japanese and when added to the words for see, hear and speak, form the famous adage: See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil (mi-zaru, kikazaru, iwa-zaru). An illustrated version of this pun is popularly found as a statue of the Three Mystic Apes (sambiki saru), which is often displayed at shrines dedicated to Sarudahiko. The three monkeys represent the Three Virtues codified by the Tendai sect of Buddhism, and a Tendai monk is credited with having carved the first monkey trio. Monkeys have a place in Buddhist lore. Along with the angry tiger and lovesick deer, the monkey is characterized in Buddhism as one of the Three Senseless Creatures. This is because the monkey is always grabbing at things and is therefore considered to be greedy. There is a Buddhist parable about a group of monkeys that forms a chain to swing from a branch to capture the full moon reflected in a pond. The branch breaks and the monkeys take a bath. The moral of the tale is a warning of the dangers of overextending oneself because of greed. Janet Leigh Foster 14

15 After his stint at the stables, Songoku, the infamous monkey, got into trouble again when he gorged himself on the Peaches of Immortality. He was actually condemned to death for this, but since the peaches had rendered him immortal, the sentence could not be carried out. To prove that he was sorry, and sincere about mending his ways, he travelled, in the company of a priest and a pig deity, all the way to India to receive the Lotus Sutra and brought it back to China. Upon his return, he discovered that in reality he had only been going around in circles on the giant palm of Buddha. Contemporary Japanese monkeys still travel in circles, moving about not on Buddha s palm, but within mountain ranges. Ôyamagui-no-kami, the mountain deity, is particularly fond of them, and monkey statues can be found where he is enshrined, particularly the main Hie shrine near Kyoto, and its branches throughout the country. Since monkeys do not store food, they have to stay on the move in search of new places in which to forage. As the seasons grow colder, it becomes more difficult for them to find food in the wild. Although humans have added to the difficulty by encroaching on their habitat, they have also provided monkeys with new opportunities for scavenging. Monkeys sneak into humans houses to raid the kitchen, and wreak havoc at supermarkets where, after having fun with the automatic doors, they steal food and run away without paying. After a day of rampaging, they relax at local hot spring resorts (onsen). People born in the Year of the Monkey are thought to be as quick-witted as the animal of their namesake, enabling them to achieve their goals with finesse. The only barrier that stands between them and success is the danger of succumbing to a condition known as monkey mind. Like monkeys roaming from mountain to mountain, their attention is easily diverted and they become too distracted to carry a goal to its completion. Surely the academic community will not be thusly afflicted in 2004, a year that portends exciting breakthroughs and innovations. Happy Monkey! Janet Leigh Foster, Assistant to the Centre for the Study of Japanese Religions, is a graduate of the MA Japanese Religions course at SOAS. She is a freelance journalist and fine- arts photographer. ( Shinto Essay Competition for st Prize: $1,000 2nd Prize: $500 3rd Prize: $300 The competition is open to all university-level students. Entrants should submit a 8-10 page essay on any of the following subjects, including footnotes and bibliography. 1) Shinto s encounter with Christianity. 2) Shinto as the core of Japanese daily life. 3) Shinto and Economy Essays will be judged on their originality and comprehensive treatment of the subject. Essays should be typed or clearly printed in 12-point type double-spaced on 8-1/2 x 11 (or A-4) paper. Essays written in languages other than English are acceptable with English translation attached. Applicants are permitted to submit only one essay and must include short biography on a separate sheet. All Entries must be received by May 31, Essays should be submitted by mail only to: The International Shinto Foundation, Inc. New York Center 40 East 30th Street, Ground Floor New York, New York, 10016, U.S.A. Phone: (212) Fax : (212) NewYork@shinto.org Prize winners will be publicly announced and prizes awarded in October 2004 in New York City and every entrant shall be notified with the result of the competition. All submissions will become the property of ISF. Sponsored by The International Shinto Foundation, Inc.. accredited Not-for-Profit Organization and NGO associated with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and Department of Public Information(DPI). 15