Religion in Japan
Arrows to Heaven and Earth

Peter Francis Kornicki and Ian James McMullen have put together a remarkable collection of essays on different aspects of religion in Japan by an international team of contributors. The essays in this 1996 book cover a wide range of subjects, from the new religions of post-war Japan to beliefs about fox-possession in the Heian period, and from French missionaries in Okinawa in the mid-nineteenth century to the Ainu bear festival in Hokkaido. Other chapters examine the religious life of Minamoto no Yoritomo, the founder of the first shogunate in the late twelfth century, and the role of pilgrimage in Japanese religion. The essays offer fresh insights into the rich religious traditions of Japan, many of which have been previously neglected in the English-language writing on Japan.

Reviews & endorsements

'Topics broached range from the Nara to the Heisei period, from folk religion to intellectual history, from religious state policy to private religious entrepreneurism, and from Okinawa to Hokkaido. As a result, the book will contain something to fascinate anyone with an interest in Japanese religion. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society

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Product details

• Date Published: February 1996
• format: Hardback
• isbn: 9780521550284
• length: 348 pages

• dimensions: 229 x 152 x 24 mm
• weight: 0.68kg
• contains: 12 b/w illus. 8 colour illus.
• availability: Available