Paper short abstract:

It is not easy to explicate Japanese folk religious culture in English or any other Western languages. I will discuss problems in the comparative study of folk religious culture focusing on the term folk.

Paper long abstract:

Folk religion has been defined in various ways in religious studies. What is more complicated is that the word folk, even in Western languages, imply different facets of religious phenomena. This may reflect the differences in religious cultures and the development of religious studies in each country.

In Japan, Minkan Shinkō (folk beliefs) has been mainly studied by scholars of folkloristics. On the other hand, Minzoku Shūkyō (folk religion) has been studied by sociologists and historians of religion. Since 1980s, the term Minkan Shinkō has been gradually replaced by Minzoku Shūkyō among scholars of folkloristics. Under the influence of Kunio Yanagita, the father of Japanese folkloristics, scholars have long regarded Minkan Shinkō as the unique religiosity that characterizes Japanese culture. Minkan Shinkō means here the substrate of Japanese culture and the worldview embedded in the daily lives and practices of Japanese ordinary people. Later, through the interdisciplinary collaboration with sociologists and historians of religion, they have come to recognize Minzoku Shūkyō as the religious phenomena that can be observed in the interaction among indigenous religious tradition and established religions such as Shinto and Buddhism. The sift in perspective has opened the way for comparative and cross-cultural studies.

However, it is not easy to explicate Japanese folk religious culture in English or any other Western languages. The term folk, in particular, connotes different aspects of social phenomena in each language. In this paper, therefore, I will discuss problems in the comparative study of folk religious culture focusing on the term folk.