Paper short abstract:

The digital dimension of the multilayered and transnational community of Tenrikyo Europe Centre, situated in a Parisian suburb, proved pivotal in comprehending this expansive social milieu encompassing multiple locations, partially manifested through and facilitated by online platforms.

Paper long abstract:

This paper explores the insights and holistic understanding of the multilayered and transnational community of the principal European centre of the Japanese new religion of Tenrikyo, situated in a Parisian suburb, facilitated by digital ethnography.

Although the majority of the “core” people connected to this center were Japanese Tenrikyo followers born and raised in the faith living in the Paris region, its wider “community” also included multiple nationalities, countries of residence, and even religious identities, amongst other differences. Despite such spatial, personal, and social diversities, they together formed an interconnected social group that constituted an unbound community which involved a complex, ever-developing symphony of social flows and webs of connection.

The digital dimension of this research proved pivotal in comprehending this expansive social milieu encompassing multiple locations, partially manifested through and facilitated by online platforms. Strategically integrating both in-person and online observations, this research acknowledges the growing influence of digitalization in shaping contemporary social landscapes. Leveraging online interactions served to reduce geographic constraints, rendering insights into diverse locations more accessible. Furthermore, given that the imagined mythos of the group, primarily rooted in the conceptualization of the Tenrikyo faith, is shaped through online means, active inquiry into the online component of this faith-based group was merited. Through a nuanced examination of these components, this paper contributes to the broader discourse on evolving methodologies and spatial boundaries in the digital age within the field of anthropology.