Cesty božstev

Otázky interpretace náboženství a nacionalismu v moderním Japonsku

Jakub Havlíček

The publication deals with the role of religious phenomena in the process of national identity forming in modern Japan as well as with the problem of identifying and interpreting these phenomena. The introductory chapter defines the theoretical and methodological frame of the thesis. Second chapter deals with the topic of interpreting and systematizing religious phenomena in Japan. It concentrates on the concepts of Shinto and Japanese religion in the works of H. B. Earhart, K. Werner, T. P. Kasulis, J. M. Kitagawa, and I. Ben-Dasan. The author offers a summary of their theories and confronts them with an alternative, more critical approach deconstructing the stereotypical view of Shinto as “indigenous Japanese religion” that is characterized as specific of the members of the Japanese nation. Third, final part deals with Yasukuni shrine in Tokio. It offers a survey of the so-called Yasukuni issue and brings about a survey of the history of the shrine in the context of the history of modern Japan, particularly in the context of the origins and development of State Shinto. In the concluding part, the author offers a possible interpretative frame to be used for interpreting the phenomena of Japanese religiosity.