Another major institution is Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture,
which publishes the Japanese Journal of Religious Studies, the most reputable
English journal in the field. The institute is attached to Nanzan University, a
Catholic university that promotes interreligious dialogue. The journal is not
specifically focused upon interreligious dialogue, but it attempts to advance
interreligious understanding.
The Japanese Association for Religious Studies (JARS) now has over 2,100
members. The number does not indicate, however, that religious studies has
truly gained substantial ground in Japan. Those who clearly identify with
religious studies in a narrow sense, that is, neutral study including both
historical and social scientific studies, form only a part of the membership.^24
Others are Christian theologians, Buddhist priests engaged in textual studies,
philosophers with particular religious commitments, and the like. In the mid
1970s, Michael Pye surveyed the members of the academy and observed that
many of them studied religions out of a religious motivation (Pye 1975). The
situation has not changed much since then.
This can also be demonstrated by the fact that fewer than ten universities
currently have departments of religious studies, a number that has not increased
much since the pre-war period, out of around 700 four-year universities in
Japan. Moreover, programs in religious studies, when they are not independent,
usually belong to departments of philosophy, which implies methodological
limitations.
The graph in Figure 1 shows the classification of courses in religion among
thirty-three four-year colleges emphasizing religious studies, by twenty-four
categories of religious traditions and topics. It is taken from a survey, ‘Religious
Studies in Japanese Undergraduate Curricula’, which I conducted based upon
the data of 2002.^25 Three of the thirty-three colleges are Christian colleges
with a department or program of Christian theology, eight are Buddhist colleges
and two are Shintÿcolleges with similar departments devoted to Buddhism
and Shintÿ, respectively.^26 It is striking that, despite the strong presence of the
sociologists of religion in the academy, there are fewer courses in social scientific
studies of religion (Q, S, T, U) than courses in religion with traditional
humanistic approaches, such as philosophy (N), history (A, C, etc.), arts and
literature (V) or than courses in theology and sectarian studies (B, D, J). This
tendency becomes more obvious among colleges with no stress on religious
studies, where far fewer teachers who are identified as scholars of religion give
classes.
The position of Shintÿin higher education needs additional attention.
Although Shintÿshrines outnumber the temples or churches of any other
religion in Japan, there are only two Shintÿcolleges. The census given by the
Ministry of Education and Science in 2002 indicates that 46.7 percent of all
religious institutions are Shintÿshrines, 42.5 percent are Buddhist temples,
while 2.4 percent are Christian churches. In contrast to this, there are twenty-208
SATOKO FUJIWARA