Thread by @KaitlynUgoretz

Ok folks, if you're itching to add a discussion of Marie Kondo/KonMari re: religion and #Japan (esp. #Shinto or #animism) to your syllabus, here's my recommendation on how to go about it per request 1/

#academicchatter #academictwitter #mariekondo #konmari #spirituality

https://twitter.com/NewYorker/status/1354721514604679171

First, raise the issues of race and gender in hot takes on Marie Kondo in Western popular media. These short articles pair well together.

theguardian.com/books/2019/jan…

huffpost.com/entry/marie-ko… 2/

Next (DO NOT SKIP this step!), listen to scholar of Japanese religion @jolyonbt re: Marie Kondo/KonMari being representative of Shinto or animism or not.

Podcast with @TristanGrunow from @JapanOTR: jotr.transistor.fm/episodes/konma…

marginalia.lareviewofbooks.org/domesticity-sp… 3/

Then, recontextualize Marie Kondo's personal brand of spirituality (yes BRAND) by comparing these short videos from the "Rituals" section of her website. The first is well-known, but the second is crucial for the exercise.

konmari.com/how-to-greet-y…
konmari.com/how-to-use-a-t… 4/

You've got more than enough to teach with now, but if you/your students want to go deeper, there's tons of great research on spirituality/the spiritual スピリチュアリティ/スピリチュアル & New Age in Japan from @Shimazono Susumu, @NorichikaHorie, & Ioannis Gaitanidis @YanisuG 5/

Assuming your students don't read Japanese, here are just a few selected resources to check out:

Shimazono, Susumu. From Salvation to Spirituality: Popular Religious Movements in Modern Japan. Melbourne: Trans Pacific Press, 2004. 6/

Horie, Norichika. "Narrow New Age and Broad Spirituality: A Comprehensive Schema and a Comparative Analysis." In New Age Spirituality: Rethinking Religion. Sutcliffe and Gilhus (eds). London: Taylor & Francis, 2014. Pp. 99-116. 7/

Horie, Norichika. 2009. "Spirituality and the Spiritual in Japan: Translation and Transformation." Journal of Alternative Spiritualities and New Age Studies 5 (2009): n.p. 8/

Gaitanidis, Ioannis. "Spiritual Therapies in Japan." Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 39.2 (2012): 353-385. 9/9

And in case you were wondering, YES I'll be digging into this topic soon in an episode for my educational YouTube channel @eat_pray_anime!

@threadreaderapp unroll plz