Associate Professor, Philosophy and Religious Studies, North Carolina State University. Author of "Soka Gakkai's Human Revolution" (U Hawai`i Press 2019).
Oct 25, 2022 • 21 tweets • 7 min read
We are entering a new era of religion and politics in Japan. The Kishida government has empowered a probe into the former Unification Church that may result in its legal dissolution in Japan. The impact of these developments on law, religion, and politics will be profound 1/
The Religious Juridical Persons Law grants Japan's ~180,000 religious organizations tax benefits and other boons. It includes provision to investigate (article 78 clause 2) and dissolve (article 81 clause 1) religions.
Blowback against religious engagement in politics has surged in Japan following the assassination of former PM Abe Shinzō on July 8. The main target is the Unification Church. Anticult fears are spreading. They may shape the governing coalition and shift policymaking (thread) 1/
News that Abe's killer was motivated by a grudge against the Unification Church has directed a massive surge of media and public interest toward the group's exploitative practices. The sheer amount of information on the UC now pouring forth is unprecedented. 2/
Feb 8, 2022 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
Ishihara Shintarō, provocateur and longterm governor of Tokyo, died last week at 89. Famous for calling the 3.11 disasters tenbatsu (divine punishment) for the egoism of the Japanese people, he had complex religious views. His will: no funeral, toss my bones in the sea. Why? 🧵
Toward the end of his life, Ishihara made pronouncements about what lies beyond, stating that "there is, after all, nothing after death." But he prevaricated. In his 2014 book "My Sea" (Watashi no Umi), he included a "will" that articulated how he wished to be reborn.
