Pilgrimage is found in most religious cultures, with large numbers of sites - from globally renowned places to regional shrines - flourishing historically and in the modern day. Pilgrimage centres around the world, including Mecca in Saudi Arabia, Guadalupe in Mexico, Lourdes in France, Santiago de Compostela in Spain, Haridwar in India, and Shikoku in Japan, attract millions of pilgrims annually, while a flourishing 'spiritual tourism' industry has grown to promote the practice. In the pr...

Pilgrimage is found in most religious cultures, with large numbers of sites - from globally renowned places to regional shrines - flourishing historically and in the modern day. Pilgrimage centres around the world, including Mecca in Saudi Arabia, Guadalupe in Mexico, Lourdes in France, Santiago de Compostela in Spain, Haridwar in India, and Shikoku in Japan, attract millions of pilgrims annually, while a flourishing 'spiritual tourism' industry has grown to promote the practice. In the pr...

The Tokyo subway attack in March 1995 was just one of a series of criminal activities including murder, kidnapping, extortion, and the illegal manufacture of arms and drugs carried out by the Japanese new religious movement Aum Shinrikyo, under the guidance of its leader Asahara Shoko. Reader looks at Aum's claims about itself and asks, why did a religious movement ostensibly focussed on yoga, meditation, asceticism and the pursuit of enlightenment become involved in violent activities?

In this study, Ian Reader presents new insights into the relationship between religion and tourism more generally and into the contemporary religious situation in Japan. He counteracts scholarship that claims tourism increases religious activity, shows that tourism is a factor in increasing secularization in Japan and draws attention to the role of the state in such contexts.Although the Japanese constitution prohibits the state from promoting reli...

The study of pilgrimage often centres itself around miracles and spontaneous populist activities. While some of these activities and stories may play an important role in the emergence of potential pilgrimage sites and in helping create wider interest in them, this book demonstrates that the dynamics of the marketplace, including marketing and promotional activities by priests and secular interest groups, create the very consumerist markets through which pilgrimages become established and ...

This book will help you appreciate the significance of Japan's own religion in everyday life, recognize the key traditions and festivals of the Shinto year, understand what you will see at Shinto shrines and in Shinto rituals, and gain insights into the controversies surrounding Shinto politics and nationalism. Access the world's religions through this entry in this series of simple guides that provide concise, accessible introductions to the world's major religions. Written by experts in ...

Challenging the notion of the nonreligious in Japan being religious through tradition and institution, this book demonstrates how negativity and antipathy for religion relate to religious decline in Japan today. Why do most Japanese say they are 'nonreligious' (mushukyo)? Since the 1990s, scholars have answered this key question for understanding religion in contemporary Japan as follows: although the Japanese say they are nonreligious because they do not identify with a p...

This book will help you to appreciate the significance of Japan's own religion in everyday life to recognize the key traditions and festivals (matsuri) of the Shinto year to understand what you will see at Shinto shrines and in Shinto ritual to gain insights into the controversies surrounding Shinto, politics, and nationalism.Access the world's religions with Simple Guides: Religion a series of concise, accessible introductions to the world's major religions. Writt...

This innovative collaborative work—the first to focus on Buddhist tourism—explores how Buddhists, government organizations, business corporations, and individuals in Asia participate in re-imaginings of Buddhism through tourism. Contributors from religious studies, anthropology, and art history examine sacred places and religious monuments as they have been shaped and reshaped by socioeconomic and cultural trends in the region.Following an introduction that offers the first theoret...

While scholarly works on this topic have to date mainly concentrated on Japan's influences in economic and political terms, this volume examines Japanese influences in Asia from a broader perspective. The text takes into account human factors, such as the presence of Japanese people as workers, managers and visitors in Asian societies and the flow of Japanese goods in terms on their impact on popular culture. In addition, the book examines the feelings within other Asian nations such as In...

Each of the eight chapters deals with a specific topic, such as Shinto, Buddhism, the new religions, and Christianity; there is an introduction that outlines the subject to be considered followed by a series of readings.

Transform Yourself from ""Passion Victim"" to Passionista!In the smash hit She Comes First, Ian Kerner singlehandedly waged battle against male sexual ""ill-cliteracy,"" and women everywhere benefited from his ""viva la vulva"" philosophy of female pleasure. Now, in Passionista, it's time to learn all about what turns men onand makes them stay on. In this point-by-point, ""blow-by-blow"" guide, Kerner makes giving as much fun as receiving as he covers eve...