Fluent Essays

InstructionsUpon your recent travels to the China/Japan area for Religious News, you came across the following article that seemed like major news:Holtz, M. (2016). Japanese prime minister, party leaders seek policies that revive Shinto religion. Christian Century, 133(2), p. 16. Retrieved from https://libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=112343000&site=ehost-live&scope=site.As an up-and-coming reporter, you felt it was a good idea to report some of the latest stories from the area Religious News sent you to cover. After confirming the idea with your boss, you have the green light to write a review based on the article.Your article review must consist of the following components:explain key terminology and religious practices,explain Prime Minister Abe’s tenets of Shintoism, andcompare and contrast Chinese religions to Japanese religions.Your reflection should be at least one page in length. You must include at least one outside source, which can be your textbook. Remember to use APA formatting throughout the assignment. article234.pdf Unformatted Attachment Preview they describe it as a reprise of the ideol­ ogy used to promote Japanese superiori­ ty and a presumed right to govern Asia. party leaders seek policies But among conservatives it reflects a fear that Japan has gone adrift after two th a t revive Shinto religion decades of economic stagnation, materi­ alism, and the rise of neighboring China. Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe’s Many believe the time has come for the deep adoration for the Ise Grand Shrine, religion to regain its rightful place in the the most sacred Shinto site in Japan, is no public sphere. secret. He visits each January for the New Keiji Furuya, who serves in Abe’s cab­ Year and plans to host the 2016 summit of inet, considers the three years he spent the Group of Seven industrialized nations as an exchange student in New York as a in the nearby resort city of Shima. teenager among his most formative “I believe it has something to do with experiences. Furuya recalls marveling at his Shinto beliefs,” said Satoru Otowa, a America’s displays of patriotism. He was spokesman for the shrine, recalling a visit astonished to see flags billowing from from the prime minister. “Everyone saw front porches and students reciting the how passionately he prayed.” Pledge of Allegiance in Ise, about 200 miles south­ school. west of Tokyo near the Pacific Growing up in Japan, Furuya never saw such dis­ coast, enshrines the sun god­ dess Amaterasu, who is plays. Emperor Hirohito believed to be an ancestral renounced his status as a “liv­ god of the imperial family. ing god” in 1946. The coun­ “I wanted to choose a try’s new constitution, drafted place where world leaders by U.S. occupation forces, could have a full taste and feel enshrined pacifism as nation­ al policy and mandated the of Japan’s beautiful nature, separation of state and reli­ bountiful culture, and tradi­ Shinzo Abe tions,” he told reporters after gion. The U.S. occupation announcing the location of the G7 sum­ inaugurated a period when Shinto began mit, scheduled for May 26-27. to disappear from Japanese society. “For people like me who went Abe’s commitment to Japan’s indige­ nous religion has also led him and his through the postwar education system in Liberal Democratic Party to pursue a Japan, raising a flag was not a popular wide range of Shinto-inspired policies— thing to do,” said Furuya, whose office conference room is adorned with three including more openly embracing Japan’s imperial heritage, reforming flags. “But as time went by . . . I came to aspects of Japanese education, and re­ believe that it was natural to have respect and pride in one’s own country.” evaluating the countrys wartime record. Interest in reforms has been building Perhaps as old as Japan itself, Shinto has no explicit creed or major religious for the past decade. Introducing patriotic texts. Its adherents pray to kami, spirits education in public schools was one of found in both living and inanimate Abe’s top initiatives during his first stint things, and believe in a complex body of as prime minister from 2006 to 2007. More recently, a new wave of conser­ folklore that emphasizes ancestor wor­ vatives helped the LDP win a landslide ship. As Japan modernized in the late 19th century, officials made Shinto the victory in 2012 and put Abe back in power. Their support helped him pass a state religion and gave the emperor package of laws this fall that allows Japan divine stature. The religion became closely associated with Japanese mili­ to send troops abroad in support of allies tarism, leading to its separation from for the first time in its postwar era. Abe and many of his top cabinet offi­ state institutions after World War II. Some critics see the country’s new­ cials are longtime members of Shinto found interest in Shinto as a sign of sim­ Seiji Renmei (the Shinto Association of mering nationalism at best. At worst, Spiritual Leadership). Founded in 1969, PHOTO BY KIYOSHI OTA Japanese prime minister, Christian Century January 20,2016 16 it has become one of the most influential political lobbying groups in Japan. According to the most recent count, 302 parliament members are affiliated with the association, compared with 44 two decades ago. The association supports efforts to revise Japan’s pacifist constitution, encourage patriotic education, and return the emperor to a more prominent place in Japanese society. It also calls for restoring the special status of Yasukuni Shrine, a controversial memorial to Japan’s war dead, including convicted war criminals from World War II. Iwahashi Katsuji, a spokesman for the Association of Shinto Shrines, which administers 80,000 shrines in Japan, said it’s time for the Japanese to reevaluate their past. “Even after the Meiji Restoration there are many good points,” he said, referring to Japan’s rapid transformation from a feudal farming society into an industrial power at the end of the 19th century. “Just saying that Japan lost the war and that Japan was bad and evil is not constructive.” Inoue Nobutaka, a professor of Shinto studies at Kokugakuin University in Tokyo, said it’s far from clear how much of the past Abe and his supporters want to revive. But he contends that organizations such as Seiji Renmei and Nippon Kaigi, a like-minded nationalist group, hold more sway over the Abe administration than they did over its predecessors. “These groups have been politically active for a long time,” Nobutaka said. “Their influence has grown because Abe has turned to them for support.” Seiji Renmei launched a campaign this summer to encourage local educa­ tion boards to adopt revised textbooks that eliminate negative depictions of Japan’s wartime activities. Abe’s critics warn that the new text­ books could weaken an antiwar message they say has helped keep Japan peaceful for seven decades. In the eyes of China and South Korea, two targets of Japan’s early-20th-century aggression, Abe and his supporters are historical revisionists who want to whitewash the country’s wartime atrocities. —M ichael Holtz, The C h ristia n S cience M o n ito r Copyright of Christian Century is the property of Christian Century Foundation and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holders express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. ... Purchase answer to see full attachment