Myth and Deity in Japan

Shinto is a tradition native to Japan that arose naturally on the eastern fringe of the Eurasian continent and was woven over many years into the fabric of people's everyday lives. When Buddhism entered the country in the sixth century, the two religions—rather than competing with or seeking to marginalize the other—coalesced, embracing many other folk deities as well to create a singular combinatory religious culture that continues to permeate Japan's cultural life today. This English translation of a book originally written in Japanese by one of the country's most knowledgeable, penetrating, and eclectic scholars of Japanese religion and spirituality presents an engaging overview of the country's religious legacy, as well as offering insights into how religion can become a force for peaceful coexistence, rather than violent extremism.

KAMATA Tōji
Born in Tokushima prefecture in 1951. After graduating from Kokugakuin University, majoring in philosophy, Kamata pursued doctoral research in Shinto theology at the same university. He is currently professor emeritus, Kyoto University, and guest professor at the Sophia University Institute of Grief Care. His research interests range widely over religion, folklore studies, Japanese intellectual history, comparative civilizations, and other fields. He holds a doctoral degree in literature. He is qualified to hold Shinto rituals and is a Shinto songwriter. He performs on the stone flute (iwabue), horizontal flute, and conch shell (horagai). A devotee of pilgrimages to holy sites since the age of seventeen, he has visited many sacred sites in Japan and abroad over the last forty years.

*information as of time of publication

Japan Library series
Philosophy & Religion

Publisher:
Japan Publishing Industry Foundation for Culture

Hardcover
¥3,900 + tax
ISBN 9784916055842
220 mm x 148 mm / 218 pp. / March 2017

Softcover
¥2,800 + tax
ISBN 9784866580524
220 mm x 148 mm / 218 pp. / December 2018

eBook
ISBN 9784866580067 (ePub)
ISBN 9784916055934 (PDF)

CONTENTS
Foreword
Author’s Preface
1. The Mechanism of Combination
2. The Encounter of Shinto and Buddhism in the Early Japanese State
3. The New Buddhism of the Heian Period
4. Kami and Buddhas in the Medieval Period
5. Nativist Studies and a New View of Kami-Buddha Combination
6. Epilogue: Toward a New Kami-Buddha Combination
Notes
Bibliography
About the Author

山川草木、花鳥風月、森羅万象に祈りを捧げる日本人の神仏観。日本文化の底流を成す神仏習合の歴史を見直し、社会不安に満ちている現代で平和に向かい何ができるか、新たな日本的霊性を見出し、その可能性を考える。

鎌田東二
1951年、徳島県阿南市生まれ。國學院大學文学部哲学科卒業。同大学院文学研究科神道学専攻博士課程単位取得満期退学。現在・京都大学こころの未来研究センター教授。宗教・哲学・民俗学・日本思想史・比較文明学などを幅広く研究。文学博士。石笛・横笛・法螺貝奏者。フリーランス神主・神道ソングライター。17歳で聖地巡礼に目覚め、以来40年以上、国内外の聖地を参拝して回る。著書に、『神界のフィールドワーク』『翁童論』4部作、『宗教と霊性』『霊的人間』『聖地感覚』『神楽感覚』（細野晴臣との共著）『超訳 古事記』など多数。

＊著者略歴は書籍刊行時のものを表示しています。