Introduction: Common Features

An estimated two hundred ‘new’ religious movements, known as Shinko- shukyo, ‘newly arisen religions’ or the preferred title of the groups them­selves, Shinshukyo, ‘new religions’, are to be found in present-day Japan.

The non-indigenous new movements tend to have a more pronounced Christian or Hindu doctrinal dimension and include the Unification Church, more commonly known as the Moonies, which has an estimated two hundred thousand followers in Japan, and the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), also called Hare Krishna, with a very much smaller following.

From the perspective of the Japanese the indigenous new religions are neither unfamiliar nor exotic and if considered in a Western context they would seem to parallel more closely Christian revivalist move­ments rather than for example the new religions of India or the self-religions (see pp. 912-24 and pp. 925-31). In almost every instance these new religions are built around the personality of a charismatic founder, usually seen as an ikigatni, that is as one possessed by a deity. Among the founders of new religions possessed by a Shinto deity are Miki Nakayama of Tenrikyo, the Teaching of Heavenly Truth, and Kawate Bunjiro ofKonkokyo, the Teaching of the Golden Light.

The differences that are to be found in these new religions can often be attributed to the differences in the personality of the founders or leaders in question. Moreover, while each of these religions has its own spiritual and socio-cultural centre point or ‘Mecca’ they all tend to be highly syncretistic, holding to a mixture of beliefs and practices. Some of these derive from traditional Japanese religion, for example the belief in the continuing presence and power of the spirits of the dead, in the efficacy of various forms of magic, and in practices such as exorcism as a means of healing, and in purification through ancestor worship.

New religions such as Risshokoseikai, Establishment of Righteousness and Friendly Intercourse, began with the teaching that the family was the centre of human life and this was based in large measure on the belief in the continuing presence and influence of the ancestors. There are those, moreover, who believe that the worship of the ancestors is of great benefit to the nation. Further, the new religions lay great emphasis on the psychological, emotional and in general medical and social benefits to be derived from membership; virtually all of them are millenarian, stressing that the Kingdom of God on earth is near at hand and that great rewards both of a material and spiritual kind will be bestowed on the faithful. These religions are also characterised by a spirit of optimism and, with some ex­ceptions, most notably Soka Gakkai, they teach the relativity of all religions.

We can now move on to consider in more detail examples of some of the better known of these new movements, beginning with those that have been strongly but not exclusively influenced by Shinto­ism, before turning to those that display a pronounced Japanese Buddhist character.