Shinto in Contemporary Japan and Global Perspective: Tradition, Identity, and Modern Practice

Shinto presents an intriguing paradox: the majority of Japanese people engage with shrine practice — visiting at New Year, participating in local matsuri, marking life events at shrines — without considering themselves religious. This paradox is not a contradiction but a feature of how Shinto exists in contemporary Japanese life. Understanding it requires engaging with sociology of religion, Japanese cultural studies, and the continuing scholarly debate about what Shinto actually is. By the end of this course you will be able to describe the sociology of contemporary Shinto practice in Japan, analyze debates about Shinto identity and nationalism in the post-1945 context, examine how Shinto practices are interpreted and adapted outside Japan, evaluate scholarly frameworks for understanding secular religious participation, and assess the role of Shinto in contemporary Japanese environmental and political discourse. What you will learn: - The paradox of secular participation: sociological data on shrine visits, matsuri attendance, and life-cycle rites among people who self-identify as non-religious in Japan - Post-1945 Shinto: how the dismantling of State Shinto changed the relationship between shrine institutions and the Japanese state — and the ongoing tensions - Contemporary controversies: the Yasukuni Shrine debate and what it reveals about the entanglement of Shinto, war memory, and national identity - Shinto outside Japan: the small but growing global interest in Shinto, the challenges of transmission, and academic debates about whether Shinto can function outside Japanese cultural context - Nature and kami: how contemporary Shinto thinkers and shrine organizations have engaged with environmental movements using the concept of satoyama and sacred natural sites - The jinja Shinto institutional system: how the Association of Shinto Shrines functions as a national body and how individual shrines navigate between local community function and national affiliation - Scholarly frameworks for analyzing Shinto: reader-response models, lived religion theory, and the "religion" classification debate revisited - A case study analysis framework: examining a specific contemporary shrine community navigating modernity, tourism, and community function The course is organized around a progression from contemporary practice data to historical context to comparative frameworks. Case studies draw on both academic scholarship and journalistic accounts. Reflection prompts invite you to apply each framework to a specific example before moving to the next section. A final synthesis worksheet guides you through constructing a nuanced analytical portrait of contemporary Shinto. This course is designed for learners with some background in Shinto or Japanese culture and religion who want to engage with contemporary and comparative dimensions. It is also suitable for students of sociology of religion or Japanese studies. No prior fieldwork experience is required.