Are Public Commemorations in Contemporary Japan Post-secular?

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" Are Public Commemorations in Contemporary Japan Post-secular? "
Akira Nishimura

Document Type	:	AL
Record Number	:	1073107
Doc. No	:	LA116736
Call No	:	‭10.1163/22118349-00502004‬
Language of Document	:	English
Main Entry	:	Akira Nishimura
Title & Author	:	Are Public Commemorations in Contemporary Japan Post-secular? [Article]\ Akira Nishimura
Publication Statement	:	Leiden: Brill
Title of Periodical	:	Journal of Religion in Japan
Date	:	2016
Volume/ Issue Number	:	5/2-3
Page No	:	136–152
Abstract	:	This paper asks whether public commemorations in contemporary Japan are post-secular or not. More precisely, it investigates the postwar history of the relationship between such commemorations and the principle of keeping religion and government separate, as embodied in the constitution. Referring to several contemporary cases, I provide an overview of the discourses and actual conditions of the separation of religion and state at Chidorigafuchi National Cemetery (Chidorigafuchi Kokuritsu Senbotsusha Boen 千鳥ヶ淵国立戦没者墓苑) and Yasukuni Shrine (Yasukuni Jinja 靖国神社). In conclusion, I point out on one hand that the non-denominational expressions seen in Chidorigafuchi and other facilities show a distinctive kind of religious expression. On the other hand, I underscore that the excessive avoidance of religious participation by government officials derives from the Yasukuni issue and related legal trials. I explain the relationship of those phenomena in terms of two types of secularization: natural secularization and artificial secularization. This paper asks whether public commemorations in contemporary Japan are post-secular or not. More precisely, it investigates the postwar history of the relationship between such commemorations and the principle of keeping religion and government separate, as embodied in the constitution. Referring to several contemporary cases, I provide an overview of the discourses and actual conditions of the separation of religion and state at Chidorigafuchi National Cemetery (Chidorigafuchi Kokuritsu Senbotsusha Boen 千鳥ヶ淵国立戦没者墓苑) and Yasukuni Shrine (Yasukuni Jinja 靖国神社). In conclusion, I point out on one hand that the non-denominational expressions seen in Chidorigafuchi and other facilities show a distinctive kind of religious expression. On the other hand, I underscore that the excessive avoidance of religious participation by government officials derives from the Yasukuni issue and related legal trials. I explain the relationship of those phenomena in terms of two types of secularization: natural secularization and artificial secularization.
Descriptor	:	Chidorigafuchi National Cemetery
Descriptor	:	commemorations
Descriptor	:	secularization
Descriptor	:	separation of religion and government
Descriptor	:	Yasukuni Shrine
Location & Call number	:	‭10.1163/22118349-00502004‬