82nd Annual Conference (2023)
A Report on the 82nd Annual Conference of the JARS
by the International Connections Committee
Our annual conference was held at Tokyo University of Foreign Studies (TUFS) in Tokyo during September 8-10, 2023. It began with an opening symposium, followed by panels and individual presentations. We would like to express our gratitude to the university’s organizing committee, headed by Prof. YAGI Kumiko, for their tireless efforts in making the conference a great success. The conference had 439 participants in total.
The opening symposium was entitled “Education and Islam: The Diversity of Religious Culture from the Viewpoint of Public Education,” focusing on the diversity of religious cultures and their social positioning from the perspective of public education.
The committee invited three distinguished scholars specializing in studies of Islam and Education in the fields of Iran, Germany, and Japan, and two discussants who are specializing in the fields of Islamic Education in Malaysia and the history of Islamic thought.
The symposium began with an introduction by Prof. Yagi Kumiko. It is also noteworthy from the perspective of gender balance in the history of JARS that four of the six speakers and discussants in the opening symposium were women.
Introduction:
YAGI Kumiko (Tokyo University of Foreign Studies)
Speakers:
SAKURAI Keiko (Waseda University), “Public Education and Islam in Iran”
FUKAWA Ayumi (Tokyo University of Foreign Studies), “The Subject of Religion and Islam in Germany”
MATSUYAMA Yōhei (University of Tokyo), “The Image of Islam in Japanese Public Education”
Discussants:
KUSHIMOTO Hiroko (Sophia University)
KOBAYASHI Haruo (Tokyo Gagugei University)
Chair:
TOGAWA Masahiko (Tokyo University of Foreign Studies)
The conference also featured a special panel session in English with the support of the International Connections Committee. The panel, “Translation Matters: Translating Japanese Religious Concepts into Other Languages” was planned and organized by Prof. OKUYAMA Michiaki (Toyo Eiwa University). This panel proposes to be a forum where international members of the Japanese Association for Religious Studies and some guest speakers can share their experiences from their academic career, with a special focus on matters related to translation.
Papers presented in English:
Molly VALLOR (Meiji Gakuin University), “Waka in Religious Contexts: Issues in Translation”
Andrea CASTIGLIONI (Nagoya City University), “The Philosophical Dimensions of Translating and the Shugendō Case”
Mia TILLONEN (Fuji Women’s University), “Tourism and Translating Japanese Religions”
Timothy O. BENEDICT (Kwansei Gakuin University), “Translating the “Kokoro” in Spiritual Care”
Commentator:
Cynthea BOGEL
Chair:
OKUYAMA Michiaki (Toyo Eiwa University)
The regular program consisted of 13 more panels and 173 individual papers.
Panel Titles and Conveners:
The Learning and Education of Religion in the Age of AI
(ISHIDA Yuri)
Toward a Dialogue between the Phenomenology of Religion and Cognitive Evolutionary Science
(FUJIWARA Satoko)
Possibilities of the Philosophy of Religion in the Contemporary World
(KETA Masako)
Reexamining the Framework of Knowledge in Religious Studies
(SAWAI Yoshitsugu)
The Concept of the Saint and Authority in Islam
(SAWAI Makoto)
Issues and Prospects for Studies on Conspirituality
(KURITA Hidehiko)
Questioning Modern Japan on the 150th Anniversary of the Meiji Calendar Reform
(HAYASHI Makoto)
Sōka Gakkai―A Success and Limitations of a Political Religion: Challenges in the Study of Contemporary Religions
(INOSE Yuri)
A Reexamination of Zen Reception in Japan: From the Middle Ages to the Early-Modern Period
(HE Yansheng)
Fluctuation of “Religious Consciousness” in a Region Affected by Population Decline
(KIGOSHI Yasushi)
A Consideration of the New Ryōgemon Teaching of Jōdo Shinshū
(FUKAMIZU Kenshin)
Living with the Dead: Material Religion in Japanese Home Altars and Personal Memorial Objects
(MURAKAMI Aki)
Virtualized Funerals: Challenges and Prospects
(URIU Daisuke)
Individual paper titles are available at:
https://jpars.org/data/files/separate_volume/vol_97.pdf