84th Annual Conference (2025)
A Report on the 84th Annual Conference of the JARS by the International Connections Committee
Our annual conference was held on-site at Sophia University in Tokyo from September 14 to 16, and online from 14 to 23, 2025. 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. KASAI Kenta, for their tireless efforts in making the conference a great success. The conference had 550 participants in total.
The opening symposium was entitled “Teaching Religion and Religious Studies at University.” Three scholars were invited to share their experiences of teaching religion—at a Shinto university, a Buddhist university, and a national university—based on their respective expertise in the fields of mythology, Buddhist studies, and philosophy of religion and religious studies. The symposium began with an introductory overview of the subject by Prof. SATŌ Keisuke.
Introduction:
SATŌ Keisuke (Sophia University)
Speakers:
HIRAFUJI Kikuko (Kokugakuin University), “Teaching Religious Culture: From Mythology to Contemporary Religions”
TOKUNO Takayuki (Komazawa University), “The Current Situation and Problems of Priestly Training and Education at Buddhist Universities”
IWATA Fumiaki (Osaka Kyoiku University), “Religious Education at a Teacher Training University”
Commentator:
FUJIWARA Satoko (The University of Tokyo)
Chair:
SATŌ Keisuke (Sophia University)
The conference also featured a special panel session in English with the support of the International Connections Committee. The panel titled “New Directions in the Study of Japanese Religions: Reviewing New Nanzan Guide” was chaired by Matthew D. MCMULLEN (Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture).
Speakers:
KIMURA Yunosuke (Tohoku University), “On the Production of Knowledge in Japanese Religions”
Carla TRONU MONTANÉ (Institute of Science Tokyo), “On Space and Environment in Japanese Religions”
Ioannis GAITANIDIS (Chiba University), “On Feeling and Belonging in Japanese Religions”
KATO Masato (Tenri University), “On Politics and Governance in Japanese Religions”
Convener, Commentator, and Chair:
Matthew D. MCMULLEN (Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture)
The regular program consisted of 11 more panels and 210 individual papers.
Panel Titles and Conveners:
“Intersections and Discrepancies Between Religious Studies and Eranos”
(OKUYAMA Fumiaki)
“Religious-Historical Transformations of the Neo-Pagan Movement: Focusing on Its Polarities”
(FUKASAWA Hidetaka)
“The Standpoint of Izutsu’s “Oriental Philosophy”: From the Viewpoint of Comparative Religious Thought”
(SAWAI Yoshitsugu)
“Religious（History）Studies from Wartime to Postwar: Focusing on Japan and ‘East Asia’”
(IIJIMA Takayoshi)
“A Reexamination of Seichō-No-Ie Taniguchi Masaharu’s ‘The True Image Philosophy’”
(KITA Motonori)
“‘Media Religion’ as a Perspective: Unaffiliated Religious Actors in Modern Japanese History”
(AKAE Tatsuya)
“Propagation of Traditional Buddhism in the Early-Modern and Modern Periods: Temples, Children, Women, and Youths”
(KONDŌ Shuntarō)
“Tracing the Genealogy of Animistic Theories of Religion in Japan”
(TOGAWA Masahiko)
“Surveying Local Buddhist Temples and Researching Population Decline in the Five Major Metropolitan Areas of Japan”
(AIZAWA Shūki)
“Practice and Rationality in Religious Organizations”
(TANI Hidetoshi)
“Near-Future Virtual Funerals: Insights from Design Fiction in Film and Global Case Studies”
(URIU Daisuke)