A Report on the 70th Annual Conference of the JARS<\/p>\n
by the\u00a0International Connections Committee<\/p>\n
The 70th annual conference of the JARS took place in Nishinomiya-city, Hyogo, from September 2-4, 2011. The School of Theology of Kwansei Gakuin University hosted the conference on its Uegahara campus. Despite an unfortunate typhoon, there were over 500 participants and everything proceeded as planned, thanks to the efforts of the KGU conference organizers, particularly Prof. Michihito Tsushima and Prof. Kenji Doi.<\/p>\n
Since the conference was held 6 months after the Tohoku earthquake, the conference organizers of KGU planned the opening symposium on the theme of \u201cThe Bonds Created by Religion: The Meaning and Potential of Fellowship through Faith.\u201d Since they are open to the public, JARS opening symposia are typically more practical and general than narrowly scientific. KGU and the prefecture of Hyogo suffered the 1995 Hanshin (Kobe) earthquake, which led people to rediscover the importance of the spirit of mutual aid. However, recent neoliberal economic and social policies have exacerbated Japan\u2019s social isolation. Isolation is not only a problem of individual citizens but also that of recent immigrant laborers\u2019 ethnic groups. In order to counterbalance such fragmentation, various sectors of society are attempting to recreate communities and revitalize their spirit of interdependency. The conference organizers hoped the symposium would give conference participants an occasion to ponder and discuss both positive and negative roles that religious organizations and individuals take in creating and reinforcing communal bonds.<\/p>\n
The symposium speakers and presentation titles were:<\/p>\n
Motoo Nakamichi (Kwansei Gakuin University), \u201cIndigenization, Inculturation, and Interculturation\u201d<\/p>\n
Jun\u2019ichi Watanabe (Habikino Church of Konko-kyo), \u201cThe Task of Religious Movements in an Era of Loosening Bonds: How Open Is \u2018Religion\u2019 to People\u2019s \u2018Suffereings\u2019?\u201d<\/p>\n
Hizuru Miki (Osaka International University), \u201cReligious Newcomers in Local Japanese Society: Relations between Newly Imported Religions and Host Communities\u201d<\/p>\n
Yasushi Kosugi (Kyoto Universtiy), \u201cIslam as a Contemporary Religion: The Umma as a Universal Community and Mosque-based Regional Communities\u201d<\/p>\n
The regular program consisted of 15 panels and 265 individual papers, which were organized into 14 sessions.<\/p>\n
Session Titles<\/p>\n
1a. Religion\/Disaster\/Bonds
\n1b. Religion and Society<\/p>\n
2a. Study of Religion\/History of the Study of Religion\/Religion and Politics
\n2b. Religion and Education<\/p>\n
3. Philosophy of Religion<\/p>\n
4. Religion and Philosophy in Europe<\/p>\n
5a. Islam\/Judaism
\n5b. Religious Experience\/Arts\/Spirituality<\/p>\n
6a. Indian Buddhism
\n6b. Chinese Buddhism<\/p>\n
7a. Jodo-Shin-Shu (True Pure Land Buddhism)
\n7b. Japanese Buddhism<\/p>\n
8a. Nichiren Buddhism\/Modern Buddhism
\n8b. Buddhism\/Folklore<\/p>\n
9. Japanese Thought\/Shinto\/New Religions<\/p>\n
10. Modern Japan and Religion<\/p>\n
11a. Religion and Death Rituals
\n11b. Religion and Folklore<\/p>\n
12a. Christianity in Different Regions of the World
\n12b. Religions in Different Regions of the World<\/p>\n
13a. Religion and Medical Care\/Bioethics
\n13b. Religion and Science\/Psychology<\/p>\n
14a. Religion and Gender
\n14b. Religion and Tourism\/Pilgrimage<\/p>\n
Panel Titles and Conveners<\/p>\n
Religions and the Great East Japan Earthquake (Keishin Inaba)
\nSpiritual Dimensions of \u201cContribution to Society\u201d: A Reconsideration from the Perspective of Japanese Buddhism (Y\u016ban Toda)
\nPedagogies for Teaching \u201cThe History of Japanese Religions\u201d at the Higher Education Level (Eiki Hoshino)
\nThe Intellectual Basis for Interreligious Dialogues: Can Reason Overcome Diversity of Cultures? (Kazuhiro Yamaki)
\nReligious Studies and the Meditation-inspired Understanding of Everything (Kenta Kasai)
\nMonks and Monasteries in Modern States (Makoto Hayashi)
\nAsia, War, New Buddhism (Eiichi Otani)
\nEnvironmental Ethics and Social Activities in Japanese Religion (Yoshir\u014d Terada)
\nNew Perspectives on Modern Japanese Buddhism: Nation-State, Social Engagement, and the Constitutive Other (Orion Klautau)
\nSeveral Issues about the Memorial Services for the Dead: From the Stand Point of the East Asia (Kenji Matsuo)
\nIn Search of Understanding of \u201cImmigrants and Religions\u201d in the Diversifying Contemporary Japan (Norihito Takahashi)
\nColonial Korea and Religion: Beyond the Concept of Religion (Jun\u2019ichi Isomae)
\nTransforming Religious Organizations from a Gendered Perspective (Noriko Kawahashi)
\nThe Practice of Women Overcoming \u201cTradition\u201d and \u201cModernity\u201d: From the Viewpoint of Gender (Naoko Kobayashi)
\n\u201cMainland Culturalization\u201d and \u201cOkinawanization\u201d in Contemporary Okinawan Societies (K\u014dky\u014d Murakami)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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