{"id":92,"date":"2013-03-21T17:52:29","date_gmt":"2013-03-21T08:52:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jpars.org\/english\/?page_id=92"},"modified":"2013-03-21T17:52:29","modified_gmt":"2013-03-21T08:52:29","slug":"71st-annual-conference","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/jpars.org\/english\/annual-conference\/71st-annual-conference","title":{"rendered":"71st Annual Conference"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Report on the 71st Annual Conference of the JARS<\/strong><\/p>\n

by the International Connections Committee<\/p>\n

The 71st annual conference of the JARS took place in Ise-City, Mie, from September 7-9, 2012. The Department of Shinto Studies of K\u014dgakkan University hosted the conference on its campus. There were 624 participants in total and we owe the success of the conference to the conference organizers, particularly Prof. Haruo Sakurai and Prof. Satoshi Kawano.<\/p>\n

The organizers of K\u014dgakkan University selected \u201cTesting the Public Value of Religion\u201d as the theme of this year\u2019s opening symposium. According to the chief organizer, Prof. Haruo Sakurai, the symposium was meant to offer an opportunity to \u201cponder upon together the tasks and challenges of the scholars of religion in the disastrous aftermath of the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake as well as to be informed of the phases of relief\/social activities conducted by some members of the JARS.\u201d (\u201cRecord of Symposium\u201d) Particular emphasis was laid upon the question, \u201cWhat can the social roles of religions (religious organizations\/individuals) be articulated with respect to the idea of \u2018public welfare\u2019?\u201d To the public audience it was also rephrased as \u201cReligion on Trial,\u201d that is to say, \u201cHave religious organizations been contributing to society in addition of caring and curing their own members, especially since the Great Earthquake?\u201d<\/p>\n

All the speakers have been engaged in action research in one form or another for many years, but even more so after the earthquake. Prof. Okada and Inaba have been leading the Japan Religion Coordinating Center for Disaster Relief (sh\u016bky\u014dsha saigai shien renrakukai), which helped different religious organizations exchange practical information, so as to facilitate their disaster relief activities. Prof. Suzuki, being a faculty member of T\u014dhoku University, has launched a new course for training multifaith chaplains (rinsh\u014d sh\u016bky\u014dshi) specializing in grief\/disaster care.<\/p>\n

The symposium with an audience of 210 involved both scholars and people of faith in lively discussion, while due attention was paid to the neutrality of the scholars of religion at the same time. Prof. Sakurai summarized the symposium, referring to three findings, which should be our further challenges. First, the concept of \u201cpublic welfare\u201d or \u201ccivic contribution\u201d should be examined both in specific, factual contexts and in wide contexts. Second, the problem of the social value of religion would more adequately be discussed in light of the public perception of religion rather than relating it exclusively to the religious juridical persons law or religious in-group discourses. Third, on trial is not only religion but also the scholars of religion. However, it requires further consideration whether they could be evaluated according to their social engagements.<\/p>\n

The symposium speakers and presentation titles were:<\/p>\n

Keishin Inaba (Osaka University), \u201cReligious People and Their Cooperation at the Time of a Disaster\u201d<\/p>\n

Mamiko Okada (University of Hyogo), \u201cReligion and Public Welfare: From the Point of View of Environmental Protection\u201d<\/p>\n

Katsuhiro Kohara (Doshisha University), \u201cAn Attempt at the Public Good of Prayer: The Boundary of Religion Illuminated by the 3. 11 Disaster\u201d<\/p>\n

Iwayumi Suzuki (Tohoku University), \u201cThe Strength of Religion in the Rebuilding of Bonds after the Great East Japan Earthquake\u201d<\/p>\n

Respondent:
\nHirochika Nakamaki (National Museum of Ethnology)<\/p>\n

The regular program consisted of 19 panels and 262 individual papers, which were organized into 14 sessions<\/p>\n

Session Titles<\/p>\n

1a.\u3000Study of Religion \/ History of Religions
\n1b.\u3000Study of Religion \/ History of Religions
\n2a.\u3000Philosophy of Religion
\n2b.\u3000Christianity, Philosophy of Religion \/ Disaster, Religion and Relief
\n3a.\u3000Christianity
\n3b.\u3000Christianity \/ Islam \/ Judaism
\n4a.\u3000Indian Buddhism, Chinese Buddhism
\n4b.\u3000Indian Buddhism \/ Religious Organizations or Institutions in Post-War Japan
\n5a.\u3000Japanese Buddhism
\n5b.\u3000Japanese Buddhism
\n6a.\u3000Japanese Buddhism
\n6b.\u3000Folklore \/ Globalization and Religion
\n7a.\u3000Shinto
\n7b.\u3000Shinto and Japanese Thought
\n8a.\u3000Modern Japan and Religion
\n8b.\u3000Modern Japan and Religion
\n9a.\u3000Life, Death and Religion
\n9b.\u3000 Life, Death and Religion
\n10a.\u3000Religion and Medical Care\/Science
\n10b.\u3000Folklore \/ Disaster, Religion and Relief
\n11a.\u3000Disaster, Religion and Relief
\n11b.\u3000Religion and Society \/ Disaster, Religion and Relief
\n12a.\u3000Christianity, Philosophy of Religion \/ Disaster, Religion and Relief
\n12b.\u3000Religion and Spiritualism \/ Globalization and Religion
\n13a.\u3000Religion and Education
\n13b.\u3000Asian Religions and Religiosity
\n14\u3000\u3000Religion and Society<\/p>\n

Panel Titles and Conveners<\/p>\n

The Birth of Science of Religion, Sociology, and Folklore Studies: Parallelism of Europe and Japan (Reiji And\u014d)<\/p>\n

Problems Relating to Religious Studies after the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami from the Perspective of Practical Activities on the Part of the Religious (Mitsugu Shinmen)<\/p>\n

Judaism and the Crises It Has Faced: When Tradition Collapses (Etsuko Katsumata)<\/p>\n

The Conflict between a State and a Religious Group: Institution of Religious Law and Religious Person in the Postwar Period (Kenji Ishii)<\/p>\n

Considering the Role of Fieldwork in the Historical Study of Religion (Eiichi \u014ctani)<\/p>\n

Nostalgia for Homeland Linking Religion and Immigrant (Y\u014dhei Fujino)<\/p>\n

Public and Religiosity in \u201cState Shinto\u201d during 1926-1945 (Hiromasa Fujita)<\/p>\n

The House of Shirakawa and Shirakawa Shintoism (Takeshi Yamaguchi)<\/p>\n

Revisiting Postwar Theories of Japanese Buddhism (Orion Klautau)<\/p>\n

\u201cLife and Death\u201d and Transcendence in Religion (Shinry\u014d Takada)<\/p>\n

What Challenges Do Religious Views of \u201cInochi\u201d Face in the Technological Era (Yasunori And\u014d)<\/p>\n

Re-examination of \u201cSoul and Matter\u201d in the Times after the Great Disaster: A Reevaluation of Japanese Buddhism (Y\u016ban Toda)<\/p>\n

Religious Care in the Public Sphere: Possibilities of Chaplain Activities in Japan (Hara Takahashi)<\/p>\n

Religions in Iwaki City after the Great East Japan Earthquake (Yoshir\u014d Terada)<\/p>\n

Religious Studies on the Narrative of Disasters (Kazuo Matsumura)<\/p>\n

Transnational Religions in Korea and Japan (Yoshihide Sakurai)<\/p>\n

Education and Edification in Asian Religions (Hidenari Nishio)<\/p>\n

Re-visioning Japanese Religiosity: Perspectives from the Current Religious Situations of Europe, the United States, Korea, and Japan (Yoshinari Fuji)<\/p>\n

Postsecularism and Publicness (Ry\u016bji Fujimoto)<\/p>\n

For individual paper titles, please check Journal of Religious Studies<\/em>, No. 375, March 2013.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Report on the 71st Annu…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":80,"menu_order":1,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_expiration-date-status":"saved","_expiration-date":0,"_expiration-date-type":"","_expiration-date-categories":[],"_expiration-date-options":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jpars.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/92"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jpars.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jpars.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jpars.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jpars.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/jpars.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/92\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":93,"href":"https:\/\/jpars.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/92\/revisions\/93"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jpars.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/80"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jpars.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}