Religious Information Research Center (RIRC) - JP @RIRC_2021_E

K. Date and J.-F. Laniel, ed. A New Approach to Global Studies from the Perspective of Small Nations (Routledge, 2023) is published. This book includes a paper by H. Tanaka “Imagining a small nation in an empire: Kōtoku Shūsui and his 'small-nationism'.” routledge.com/A-New-Approach…

"RIRC Channeru" uploaded the final of a series of six extra videos on 1 Feb: “From the Study of Contemporary Religions to the Establishment of RIRC.” The director INOUE explains how RIRC was founded, discussing his interest on cognitive study of religion. youtube.com/watch?v=Q7pol7…

According to the Religion Yearbook (2022 edition), published in Dec 2022, the total number of religious corporations in Japan fell below the 180,000 level maintained since 1959 to 179,952 at the end of 2021. Despite of an overall downward trend, Christian organizations increased.

"RIRC Channeru" uploaded an extra video on 24 Oct entitled “From the Study of Contemporary Religions to the Establishment of RIRC.” The series comprises six videos, with director INOUE Nobutaka’s reminiscences from student days, and Q&A with RIRC members. youtube.com/watch?v=xEilza…

"RIRC Channeru" uploaded a video on 4 October entitled "Religious Literacy and Education in Religious Culture.” While cult prevention is a major issue at universities in Japan, it is quite necessary to deepen understanding of various religions in the world.youtube.com/watch?v=7-8sKF…

SUZUKI Eito's book, 3000 Days in Pursuit of Contamination of the Unification Church of the LDP was published by Shogakukan on 26 September. The book quickly became a bestseller. Mr. Suzuki is a freelance journalist who have investigated the UC in detail for many years. #Moonies

On Aug. 29, Japan's Consumer Affairs Agency held the first meeting of a panel on malicious sales practices, such as “spiritual sales" used by the Unification Church. One of the panel members is KITO Masaki, a member of the National Network of Lawyers Against Spiritual Sales.

The mother of former PM Abe's shooter donated heavily to the Unification Church and went up bankrupt. The link between this and the incident has been widely discussed, so "RIRC Channeru" uploaded a video on 26 July entitled "What is the cult problem?" youtube.com/watch?v=p3TXPx…

After a press conference by the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification on 11 July, the mainstream Japanese media outlets finally began to specify the religious organization to which the mother of former Prime Minister Abe's shooter belonged as Unification Church.

The Anglican Communion in Japan (the Nippon Sei Ko Kai) ordained Maria Grace Tazu Sasamori as Bishop of Hokkaido on April 23. She had been elected as the first female Bishop in Japan on November 3, 2021. The service took place at the Cathedral Church of Sapporo Christ Church.

Launched on YouTube last December, “RIRC Channeru” has uploaded seven videos already. The latest video is titled “Number of Religious Juridical Persons Declines in 2020 compared to the previous year: Basics of Religious Corporations.” youtube.com/watch?v=nXBiB3…

On 21 Feb. the Niwano Peace Foundation announced that Father Michael Lapsley had been awarded the 39th Niwano Peace Prize. He came to South Africa as a priest of the Anglican Church. He led anti-apartheid movement, and established the Institute for Healing of Memories in 1998.

Happy to announce the article of our colleague Hiroki Tanaka has been published in Archives de sciences sociales des religions. Titled "Laïcité et pacifisme", this article points out the correlation of secularism and pacifism in post-war Japan. More Info : journals.openedition.org/assr/59282

Religious Information Research Center launched a channel on YouTube on 1 Dec. The title of the channel is “RIRC Channeru.” Members of RIRC comment on recent religion news from Japan and abroad, and explain relevant keywords. #AumShinrikyo #ReligionNews youtube.com/channel/UCtwdr…

On Oct. 25, the Public Security Intelligence Agency announced that they had filed a request with the Public Security Examination Commission to apply the preventive action first time against Aum Shinrikyō's successor group, Aleph, as not having submitted required reports twice.

Broadcasted from Rissho Kosei-kai’s Horin-kaku, the Asian Conference of Religions for Peace opened the 9th General Assembly Tokyo on Oct. 19, with the theme of “Asian Religious Communities in Action”. It was the first time the assembly was held in Japan.

The distribution ceremony of Shrine Amulets and Calendars was held at the Ise Grand Shrine on Sep 17. Both were bestowed on the president of the Association of Shinto Shrines by the senior chief priest, being distributed to local shrine priests, then parishioners within the year.

The research result conducted in June by the institute which researches the future of Buddhist temples and Nomura Securities Co. was recently released. The percentage of those who are aware of a Buddhist-parishioner was 25%, a 4% decrease from the survey conducted five years ago.

On August 24, Terunofuji, the 73rd yokozuna, received the recommendation for promotion to the rank of yokozuna and dedicated a ring entrance ceremony at Meiji Jingū shrine, Tokyo. He is from Mongolia and took Japanese nationality recently. d-museum.kokugakuin.ac.jp/eos/detail/?id…

On July 15, the Nagoya Regional Immigration Services Bureau unintentionally served powdered soup, which contains religiously prohibited ingredients, to a detainee. Having noticed this, they apologized to him, but didn't announce the detailed information to protect his privacy.