Japanese Youth Confronts Religion: A Sociological SurveyFernando M. Basabe

Excerpt

The aim of our research was to study exclusively one of the most important elements concerning the attitude of contemporary Japanese youth toward religion–that is, whether the attitude toward religion was “favorable” or “unfavorable.” Our purpose, however, was not limited to reaching a flat conclusion, such as “The young Japanese student holds a favorable (or unfavorable) attitude toward religion.” Our intention was to provide a detailed analysis of the different elements which make up the “favorable” or “unfavorable” attitude. Furthermore, we intended to investigate the roots of such an attitude. Our questionnaire was designed to achieve this goal; but at the same time it was constructed in such a way as to provide indirectly another significant element related to any religious mentality. This element is the degree of “subjectivity” or “objectivity” involved in the concept of religion. In other words, we hoped to find out whether the Japanese student envisages religion merely as a subjective matter or whether he recognizes in religion some elements which clearly appear as objectively independent of human thought and feelings.

1967. 183 pages.
Hardback. [Out of print]