Religious Attitudes of Japanese Men: A Sociological SurveyFernando M. Basabe

Excerpt

One finds often different, even contradictory, views as to the religiosity of the Japanese people. The official statistics of the Ministry of Education, where the number of believers is much greater than the actual number of inhabitants, seem to confirm the idea, generally admitted, that the Japanese are essentially religious. However, religious studies made in Japan over the past ten years show that the humber of those who profess a religious faith is not greater than 30%, a percentage that goes down to 18% when we consider the young generation between the ages of twenty and forty, and still lower, to 10%, for the university students. Moreover, even for those who believe, their faith is very often superficial and syncretist, seeming to confirm the idea that Japanese religion is like a ‘museum of all the religions of the world.’

Fernando M. Basabe, professor at Sophia University in Tokyo, offers us an investigation of the religious attitudes of a big sector of Japanese Society, the male population between the ages of twenty and forty. The author presents data scientifically obtained through questionnaires and personal interviews. This data is accompanied by a revealing analysis of the relevant factors, cultural as well as sociological and psychological.

1968. 135 pages.
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