This book critically examines the term 'religion' (shuky ) as a social category within the
sociological context of contemporary Japan. Whereas the nineteenth-century construction of
shuky has been critically studied by many the same critical approach has not been extended to
the contemporary context of the Japanese-language discourse on shuky and Temple Buddhism. This
work aims to unveil the norms and imperatives which govern the utilization of the term shuky in
the specific context of modern day Japan with a particular focus upon Temple Buddhism. The
author draws on a number of popular publications in Japanese many of which have been written
by Buddhist priests. In addition the book offers rich interview material from conversations
with Buddhist priests.Readers will gain insights into the critical deconstruction the
historicization and the study of social classification system of 'religion' in terms of its
cross-cultural application to the contemporary Japanesecontext. The book will be of interest to
students and scholars across a range of disciplines including Japanese Studies Buddhology
Religious Studies Social Anthropology and Sociology.
