REL 332: Religions of Japan
University of Southern California
Fall 2013 TH 2:00-4:50, KAP 150
Instructor: Christopher Callahan
Course Description
When asked “what is your religion?” “what do you believe?” most Japanese today
respond, “I have no religion” and “I have no religious beliefs.” Despite these
responses, we find young children being brought to Shinto shrines to mark their
birth and earlier years, students buying protective charms to ensure their success in
exams, young couples opting to have a Christian style wedding, office workers
engaging in Zen meditation as part of their job training and Buddhist funerals being
performed for pets, aborted fetuses and a large portion of the population. Indeed,
religion in Japan seems to be everywhere, and those who call themselves nonreligious seem to be engaged in a high degree of religious activity.
What are we to make of these denials of religion and religious belief in Japan in the
face of the ubiquitous presence of religion in Japan? How are we to understand the
participation in the religious practices with little ascribed religious belief? What
does it mean to perform religious practices of several traditions but to claim to
belong to none? What role did religions of Japan, Shinto, Buddhism, Confucianism,
and Christianity, play in the history of Japan? What role do these religions play
today in Japanese society and culture?
While reflecting on our own assumptions about religion and about Japan, this course
traces the history and development of the varieties of Japanese religious thought,
practice and cultural expression. This course will focus primarily on the major
traditions of Japan: Shinto and Buddhism, with some attention to Confucianism and
Christianity. Read alongside secondary literature for context and interpretation, we
will examine a number of primary materials in translation, such as historical
documents, Shinto mythical narratives, Buddhist philosophical treatises, court
poetry, Nô dramas, travel diaries, folk tales, a novel, political tracts, and an animated
film. Some of the themes and issues that we will be exploring the class are religious
syncretism, gender, class and religious identity, the primacy of religious practice, the
relationship of religion to the arts, the relation of religion and the state, and
Japanese religion and pop culture.
Requirements and Grades
CLASS PREPARTION AND PARTICIPATION: Students should come to class having
done all of the required readings and participate in class discussions. The classes
will consist of lectures, the viewing of movie clips and the discussion of the readings.
CLOSE READING PAPERS: Beginning in the third week, students will be asked to
submit a two-page (double-spaced) “close reading” of one of the primary texts for
the week. A “close reading” should introduce the text by providing some contextual
information about the text and then analyze the text in terms of major motifs,
symbols, and concepts. A question or two should be formulated with respect to the
text and the larger issues of the week.
EXAMS: We will have two exams: one take home midterm and one final exam given
during exam week. Exams will cover major themes, ideas, events, people, and texts
we have discussed in class. They will consist primarily of identifications, shortanswer questions, and essays.
FINAL PAPER: Students will also be required to submit a final paper 8-10 pages
(double spaced, 12 point font) in length. A prospectus for the paper, which
proposes the paper topic, offers a preliminary thesis, provides an outline and a
bibliography, should be submitted by October 25th. The final draft of the paper is
due on Nov. 29th. A brief paper presentation will be given on the last day of the
class.
Grades will be determined as follows:
Class preparation and participation
Close Reading Papers
Take home Midterm Exam
Final Paper
Final Presentation
Final Examination
25%
20%
5%
30%
10%
10%
I would like to meet with each of you individually at least once during the semester
to talk about the class, final paper, etc. My office is in ACB 103B and my office
hours will be Tuesday 2-4 and after class on Wednesday.
Textbooks
The following books are available for purchase at the University Bookstore (with the
exception of No Abode). They have also been placed on Course Reserves at Leavey
Library.
(1) Paul Varley, Japanese Culture, 4th edition, Honolulu, University of Hawai’i
Press, 2000. (Available online through Homer)
(2) William Lafleur, The Karma of Words: Buddhism and the Literary Arts in
Medieval Japan. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1983.
(3) No Abode: The Record of Ippen, Dennis Hirota, trans. Honolulu: University of
Hawai’i University Press, 1986. (Out of print, order online)
(4) How to Raise an Ox: Zen Practice as Taught in Master Dogen’s Shobogenzo,
trans. Francis Dojun Cook. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2002.
(5) Japanese No Theatre, Royall Tyler, trans. London, Penguin Books, 1992.
(6) Shusaku Endo, Silence, William Johnston, trans. New York: Taplinger
Publishing Company, 1980.
(7) Yamamoto Tsunetomo, Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai, trans. William
Scott Wilson. Tokyo: Kodansha, 2002. (multiple editions, available online).
(8) Okakura Kakuzô, The Book of Tea, Dover Press (multiple editions, available
online).
Some supplementary readings will be made available on online through Blackboard.
For help with using Blackboard, see the following video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7g6pdURXyY0&feature=youtu.be
The following textbooks can be found online through Elibrary (accessible via USC
ID):
Varley’s Japanese Culture:
http://site.ebrary.com/lib/uscisd/docDetail.action?docID=5004640
Debary’s Sources of Japanese Tradition, vol. 1:
http://site.ebrary.com/lib/uscisd/docDetail.action?docID=10183340
Reference Works
These references works have been placed on reserve at Leavey Library or are
available online through Homer (from a USC network computer, or for USC users
logged on through VPN.
(1) William Theodore DeBary, Sources of Japanese Tradition, Volume 1, second
edition. New York, Columbia University Press, 2001. (available online
through Homer)
(2) Robert Buswell, ed., Encyclopedia of Buddhism (Farmington Hills, MI:
Macmillan Reference, USA, 2004),
http://infotrac.galegroup.com/itweb/usocal_main?db=GVRL
(3) Richard Bowring, The Religious Traditions of Japan, 500-1600 (Cambridge,
England: Cambridge UP, 2005)
(4) The Cambridge History of Japan, 5 vols. (New York: Cambridge UP, 1989).
http://histories.cambridge.org.libproxy.usc.edu/uid=1609/collection?id=set
_cambridge_history_japan
(5) Paul Swanson and Clark Chilson, eds., Nanzan Guide to Japanese Religions
(Honolulu, University of Hawai’i Press, 2006)
(6) Lindsay Jones, ed., Encyclopedia of Religion, 2nd edition, 15 vols. (Detroit,
Macmillian Reference, USA, 2005).
http://go.galegroup.com.libproxy.usc.edu/ps/eToc.do?inPS=true&prodId=G
VRL&userGroupName=usocal_main&searchType=AdvancedSearchForm&do
cId=GALE%7C5BTO
Statement for Students with Disabilities
Any student requesting academic accommodations based on a disability is required
to register with Disability Services and Programs (DSP) each semester. A letter of
verification for approved accommodations can be obtained from DSP. Please be sure
the letter is delivered to me (or to TA) as early in the semester as possible. DSP is
located in STU 301 and is open 8:30 a.m.–5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. The
phone number for DSP is (213) 740-0776.
Statement on Academic Integrity
USC seeks to maintain an optimal learning environment. General principles of
academic honesty include the concept of respect for the intellectual property of
others, the expectation that individual work will be submitted unless otherwise
allowed by an instructor, and the obligations both to protect one’s own academic
work from misuse by others as well as to avoid using another’s work as one’s own.
All students are expected to understand and abide by these principles. Scampus, the
Student Guidebook, contains the Student Conduct Code in Section 11.00, while the
recommended sanctions are located in Appendix A:
http://www.usc.edu/dept/publications/SCAMPUS/gov/. Students will be referred
to the Office of Student Judicial Affairs and Community Standards for further review,
should there be any suspicion of academic dishonesty. The Review process can be
found at: http://www.usc.edu/student-affairs/SJACS/.
Schedule
Aug. 29
of
FIRST DAY OF CLASS
Course Overview: Syllabus and Course expectations.
Introducing
Japanese Religions: Major Issues, Themes and
Questions
The Big questions: What/where/how is “Religion” in Japan?
Robert Kisala, “Japanese Religions,” Nanzan Guide to Japanese
Religions, pp. 1-13. Ian Reader, “Turning to the Gods in Times
Trouble: The Place, Time and Structure of Japanese Religion,”
Religion in Contemporary Japan, pp. 1-22. (both readings
available on Blackboard)
Sept. 5
TH
TH
The Emergence of Japanese Civilization:
The Way of the Kami and the Way of the Buddha
Background Reading: Paul Varley, Japanese Culture 1-47
Primary Sources: deBary, “Early Shintō,” “Prince Shōtoku and
Constitution,” “Nara Buddhism,” Sources of Japanese
Vol. 1 pp. 17-62. 101-21.
TH
The Flowering of Court Culture and the Formation of
“Japanese” Buddhism
Background Reading: Paul Varley, Japanese Culture 48-76
Primary Sources: deBary, Sources of Japanese Tradition, “Saichō
and Mount Hiei,” “Kūkai and Esoteric Buddhism,” Vol. 1
123-74.
TH
Japanese Religions and Court Culture:
The Karma of Words and the Shining Prince
Background Reading: Chapters One and Two, William Lafleur,
Karma of Words 1-59.
Primary Sources: Selections from Japanese Court Poetry,
Shikibu, The Tale of Genji, (selections), trans. Tyler
(blackboard)
TH
The Advent of a New Age and Japanese Religious
his
Tradition,
Sept. 12
pp.
Sept. 19
Murasaki
Sept 26
Aesthetics
Background Reading: Paul Varley, Japanese Culture 78-139;
William Lafleur, Karma of Words Chapters Three and Five
Primary Sources: Kamo no Chōmei, An Account of My Hut
In class Movie clip: “Earless Hōichi” from Kwaidan, directorKobayashi Masaki
Oct. 3
TH
The Practice of the Nembutsu: Ippen
No Abode: The Record of Ippen, trans. Dennis Hirota
OCT. 10
TH
The Practice of Zen: Dōgen
How to Raise an Ox: Zen Practice as Taught in Master Dogen's
Shōbōgenzō, trans. Francis Cook
Oct. 11-18
TAKE HOME MIDTERM EXAM
DISTRIBUTED AND SUBMITTED ONLINE
Oct. 17
TH
Worldview
Noh Theatre and the Medieval Japanese Religious
Oct. 24
TH
The Arrival of the Barbarians and the Unification of the
Country: The Silence of Christianity in Japan
Background Reading: Paul Varley, Japanese Culture 140-163
Primary Reading: Shusaku Endo, Silence (whole novel)
October 25
F
Final Paper Prospectus Due
October 31
TH
The Flourishing of Bourgeois Culture and Religion
Background Reading: Paul Varley, Japanese Culture 164-204;
William Lafleur, Karma of Words, Chapter Eight
Primary Reading: Matsuo Basho, “The Narrow
Road to the North” (entire, blackboard)
Nov. 7
TH
Neo-Confucianism and The Way of the Samurai
Background Reading: Paul Varley, Japanese Culture 205-234
Primary Reading: Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai, trans.
William Scott Wilson (entire).
Background Reading: “Introduction,” Royall Tyler, Japanese No
Theatre; William Lafleur, Karma of Words, Chapter Six
Primary Readings: Selected Plays from Japanese No Theatre,
Royal Tyler
Nov. 14
TH
The Encounter with the West, Modernity and Tradition
Background Reading: Paul Varley, Japanese Culture 235-303
Primary Sources: Okakura Kakuzô, “The Book of Tea.” (entire)
Nov. 21
TH
and
Japanese Religion and Pop Culture in the Present Age
Background Reading: Paul Varley, Japanese Culture 304-351.
Selected passages from Drawing on Tradition: Manga, Anime,
Religion in Contemporary Japan,
Primary Sources: Vagabond by Inoue Takehiko, vol.
2. (available online)
Miyazaki Hayao, Princess Mononoke (entire film viewed in
class)
Nov. 27
TH
No Class Thanksgiving Break
Nov. 29
F
Paper Due (submitted online)
Dec. 5
TH
LAST DAY OF CLASS
Reflections on the Course
Paper Presentations
Review for Final Exam
Exam week: TBA
FINAL EXAM