Widely Read Writings on Religion in Contemporary Japan: Popular Books on Religious Issues, ‘Spiritual Literature’ and Literary Works with Religious Themes

Abstract

In contemporary Japanese literature there are a goodly number of works with religious themes. This chapter talks about widely read writings on religion in contemporary Japan. It starts with the assumption that popular in the sense of being remarkably best selling or vividly discussed in the media religion-related writings represent the mood of an era and function as a kind of cultural storehouse containing temporal images of religion and indications of religious awareness. The chapter considers 'spiritual literature' in its contemporary historical framework from the 1970s right up to the present day, with detailed attention to Yokoo Tadanori, Nakazawa Shin'ichi, and Ehara Hiroyuki, along with literary works with religious themes, including Endō Shūsaku’s Fukai kawa , Gen’yū Sōkyūs Aburakusasu no matsuri and Murakami Haruki’s 1Q84. 'Spiritual literature' is seen as part of the Japanese discourse of religion and as a valuable representation of attitudes towards the religious. Keywords:contemporary Japan; Ehara Hiroyuki; Nakazawa Shin'ichi; religion-related writings; religious themes; spiritual literature; Yokoo Tadanori