Since the 1960s virtually every part of the world has seen the arrival and establishment of Japanese new religious movements, a process that has followed quickly on the heels of the most active period of Japanese economic expansion overseas. This book examines the nature and extent of this religious expansion outside Japan.

Drawing on recent developments in the comparative study of religion, this book explores the trends of the past sixty years from a global perspective. Each of the ten chapters covers the study of religion in a different region of the world, from Europe and the Americas to Asia and the Far East. Topics covered include: local background to the study of religions formation of religious studies in the region important thinkers and writings institutions interregional diversity and interregional connections emerging issues. This book is a major contribution to the field of religious studies and a valuable reference for scholars, researchers and graduate students.

"The mandala in Nichiren Buddhism" is the first comprehensive analysis of Nichiren's mandala in English. As the total number of pages in a single volume would reach 720, the book has been divided into three parts. In this first volume, the origin and evolution of Nichiren's mandala are examined, while the extant works produced in the Bun'ei and Kenji eras (2.1264 4.1275/4.1275 2.1278) are analyzed in detail. The second volume will thus examine the whole extant corpus produced in the Koan period, while in the third the missing, but catalogued mandalas will be analyzed along with a study of Nichiren's works from an holistic perspective, including the scrolls authored by his immediate disciples and later successors, within the various traditions. Together, these three volumes shall provide the reader with exhaustive information on Nichiren's mandala.

Containing some 1500 entries, this new bibliography will be widely welcomed for its comprehensive brief, and for the sub-section profiling principal NRMs convering history, beliefs and practices, main publications, braches worldwide and membership.

Sociologies of Religion: National Traditions presents fourteen histories of the sociological study of religion in a diverse set of nations. Each of the histories is newly written by author who are uniquely situated to tell narrate the story of the field in their countries. They give us the stories behind major personages, theoretical traditions, seminal works, research institutes, and professional associations. The histories trace the various ways the field was established in different academic and religious contexts and the trajectories it took in emerging as a scientific specialty.

Representing work by some of the leading scholars in the field, the chapters in this handbook survey the transformation and innovation of religious traditions and practices in contemporary Japan.

Hidden Christians in Japan: Breaking the Silence examines the contemporary issues facing hidden Christian communities in Japan, looking at how these issues have resulted in the discontinuation of hidden Christian practices, and how these communities adapt to their changing communities. For those who have disbanded or are deciding to disband, this book examines the ways these groups deal with keeping both the traditions and rituals of the hidden Christians alive and how it affects their communal identity as a whole. The way these communities choose to either leave their practices behind as a forgotten legacy of their ancestors or publicly preserve their artifacts and traditions through various means can have a dramatic impact on how the world is able to finally understand their views, but more importantly, how hidden Christian communities cope with the loss for these familial traditions.

Religion is a driving force of the twenty-first century. Here is a book that discusses every aspect of this fascinating subject, proposing an agenda for future study. The authors are leading scholars from all over the world.

This dictionary contains entries which identify the principal historical and mythological names that are central to the Shinto tradition but also demonstrate the relationship of Shinto to Japanese culture. Subjects covered include: the relationship of Shi.