| NOTA |
(★)´R-0148´es version renovada de este libro. (1.Much has been written on individual religious systems in Japan, such as Shinto, the native religious tradition, Buddhism, especially Zen, the so-called ´new religions´ which have mushroomed since the end of World War II. Yet few attempts have been made to outline the total pattern of religious development. Ichiro Hori´s is the first book to appear in Western literature which portrays the manner in which Shinto, Buddhist, Confucian, and Taoist elements, as well as all kinds of primitive magical beliefs and practices, have been fused on the ´folk´ level. It is this ´folk religion´ which the majority of the Japanese populace follows. ´Folk religion´, transmitted by the common people from the early phase of Japanese history, has greatly conditioned political, economic, and cultural development and continues to satisfy the emotional and religious needs of these people. Hori studies the organic relationship between the Japanese social structure --the family and kinship system, village and community organizations-- and ´folk religion´. He discusses the popular Pure Land Buddhist practice called Nembutsu and the magical custom of reciting the holy name of Buddha Amida (Amitabha). The significance of sacred mountains as the focus of belief in the other world, the unique features of Japanese shamanism, and the survival of shamanistic tendencies in the contemporary ´new religions´ are also studied. A glossary with Japanese characters is included in the index. Of special interest to students of the history of religions, this book will appeal as well to anthropologists, ethnologists, and folklore specialists. 2.Ichiro Hori, trained in Buddhology, history of religions, and folklore studies, is professor of the history of religions at the University of Tokyo and professorial lecturer at Tohoku University and Kokugakuin University. He was visiting professor at The University of Chicago 1957/58 and 1965. This book, based on the 1965 Haskell Lectures on Comparative Religions delivered by Hori at the University of Chicago, has been edited by Joseph M. Kitagawa, professor of history of religions at Chicago, and Alan L. Miller, who is currently working on a thesis on Japanese folk religion.) |
BASE de DATOS, Biblioteca del Centro Cultural de la Embajada de Japon
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