Society for the Study of Japanese Religions
EVENTS
Music and Sound in Japanese Religions
SSJR Roundtable at the AAS
March 17 (Friday), 9:00 AM - 10:30 AM
Boston Sheraton Hotel - Independence West (2nd Floor)
Music and sound have long played vital yet under-studied roles in Japanese religions. Rituals feature manifold soundscapes through a panoply of instruments and the vocalization of sacred texts, as well as ambient sounds. Soundscapes mark ritual time, transport participants to different worlds, and evoke the emotions that define immersion in religious communities. Sound serves as a vehicle for communication with the sacred, because sonic expressions carry cosmological significance. Outside ritual contexts, music plays crucial roles in the lives of practitioners, with some devotees interpreting the playing of secular music as a religious practice. However, scholars of Asian religions rarely include the aural dimension in their research.
In this interdisciplinary roundtable, five scholars will draw on their in-depth research to discuss how the study of music provides important insights to Japanese religions. Makoto Harris Takao works on Japan’s global relations from the sixteenth century to the present day through the lenses of music, religion, and emotion. Jennifer Milioto Matsue explores iterations of the Heart Sutra in popular music, analyzing how this transliteration into secular idioms impacts its original sacred intent. Duncan Reehl discusses how priests of traditional Buddhist denominations use popular music genres to popularize Buddhism and negotiate their professional and personal identities. Levi McLaughlin considers ways Soka Gakkai members have shaped their individual lives and the religion as a whole through treating European classical music as a Buddhist practice. Mina Endo examines the significance of musical practices through the historical evolution and practice of Buddhist hymns sung by Japanese American immigrants.
Our roundtable will discuss how we may apply insights from perspectives we gain from studying intersections of music, the importance of sound, and religious practice. What methods and approaches are useful in this endeavor? Which challenges and limitations do we face? How can we communicate musicological research to scholars of Japanese religions with a limited music background? Following reflections by each panelist, the session will engage the audience in discussion. We hope to inspire more scholars of Asian religions to incorporate sonic aspects into their research.
Practically Religious in Practice:
Twenty-Five Years of Scholarship and Counting
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SSJR Roundtable at the AAR
Saturday, November 18, 2023, 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Marriott Rivercenter-Grand Ballroom, Salon G
Participants: Stephen Covell (chair), Gereon Kopf, Jolyon Thomas, Kaitlyn Ugoretz, Adam Lyons, and Erica Baffelli
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Ian Reader and George Tanabe’s Practically Religious (University of Hawai’i Press, 1998) was a groundbreaking work that continues to influence scholars today. While not explicitly written in conversation with scholars in the nascent field of Lived Religion at the time, it was perhaps one of the first and most influential works on what later became known as the study of lived religion in Japan. The book highlights the categories of moral luck and good luck, the marketing of benefits, the confluence between high and low traditions, and the distinction between cognitive and affective belief. Appealing to textual scholars, ethnographers, Buddhologists, and many others, it continues to be cited in contemporary research and is a staple assignment in many courses.
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In celebration of this seminal work’s 25th anniversary, the Society for the Study of Japanese Religions (SSJR) will host a roundtable of scholars who have benefited from the book in their teaching and research. The discussion will center on how we as scholars and teachers might best engage with this work and the broader field of lived religion in our research, in the classroom, and in public-facing scholarship (blogs, podcasts, YouTube channels, etc.). Audience participation will be highly encouraged, so please bring your own ideas too.
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Teaching Japanese Religions: Innovative Methods for Engaging Learning
SSJR Roundtable at the AAS
Saturday, March 16, 2024; 2:00 PM - 3:30 PM
Redwood A (2nd Floor, Sheraton)
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Panelists: Victoria Montrose, Mark MacWilliams, Yoshiko Okuyama, Matthew Mitchell, Emily B. Simpson
In this roundtable, five scholars discuss innovative teaching methods that promote student engagement. These methods are inspired by new technologies that offer novel ways for fostering active learning and help make Japanese religions come to life for students. The panelists present examples from various contexts, ranging from seminars at liberal arts colleges to asynchronous classes at a large state school. They also talk about how we can reimagine final projects. Victoria Montrose discusses the integration of AI into the classroom. In her course Religions of Japan, students explore the textual and visual representations of Amida’s Pure Land throughout Japanese history. They then use these descriptions as prompts for an AI image generator. This assignment helps students experience the challenge that Pure Land Buddhists have faced in visualizing the Pure Land. Mark MacWilliams surveys how he uses visual culture such as mandala, manga, anime, and temple gardens as expedient means and engages students through creative assignments such as posters. He then focuses on how students collaborated in the research for his online book Pilgrimages: Canton to Chichibu. Yoshiko Okuyama introduces her asynchronous course, Japanese Mythology in Film, in which students learn to decipher religious symbols embedded in popular films such as “Demon Slayer” and “Your Name.” She uses weekly discussion and peer feedback, creativity contests, and presentations via Flip to increase learner engagement. Matthew Mitchell discusses freely available digital means as teaching tools. Students can use YouTube to conduct ethnographic analyses of festivals and learn about vernacular aspects of religious traditions. Mitchell further uses PollEverywhere for various in-class activities; for example, to access the students’ conceptions of a topic by creating word clouds. Emily Simpson explains how she utilizes flexible formats for assignments. She lets students work in groups on quizzes, analyses of myths, or dating profiles for deities. For individual projects, students can choose alternative formats such as producing podcasts, websites, or adventure stories, which encourages students to draw on their technological knowledge in creating content. The session concludes with an open discussion about innovative teaching methods.
Japanese Religions Beyond Japanese Religious Studies:
Engaging a Broader Community
SSJR Roundtable at the AAR
November 19, 2022, 5:00-6:30 pm
Sheraton, Directors Row J
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How can and why should we talk about Japanese religions to people outside of our field? The Society for the Study of Japanese Religions is bringing together scholars with experience engaging with non-specialists through talks, scholarship, podcasts, YouTube content, news sites, Twitter, and beyond. This informal roundtable will focus on how scholars have talked with the public (broadly speaking), news organizations, faith-based groups, college administrators, and so on, and what the benefits might be of such efforts. Invited panelists include Stephen Covell, Megan Goodwin, Jolyon Thomas, Kaitlyn Ugoretz, and Duncan Williams and will be co-chaired by SSJR officers Matthew Mitchell, Michaela Mross, and Caleb Carter.
Music and Sound in Japanese Religions
SSJR Roundtable at the AAS
March 17 (Friday), 9:00 AM - 10:30 AM
Boston Sheraton Hotel - Independence West (2nd Floor)
Music and sound have long played vital yet under-studied roles in Japanese religions. Rituals feature manifold soundscapes through a panoply of instruments and the vocalization of sacred texts, as well as ambient sounds. Soundscapes mark ritual time, transport participants to different worlds, and evoke the emotions that define immersion in religious communities. Sound serves as a vehicle for communication with the sacred, because sonic expressions carry cosmological significance. Outside ritual contexts, music plays crucial roles in the lives of practitioners, with some devotees interpreting the playing of secular music as a religious practice. However, scholars of Asian religions rarely include the aural dimension in their research.
In this interdisciplinary roundtable, five scholars will draw on their in-depth research to discuss how the study of music provides important insights to Japanese religions. Makoto Harris Takao works on Japan’s global relations from the sixteenth century to the present day through the lenses of music, religion, and emotion. Jennifer Milioto Matsue explores iterations of the Heart Sutra in popular music, analyzing how this transliteration into secular idioms impacts its original sacred intent. Duncan Reehl discusses how priests of traditional Buddhist denominations use popular music genres to popularize Buddhism and negotiate their professional and personal identities. Levi McLaughlin considers ways Soka Gakkai members have shaped their individual lives and the religion as a whole through treating European classical music as a Buddhist practice. Mina Endo examines the significance of musical practices through the historical evolution and practice of Buddhist hymns sung by Japanese American immigrants.
Our roundtable will discuss how we may apply insights from perspectives we gain from studying intersections of music, the importance of sound, and religious practice. What methods and approaches are useful in this endeavor? Which challenges and limitations do we face? How can we communicate musicological research to scholars of Japanese religions with a limited music background? Following reflections by each panelist, the session will engage the audience in discussion. We hope to inspire more scholars of Asian religions to incorporate sonic aspects into their research.
Workshopping Book Proposals on Japanese Religions
Hosted by the Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture with SSJR
Summer 2022
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The Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture, in collaboration with the Society for the Study of Japanese Religions, will host a workshop for the composition of book proposals on academic monographs concerning topics related to Japanese religions. Applicants should be in the process of preparing a book proposal, and priority will be given to applicants who are working toward their first book publication. Applicants should be willing to discuss their book projects with fellow participants as well as provide feedback on proposals and drafts.
Foul-ups, Faux pas, and Mishaps:
A Roundtable on Ethnography in Japanese Religions
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SSJR Roundtable at the AAS
March 27, 2022, 9:00-10:30 HST (Hawai'i)
Open a published work and between its polished lines, you will rarely learn of the misfortunes, mishaps, and personal challenges that occurred during the preliminary stages of research: funding dilemmas, family commitments, political instabilities, and yes, pandemics, that forestalled momentum; nor will you read about the hiccups, miscommunications, and unanticipated obstacles that arose in the field. For junior scholars, such experiences can feel like devastating setbacks, yet these ‘swerves in the road’ can also generate surprising outcomes and even enrich one’s results.In a frank conversation, five scholars of Japanese religions will share insights from their own calamities in the field. Collectively, they bring a range of experiences and backgrounds. Barbara Ambros has long used approaches such as video ethnography and multispecies research to study gender, ethnic minorities, place and space, and human-animal relationships. Erica Baffelli has conducted extensive fieldwork on so-called new religions, minority religions and their members. Michael Dylan Foster has been tracking festivals in two rural communities for two decades. Shuji Iijima has devoted his career to examining religious transformation in various social and environmental contexts in Japan and beyond. Jessica Starling spent two years with temple families in the True Pure Land tradition, and currently investigates the volunteer work of Pure Land Buddhists on behalf of recovered Hansen’s Disease patients. Following brief reflections and personal experiences by each panelist, the session will then engage the audience in a lively discussion. Sponsored by the Society for the Study of Japanese Religions, and drawing on insights emerging from recent discussions around “patchwork ethnography,” this roundtable aims to support students and scholars in early career phase. We also invite scholars from all stages of research and related fields to join us for a dynamic conversation on the challenges, unexpected fruits, and serendipity of fieldwork.
Informal Workshop and Discussions on Job Hunting, Publishing, and More
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AAR 2021 Virtual Session
November 20, 2021, 6:00-7:30pm
The Society for the Study of Japanese Religions is hosting an informal workshop and discussion session at this year's conference. Have questions that you're afraid to ask or senpai knowledge you want to share? This is the space for you! The session is organized as a set of virtual "conversation tables" centered on topics of interest for members at many levels of their careers. These topics include the job search, publishing, second books, tenure and promotion, teaching, and fellowships. Each "table" will be anchored by hosts who will share their knowledge in these areas, and others are welcome to add their perspectives as well. Given the hybrid nature of the AAR conference this year, the SSJR committee has decided to run this as a virtual event, so members who cannot travel to San Antonio can attend. We have set it at a time allowing for participation from North America, Japan, and more, so feel free to join in as you are able! More information about how to join will be sent out via the SSJR email and over social media closer to the meeting time. Non-members who wish to attend can contact Matthew Mitchell for information.