Religion and Spirituality in Japan

While almost everyone in Japan regularly participates in traditionalactivities that are religious and spiritual in nature it is perplexingthat only 20 to 30% of the population self-identify with a particularreligion. Several accounts have been offered to explain this discrepancy but these speculations had never been examined empirically. Thereare several reasons as to why Japanese empirical scientists ignored thetopic for so long. One may be that Japanese scientists themselves aretoo accustomed to the tradition to reflect upon the discrepancy. Sinceeven astute researchers may fail to recognize such a fertile field for empiricalresearch the opportunities and venues to pursue this line of researchin Japanese academia have been scarce.The Empirical Study of the Psychology of Religion and Spiritualityin Japan is a translated version of the original book a collectionof chapters by scholars from different psychological disciplines. It isthe first book with an emphasis on empirical perspectives on the topic.Thus it is also the first book written in English in the field. This bookoffers not only detailed empirical data but also an examination of thetheories and ideologies that underlie contemporary understanding ofreligion and spirituality in Japan.