Japanese New Religions and the Internet

A Case Study

Authors

  • Erica Baffelli University of Otago

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/arsr.v23i3.255

Keywords:

New Religious Movements, Japan, Internet, Kōfuku no kagaku

Abstract

Kofuku no Kagaku was founded in 1986 by Okawa Ryuho and it remains one of the most interesting of the Japanese new religious movements in terms of its use of media. However, until December 2004, the only official Japanese website of the group was that of its publishing house. This paper discusses why a group whose success was, from the beginning, connected to an extensive use of mass media decided to open its official website quite late in its lifespan, if we compare it to other religious groups in Japan. Their reluctance to use the Internet seems to be in contradiction with the media strategies of the group. This paper seeks to answer some crucial questions that arise from this contradiction. Could the delay in the creation of a website be related to the risk of members being exposed to online criticism? Is the lack of images of the leader on the Internet a consequence of a new image strategy?

Author Biography

  • Erica Baffelli, University of Otago
    Erica Baffelli is Lecturer in Asian Religion at the University of Otago (New Zealand). Both her doctoral research (Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, 2005) and her post-doctoral research project as fellow of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS, 2005–2007) investigated the relationship between the media and ‘image construction’ of Japanese new religious movements. Her research interests lie primarily in the groups’ self-presentation, both online and offline, and in the interaction between religion and popular cultures.

References

Asahi Shimbun 1991 Ikkagetsu han no sendenhi yaku 20 oku en. (30 July): 29.

Astley, Trevor 1995 The Transformation of a Recent Japanese New Religion: Okawa Ryuho and Kofuku no Kagaku. Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 22(3/4): 343-80.

New Religions. In Nanzan Guide to Japanese Religions, edited by Paul L. Swanson and Clark Chilson, 91-114. University of Hawai‘i Press, Honolulu.

Baffelli, Erica 2005 Vendere la felicità. Media, marketing e nuove religioni giapponesi. Il caso del Kofuku no Kagaku. Ph.D. dissertation, Università Ca’ Foscari di Venezia, Venice, Italy.

Mass Media and Religion in Japan: Mediating the Leader’s Image. Westminster Paper in Communication and Culture 4(1): 83-99.

Charismatic Blogger? Authority and New Religions on the Web 2.0. In Japanese Religions on the Internet: Innovation, Representation, and Authority, edited by Erica Baffelli, Ian Reader and Birgit Staemmler. Routledge, London and New York, forthcoming.

Barbieri, Daniele 2002 L’argomentare sottile di yugop.com. In Pezzini 2002: 207-26.

Berthon, Jean-Pierre 1991 Naissance d’une nouvelle religion: la science du bonheur. Chambre de Commerce et d’industrie du Japon FJE49: 33-36.

Berthon, Jean-Pierre, and Naoki Kashio 2000 Les nouvelles voies spirituelles au Japon: état des lieux et mutations de la religiosité. Archives de sciences sociales des religions 109: 67-85.

Boni, Federico 2002 Il corpo mediale del leader. Meltemi, Rome.

Chryssides, George D. 1996 New Religions and the Internet. Diskus 4(2). Online: http://web.uni-marburg.de/religionswissenschaft/journal/diskus/chryssides_3.html (accessed January 19, 2010).

Dawson, Lorne L., and Jenna Hennebry 1999 New Religions and the Internet: Recruiting in a New Public Space. Journal of Contemporary Religion 14(1): 17-39. doi:10.1080/13537909908580850.

Ferraro, Guido 1999 La pubblicità nell’era di Internet. Meltemi, Roma.

Goffman, Erving 1961 Encounters. Two Studies in the Sociology of Interaction. Bobbs-Merrill, Indianapolis.

Greimas, Algirdas J., and Joseph Courtés 1982 Semiotics and Language: An Analytical Dictionary, translated by Larry Crist et al. Indiana University Press, Bloomington.

Inoue, Nobutaka 1992 Recent Trends in the Study of Japanese New Religions. New Religions: Contemporary Papers on Japanese Religions 2: 4-24.

Iwasa, Yoshiya 1993 Shinrensai. ‘Shukyo’ ni manabu maketingu katsudo. (2) Dantai no kokoku puromoshon. Senden kaigi (June): 128-34.

Kienle, Petra, and Birgit Staemmler 2003 Self-representation of Two New Religions on the Japanese Internet: Jehovah’s Witnesses and Seicho no Ie. In Japanese Cybercultures, edited by Nanette Gottlieb and Mark J. McLelland, 222-34. Routledge, London.

Kisala, Robert J., and Mark R. Mullins (eds.) 2001 Religion and Social Crisis in Japan: Understanding Japanese Society through the Aum Affair. Palgrave, New York.

Kodansha Furaide Zenkoku Higaisha no Kai (ed.) 1995 Kibo no Kakumei. Kofuku no Kagaku Shuppan, Tokyo.

Kurosaki, Hiroyuki et al. 2000 Denshi nettowakingu no fukyu to shukyo no hen'yo. Hiroyuki Kurosaki, Tokyo.

Mayer, Jean-François 1999 New Religious Movements: Facing the Challenge of the Internet. Unpublished paper presented at the 13th International Conference of CESNUR, Bryn Athyn, PA.

Merlini, Marco 1997 Pescatori di anime. Avverbi, Rome.

Nishida, Kimiaki 1995 Maindo kontororu to wa nani ka. Kinokuniya, Tokyo.

Okawa, Ryuho 1991a Eien no budda. Fumetsu no hikari, ima koto ni. Kofuku no Kagaku shuppan, Tokyo.

b Nosutoradamusu senritsu no keiji. Kofuku no Kagaku shuppan, Tokyo.

c Ara no daikeikoku. Kofuku no Kagaku shuppan, Tokyo.

Pezzini, Isabella (ed.) 2002 Trailer, spot, clip, siti, banner. Le forme brevi della comunicazione audiovisiva. Meltemi, Rome.

Polidoro, Piero 2002 Essere in rete: banner e portali. In Pezzini 2002: 175-205.

Shimazono, Susumu 1994 Shinshukyo o sasu yogo. In Shinshukyo jiten, edited by Inoue Nobutaka et al., 2-5. Ko bundo, Tokyo.

Staemmler, Birgit 2000 First Results of a New Research Project. Online: http://www.uni-tuebingen.de/cyberreligion/dfg/public/staemmler2000.htm (accessed January 19, 2010).

Takahashi, Shingo 1995 Shinkyo no jiyu to maindo kontororu. Imago (January): 6-8.

Takimoto, Taro, and Tatsuya Nagaoka (eds.) 1995 Maindo kontororu kara nogarete: Oumu shinrikyo dakkaishatachi no taiken. Koyu shuppan, Tokyo.

Tenant, Ella 1995 Il marketing al servizio delle nuove religioni giapponesi. Online: http://www.liceoberchet.it/hpstudenti/giappone/societa/nuove.htm (accessed January 19, 2010).

Watanabe, Manabu 2001 Opposition to Aum and the Rise of the ‘Anti-Cult’ Movement in Japan. In Kisala and Mullins 2001: 87-105.

Yakushi’in, Tadashi 1991 Okawa Ryuho & Kofuku no Kagaku. Kyogi, reigen o kiru! Seiron taimususha, Tokyo.

Yonemoto, Kazuhiro, and Hiromi Shimada 1992 Okawa Ryuho no reigen. Tokyo: JICC shuppankyoku. Shiseido, Tokyo.

Published

2011-01-28

How to Cite

Baffelli, E. (2011). Japanese New Religions and the Internet: A Case Study. Journal for the Academic Study of Religion, 23(3), 255-276. https://doi.org/10.1558/arsr.v23i3.255

Most read articles by the same author(s)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 > >>