Revisiting the Rush Hour of the Gods:The People’s Religions of Après la Guerre and Postwar Japan

Revisiting the Rush Hour of the Gods:The People’s Religions of Après la Guerre and Postwar Japan

With the enforcement of the postwar constitution, which guaranteed freedom of religion, numerous religious corporations emerged in the occupied Japan after its defeat in the World War II. This prosperity of new religions is often called "the rush hour of gods". These newly emerged religions were soon severely criticized in the media by journalists. Indeed, their doctrines, as well as organizations, were fairly simple and immature, and many of them disappeared within a short period of time. Thus preceding studies regarded "the rush hour of gods" as simply a result of the social disorder of the time. During the occupation period, not only the politicians and ruling elites, but the Japanese people themselves participated in various discussions and practices to understand the new concepts of "democracy" and "freedom", which was brought by GHQ, and to make a contribution to the nation"s social progress. In this socio-cultural context, the emergence of the new gods is understood as Japanese people"s response to the new social order based on their original interpretations of the time. This study will examine these postwar new religions in an attempt to re-evaluate their social and historical significances.

With the enforcement of the postwar constitution, which guaranteed freedom of religion, numerous religious corporations emerged in the occupied Japan after its defeat in the World War II. This prosperity of new religions is often called "the rush hour of gods". These newly emerged religions were soon severely criticized in the media by journalists. Indeed, their doctrines, as well as organizations, were fairly simple and immature, and many of them disappeared within a short period of time. Thus preceding studies regarded "the rush hour of gods" as simply a result of the social disorder of the time. During the occupation period, not only the politicians and ruling elites, but the Japanese people themselves participated in various discussions and practices to understand the new concepts of "democracy" and "freedom", which was brought by GHQ, and to make a contribution to the nation"s social progress. In this socio-cultural context, the emergence of the new gods is understood as Japanese people"s response to the new social order based on their original interpretations of the time. This study will examine these postwar new religions in an attempt to re-evaluate their social and historical significances.