Book launchThursday 29 April 2010
5:00pm – 6:00pm
'A New History of Shinto' by John Breen and Mark Teeuwen
Drinks reception from 7:00pm
Daiwa Foundation Japan House
Organised by the Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation
A New History of Shinto is an innovative exploration of the development of Shinto from ancient times to the present day. The authors explore the various shrines, myths, and rituals of pre–Shinto worship, examining the processes by which they were then interpreted as Shinto and merged into the notion of Shinto that exists in Japan today. Key moments are examined in Shinto’s long evolutionary process from ancient times through the medieval and early modern periods to the critical juncture of the Meiji Revolution of 1868 and beyond. Drawing on original research, this book encapsulates Shinto’s long history and continuing influence.
About the contributors
Dr John Breen
John Breen is Reader in Japanese at SOAS (University of London) and Associate Professor at the International Research Centre for Japanese Studies in Kyoto, where he edits the journal ‘Japan Review’. His publications include ‘Yasukuni, the War Dead and the Struggle for Japan’s Past’ (edited, 2008), Inoue Nobutaka, ‘Shintō: A Short Histor’y (translated and adapted with Mark Teeuwen, 2002), ‘Shintō in History: Ways of the Kami’ (edited with Mark Teeuwen, 2000), and ‘Japan and Christianity: Impacts and Responses’, (edited with Mark Williams, 1996).
Professor Mark Teeuwen
Mark Teeuwen is Professor of Japanese Studies at the University of Oslo. As well as the books authored and edited with John Breen, he is co–editor of ‘Buddhas and Kami in Japan: Honji Suijaku as a Combinatory Paradigm’ (with Fabio Rambelli, 2003) and ‘The Culture of Secrecy in Japanese Religion’ (with Bernhard Scheid, 2006).
Professor Brian Bocking
Brian Bocking (chair) is Professor of the Study of Religions at University College Cork, Ireland. His recent publications include ‘The Oracles of the Three Shrines’ (‘Sanja Takusen’) London, Curzon Press (2000), ‘Shinto’ in Lindsay Jones (ed.) ‘Encyclopedia of Religion’ (2nd Edition), Gale Macmillan, USA. Vol.12 (2005) and ‘The meanings of Shinto’ in Christoph Kleine, Monika Schrimpf and Katja Triplett (eds) ‘Unterwegs, Neue Pfade in der Religionswissenschaft’ (‘New Paths in the Study of Religions’), Biblion Verlag, Munich ( 2004).