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New Religions
Beyond the three traditional religions and the
smaller Western religious groups, many religious movements
categorized together as ‘New Religions’ have been
gaining in popularity among the Japanese. Drawing on the principles
of Shinto, Buddhism, and folk mythologies, these religions
are officially recognized and number in the hundreds. Their
total memberships is said to be in the tens of millions though
they come nowhere near the numbers of Shinto and Buddhist members,
amounting to only slightly more than the number of Japanese
Christians.
The largest of the new religions was founded
in 1930 and is a Buddhist sect called Soka Gakkai. The political
party, the
New Komeito Party, belongs to this faith and exercises a
great
deal of clout in both national and local assemblies. This
connection between religion and political concerns is often
criticized
based on the Japanese Constitution’s dictate the separation
of religion and state.
Some of these new religions include:
- True Light Sect
- God Soul Sect
- Kiriyama Esotericism
- The Institute for Research
in Human Happiness
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