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Reiyukai

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Encyclopedia of Latin American Religions

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Definition

Reiyukai (Society of Friends of the Spirits) is a Nichiren-associated neo-Buddhist group of Japanese origin.

Key Information

Reiyukai is considered one of the Japanese new religious movements and probably the oldest of the major modern Nichiren sects (Clarke 2013, p. 203). It was founded by Kakutaro Kubo (1892–1944) in 1924 as an informal association, and its first president was Kimi Kotani (1901–1971). She married Kubo’s brother, Yahukichi Kotani, in 1925.

Reiyukai was formally inaugurated in Tokyo in July 1930 and was incorporated as a religious juridical person in March 1946. According to the group, Mr. Kubo believed that the teaching of Shakyamuni Buddha would be a very good way to stop the social and cultural upheaval that Japan was going through. Western culture was making an impact, “there was rapid industrialization, social liberalism, economic crisis and the destruction caused by the Kanto earthquake of 1924” (Clarke 2013, p. 203). A combination of rapid urban...

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References

  • Clarke P (2013) Bibliography of Japanese new religious movements – with annotations. Routledge, NY

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  • Hardacre H (1984) Lay Buddhism in contemporary Japan, Reiyukai Kyodan. Princeton University Press, Princeton

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  • Reader I (2006) Japanese new religious movements. In: Juergensmeyer M (ed) The Oxford handbook of global religions. Oxford University Press, New York

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  • Shoji R (2004) The nativization of East Asian Buddhism in Brazil. PhD. University of Hannover, Germany

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  • Watanabe M (2008) The development of Japanese new religions in Brazil and their propagation in a foreign culture. Japanese Journal Religious Studies 35(1):115–144

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciência da Religião, Mackenzie University, São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

    Suzana Ramos Coutinho

  2. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciência da Religião, Pontifical University of São Paulo, São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

    Frank Usarski & Rafael Shoji

Authors
  1. Suzana Ramos Coutinho
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  2. Frank Usarski
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  3. Rafael Shoji
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Frank Usarski .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Sociology/Anthropology, Oakland Univ Sociology/Anthropology, Rochester, MI, USA

    Henri Gooren

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Coutinho, S.R., Usarski, F., Shoji, R. (2018). Reiyukai. In: Gooren, H. (eds) Encyclopedia of Latin American Religions. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-08956-0_115-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-08956-0_115-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-08956-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-08956-0

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