Date of Award
8-1999
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Department
Comparative Religion
First Advisor
Dr. H. Byron Earhart
Second Advisor
Dr. Nancy Falk
Third Advisor
Dr. Brian Wilson
Access Setting
Masters Thesis-Campus Only
Abstract
In a 1990 census, of all Japanese who professed a religious belief, only 0.7 percent were Christians. This unpopularity could be mainly attributable to stagnant assimilation of Christianity into Japanese cultural and religious values.
Makuya, founded by Ikuro Teshima in 1948 and developed from the Non-Church movement led by Kanzo Uchimura, attracted nearly 60,000 members in some twenty years. The factors contributing to its popularity are assumed to be assimilation and some special characteristics of the founder, generally common to founders of Japanese new religions-charisma or supernatural power and paternal authority.
Field study was conducted, which included site observations and questionnaire-interviews with nine Makuya members. Makuya's assimilation was observed at the site and documented in the questionnaire-interviews. Founder Teshima's charisma and paternal authority were also described by the participants.
Recommended Citation
Mita, Etsuko, "Makuya" (1999). Masters Theses. 3745.
https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/masters_theses/3745