Erica Baffelli
Erica Baffelli is Professor of Japanese Studies at The University of Manchester. Before moving to Manchester in 2013 she was a post-doctoral research fellow of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (2005-2007) and she spent six years in New Zealand, working at the University of Otago as Lecturer and Senior Lecturer in Asian Religions (2007-2013).
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Books by Erica Baffelli
The authors discuss the significance of charismatic leadership, the 'democratisation' of practice and the demands made by movements such as Agonshu on members, while examining how the movement became increasingly focused on revisionist nationalism and issues of Japanese identity. In examining the dilemma that religions commonly face on the deaths of charismatic founders, Erica Baffelli and Ian Reader look at Agonshu's response to Kiriyama's death, looking at how and why it has transformed a human founder into a figure of worship.
By examining Agonshu in the wider context, the authors critically examine the concept of 'new religions'. They draw attention to the importance of understanding the trajectories of 'new' religions and how they can become 'old' even within their first generation.
Despite this growing amount of research on religion and the Internet, comparatively little has focused on non-Western cultures. The general field of study relating to religion and the Internet has paid scant attention to Asian contexts. The field needs a full-length and comprehensive study that focuses on the Japanese religious world and the Internet, not merely to redress the imbalances of the field thus far, but also because such studies will be central to the emerging field of the study of religion and the Internet in future. They will provide important means of developing new theories, constructing new paradigms and understanding the underlying dynamics of this new media form.
Papers by Erica Baffelli
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the CC BY 4.0 license.
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the CC BY 4.0 license.
of secular domains, such as politics, education, and welfare, in order to
offer alternative models to mainstream systems. This paper will discuss the importance placed by new religions on political and educational activities. In particular, it focuses on the activities of several new religions in the field of education, and their ideas on how the education system should be reformed to reflect the groups’ teachings and ideologies. Following a general discussion of this topic, the paper addresses the case of Kōfuku no Kagaku, a new religion founded in the 1980s, which applied for permission to establish a new university in 2014. Kōfuku no Kagaku’s response to the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology’s (Monbukagakushō) rejection of this application provides a pertinent case study to investigate the group’s definition of learning and its vision of the role of education in society.
is trying to construct and promote is centered on its desire to separate itself from Aum. Furthermore, the group seems interested in exploring different religious practices (including practices related to the Shinto tradition) in order to project itself as a ‘‘new group” and not be accused of being a “new Aum.”
This article draws on fieldwork and interviews with Hikari no Wa’s members in order to explore the tension in Hikari no Wa between its attempt to create a ‘‘new religion,” distancing itself completely from the previous leader and practices, and, at the same time, its need to deal with the legacy of Aum Shinrikyō and the consequences of the tragic event of 1995."
The authors discuss the significance of charismatic leadership, the 'democratisation' of practice and the demands made by movements such as Agonshu on members, while examining how the movement became increasingly focused on revisionist nationalism and issues of Japanese identity. In examining the dilemma that religions commonly face on the deaths of charismatic founders, Erica Baffelli and Ian Reader look at Agonshu's response to Kiriyama's death, looking at how and why it has transformed a human founder into a figure of worship.
By examining Agonshu in the wider context, the authors critically examine the concept of 'new religions'. They draw attention to the importance of understanding the trajectories of 'new' religions and how they can become 'old' even within their first generation.
Despite this growing amount of research on religion and the Internet, comparatively little has focused on non-Western cultures. The general field of study relating to religion and the Internet has paid scant attention to Asian contexts. The field needs a full-length and comprehensive study that focuses on the Japanese religious world and the Internet, not merely to redress the imbalances of the field thus far, but also because such studies will be central to the emerging field of the study of religion and the Internet in future. They will provide important means of developing new theories, constructing new paradigms and understanding the underlying dynamics of this new media form.
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the CC BY 4.0 license.
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the CC BY 4.0 license.
of secular domains, such as politics, education, and welfare, in order to
offer alternative models to mainstream systems. This paper will discuss the importance placed by new religions on political and educational activities. In particular, it focuses on the activities of several new religions in the field of education, and their ideas on how the education system should be reformed to reflect the groups’ teachings and ideologies. Following a general discussion of this topic, the paper addresses the case of Kōfuku no Kagaku, a new religion founded in the 1980s, which applied for permission to establish a new university in 2014. Kōfuku no Kagaku’s response to the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology’s (Monbukagakushō) rejection of this application provides a pertinent case study to investigate the group’s definition of learning and its vision of the role of education in society.
is trying to construct and promote is centered on its desire to separate itself from Aum. Furthermore, the group seems interested in exploring different religious practices (including practices related to the Shinto tradition) in order to project itself as a ‘‘new group” and not be accused of being a “new Aum.”
This article draws on fieldwork and interviews with Hikari no Wa’s members in order to explore the tension in Hikari no Wa between its attempt to create a ‘‘new religion,” distancing itself completely from the previous leader and practices, and, at the same time, its need to deal with the legacy of Aum Shinrikyō and the consequences of the tragic event of 1995."
By examining the rivalry between Aum Shinrikyō and Kōfuku no Kagaku, and by examining how the activities of each impacted on those of the other, we can see how religious groups do not formulate policies and teachings, or amend their perspective on the world, in isolation. We argue that while looking at the prevailing religious trends of any era can help us understand the specific teachings of individual groups, we should also pay attention to the interactions between groups. It also suggests that when we discuss categories and types of millennialism, we should be aware that movements can encapsulate more than one form of millennialism at any one time."