ABSTRACT
An estimated two hundred ‘new’ religious movements, known as Shinkoshukyo, ‘newly arisen religions’ or the preferred title of the groups themselves, Shinshukyo, ‘new religions’, are to be found in present-day Japan. Very many of these are indigenous in that their beliefs and practices are for the most part derived from traditional Japanese religions, among which we include Buddhism and Confucianism although they both originated outside Japan. They have, however, a long history in that country and have been influenced, shaped and moulded by Japanese society over a relatively long period of time.
