ABSTRACT
There are three main steps in the argument and materials presented below. First of all, an exploration is made of the relationship between rationality and irrationality in the history of Japanese religions. This relationship may appear in some respects to be a paradoxical one but, however interpreted, its historical and analytical significance is beyond doubt. Second, a brief account is given of the continuing presence of religion in 'enchanted', or as one might say, non-demystified forms in contemporary Japan. Some illustrative material from the Chinese culture of Singapore is also adduced for comparative purposes. Third, detailed examples are presented from the context of contemporary Shinto. These might seem to a casual observer to be extremely automatised rituals or even 'superstitious' acts. However, as will be explained, such acts may be regarded as internally rational in the sense that they seek to correlate a given human situation with various possibilities of shaping one's own life for the good. The human situation is perceived, at anyone time and for anyone life, to be partly inherited and partly determined in other ways. It is therefore regarded as somehow given. The following questions then arise. How can the situation be analysed, what can be done about it, and how can life be shaped accordingly? Much religious activity in Japan and other parts of East Asia is devoted to the consideration of such questions and to providing a ritual context for the development of
Japan and Asian Modernities
life-shaping decisions such as how to name children, when to start a new business and many other matters of daily importance. In conclusion, it is argued that such phenomena are best understood in the context of primal religious systems, and that these are likely to be in evidence for years to come.
