ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the most dramatic cases of a country going from nearly no religious freedom to extensive religious freedom in the twentieth century — Japan. The understanding of religious freedom in Japan goes well beyond the legal revisions. Following World War II, religion was not only deregulated in the laws of the country. Brazil's process of granting religious freedoms has been more gradual, with some religious and social tensions still lingering, but the outcomes have been the same: lower levels of violent religious persecution. Brazil's dynamic and growing pluralism is also accompanied by extremely low levels of violent religious persecution, and the rare incidents of persecution that do occur are generally related to social acts, not to acts by the government. Power in Nigeria is partitioned between religious structures and the state, resulting in higher levels of violent religious persecution, particularly at the hands of non-state actors.
