ABSTRACT
A Ttempts have been made, notably by Durkheim and some of his functionalist followers, to explain the emergence, or at least the survival, of religions in human societies by reference solely to their function in maintaining solidarity within the group, and in creating symbols—collective representations of the group itself—which have constraining effects on the group's members and thus provide an essential means of social control. Few, perhaps, would hold that this is the only function which religion has in society and later chapters will be devoted to the examination of Japanese religious behaviour which can hardly be fitted into the framework of such an ‘explanation’. Nevertheless, it would not be denied that this is one most important aspect of religion, and Shinto, indeed, has become known to the West as almost a type case of a religion which has performed this function with the greatest efficiency at the level of a modern national community.
