New Religions and the Thought of the Body in the Interwar Period

Abstract

This paper examines trends in new religions during the interwar period with a focus on the body. During this period, new forms of religious groups emerged alongside existing older new religions that had been active since the late nineteenth century. Overall, the new religions had a large presence in Japan at the time. However, these various religions were also subject to criticism and scorn from the majority of society. In particular, their teachings and practices aimed at curing diseases were regarded as “superficial” and “bogus.” Yet, their approaches to the body involved different aspects of practices than those of the established religions, and it is precisely this bodily practice that distinguishes their modern experience in ways that are different from other religions. I will therefore examine the approach of the new religions to the body in modern society from the perspective of the cultivation of the “working body” and the “disciplined body,” and revisit the modernity of the new religions in relation to capitalism, statism, and the total war regime.