Women in Japanese Religions

Contents Acknowledgments ix Introduction: Why Study Women in Japanese Religions? 1 1. The Prehistorical Japanese Archipelago: Fertility Cults and Shaman Queens 5 2. Ancient Japanese Mythology: Female Divinities and Immortals 22 3. The Introduction of Buddhism: Nuns, Lay Patrons, and Popular Devotion 40 4. The Heian Period: Women in Buddhism and Court Ritual 56 5. The Medieval Period: Buddhist Reform Movements and the Demonization of Femininity 76 6. The Edo Period: Confucianism, Nativism, and Popular Religion 97 7. Imperial Japan: Good Wives and Wise Mothers 115 8. The Postwar Period: Nostalgia, Religion, and the Reinvention of Femininity 134 9. The Lost Decades: Gender and Religion in Flux 154 Conclusion 172 Questions for Discussion 177 Notes 181 Works Cited 205 For Further Reading 221 Index 227 About the Author 237