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Japan: An Attempt at Interpretation

Japan: An Attempt at Interpretation

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Genre(s): , ,

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Number of Chapters: 24

Length: 13 hours and 58 minutes

Language: English

Greece-born Lafcadio Hearn (1850 - 1904) spent decades of his life in Japan, even marrying a Japanese woman, thus becoming a Japanese citizen by the name of Koizumi Yakumo (小泉 八雲). He wrote many books on Japan, especially about its folklore. In this posthumously published book, he takes a closer look at Japan's religious history: How it developed from ancient beliefs into Shintoism, resisted suppression attempts by both Buddhism and Christianity and how – despite efforts to westernise Japan during the era known as Meiji Restoration – it remained the basis for Japanese society. Even today, over 100 years after this book was written, some of the described traditions and fundamental ideas still exist. (Summary by Julia Niedermaier)

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Difficulties (Julia Niedermaier)
Strangeness and charm (Julia Niedermaier)
The ancient cult (Julia Niedermaier)
The religion of the home (Julia Niedermaier)
The Japanese family (Julia Niedermaier)
The communal cult (Julia Niedermaier)
Developments of Shinto (Julia Niedermaier)
Worship and purification (Julia Niedermaier)
The rule of the dead (Julia Niedermaier)
The introduction of Buddhism (Julia Niedermaier)
The higher Buddhism (Julia Niedermaier)
The social organization (Julia Niedermaier)
The rise of the military power (Julia Niedermaier)
The religion of loyalty (Julia Niedermaier)
The Jesuit peril - Part 1 (Julia Niedermaier)
The Jesuit peril - Part 2 (Julia Niedermaier)
Feudal integration (Julia Niedermaier)
The Shinto revival (Julia Niedermaier)
Survivals (Julia Niedermaier)
Modern restraints (Julia Niedermaier)
Official education (Julia Niedermaier)
Industrial danger (Julia Niedermaier)
Reflections (Julia Niedermaier)
Appendix: Herbert Spencer's advice to Japan (Julia Niedermaier)
The audiobook Japan: An Attempt at Interpretation falls under the genres of , , . It is written by .