The Rise of Wedding Churches
The Nonreligious Transformation of Japanese Christianity
In: Journal of Religion in JapanSearch for other papers by Jesse R. LeFebvre in
Current site
Google Scholar
Abstract
The popularity of Christian weddings represents the new widespread acceptance and popularity of a religious ceremony that sits at the intersection the familial, social, commercial, political, and religious. These rites challenge established preconceptions concerning both Christianity and Japanese identity. The postwar history of Christian wedding ceremonies is best understood in light of the efforts made by traditional Christian churches and the bridal industry to meet the religious demands of Japan’s largely “nonreligious” constituency. In responding to the needs and desires of nonreligious Japanese, commercial and religious institutions not only cooperate to produce and provide Christian weddings, but also compete to satisfy expectations for religious authenticity. There are no better examples of this than the efforts made by Christian churches to open their doors to individuals with no espoused Christian faith and the production of the bridal industry’s fleet of “wedding churches.” As such, Japan’s massive nonreligious constituency has contributed to the creation of a unique form of Christianity particular to Japan.
Purchase
Buy instant access (PDF download and unlimited online access):
Institutional Login
Log in with Open Athens, Shibboleth, or your institutional credentials
Personal login
Log in with your brill.com account
-
Ai Group. 2021. Nōtorudamu kitakyūshū ノートルダム北九州. https://www.notredame-kitakyushu.com/topics/kitakyushu_cathedral/ (accessed 18 July 2021).
-
Benjamin, Walter. (1968) 2019. “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction.” In Illuminations, ed. Hannah Arendt, New York: Schocken Books, 166–198.
-
Catholic Bishop’s Conference of Japan. (2006, July 2). “Church Weddings for Non-Christians Provide Opportunity for Couples to Reflect on Marriage.” Japan Catholic News. http://www.cbcj.catholic.jp/eng/jcn/jul2006.htm (accessed 20 January 2017).
-
Catholic Bishop’s Conference of Japan. 2007. Statistics of the Catholic Church. Tokyo, Japan: Catholic Bishop’s Conference. http://www.cbcj.catholic.jp/eng/jcn/jul2007.htm#13 (accessed 18 July 2021).
-
Christian Bridal Mission. 2016. Christian Bridal Mission. http://www.bridalmission.co.jp/about_cbm.html (accessed 18 July 2021).
-
Davie, Grace. 2007. “Vicarious Religion: A Methodological Challenge.” In Everyday Religion, ed. N.T. Ammerman, New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 21–36.
-
De Wildt, Kim, Martin Radermacher, Volkhard Krech, Beate Löffler, and Wolfgang Sonne. 2019. “Transformations of ‘Sacredness in Stone’: Religious Architecture in Urban Space in 21st Century Germany—New Perspectives in the Study of Religious Architecture.” Religions 10: 602.https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/10/11/602 (accessed 18 July 2021).
-
Farnetti, Tobia. 2019. “Blurring Rupture: Frames of Conversion in Japanese Catholicism.” In Ruptures: Anthropologies of Discontinuity in Times of Turmoil, eds. Martin Holbraad, Bruce Kapferer, and Jula Sauma, London: University College London Press, 116–139.
-
Fisch, Michael. 2001. “The Rise of the Chapel Wedding in Japan.” Japanese Journal of Religious Studies, 28(1–2): 57–76.
-
Fivestar Wedding. 2016. Nōtorudamu shimonoseki ノートルダム下関誕生. https://www.notredame-shimonoseki.com/ (accessed 18 July 2021).
-
Fujiwara, Satoko. 2019. “Practicing Belonging? Non-religiousness in Twenty-First Century Japan.” Journal of Religion in Japan 8(1–3): 123–150.
-
Goldstein-Gidoni, Ofra. 1997. Packaged Japanese: Weddings, Business and Brides. Honolulu, HI: University of Hawai‘i Press.
-
Grimm, William. 2006, January. “The Catholic Church in Japan has a Future, If …” Japan Catholic News. http://www.cbcj.catholic.jp/eng/jcn/jan2006.htm#7 (accessed 20 January 2017).
-
Harris, Townsend. 1959. The Complete Journal of Townsend Harris, First Consul and Minister to Japan. 2nd ed. Rutland, VT: C.E. Tuttle.
-
Holtom, Daniel. (1938) 2012. The National Faith of Japan: A Study of Modern Shintō. New York: Routledge.
-
Igarashi, Tarō 五十嵐太郎. 2007. Kekkonshiki kyōkai no tanjō 結婚式教会の誕生. Tokyo: Shunjusha.
-
Inoue, Nobutaka 井上信孝. 2004. Wakamono to gendai shūkyō: Ushinawareta zahyō jiku 若者と現代宗教—失われた座標軸 Tokyo: Chikuma Shobo.
-
Ishii, Kenji 石井研士. 2005. Kekkonshiki: Shiawase o tsukuru gishiki 結婚式—幸せを創る儀式. Tokyo: Nihon Hoso Shuppan Kyōkai.
-
Japanese Catholic Pastoral and Evangelization Committee. 1992. Nihon no katorikku kyōkai ni okeru hikirisutokyōsha dōshi no kekkon ni tsuite 日本のカトリック教会における非キリスト教者同士の結婚について. Tokyo: Catholic Bishop’s Conference.
-
Japanese Catholic Pastoral and Evangelization Committee. 1996. Kekkonshiki 結婚式. Tokyo, Japan: Catholic Bishop’s Conference.
-
Katorikku Yamate Kyokai. 2016. Church of the Sacred Heart. https://catholicyamate.org/wedding/ (accessed 18 July 2021).
-
Kōsei Rōdōshō. 2016. Kon’in ni kansuru tōkei 婚姻に関する統計. https://www.mhlw.go.jp/toukei/saikin/hw/jinkou/tokusyu/konin16/index.html (accessed 18 July 2021).
-
Krämer, Hans Martin. 2011. “Beyond the Dark Valley: Reinterpreting Christian Reactions to the 1939 Religious Organizations Law.” Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 38(1): 181–211.
-
LeFebvre, Jesse. 2015. “Christian Wedding Ceremonies: ‘Nonreligiousness’ in Contemporary Japan.” Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 42(2): 185–203.
-
LeFebvre, Jesse. 2021. “The Oppressor’s Dilemma: How Japanese State Policy Toward Religion Paved the Way for Christian Weddings.” Journal of Religion in Japan 11(2): 109–138. DOI: https://doi.org/1163/22118349-20210001.
-
Mary Company. 2016 Azabu seinto mearii kyōkai 麻布セイントメアリー教会. http://www.azabu-mary.com (accessed 26 March 2021).
-
Mullins, Mark. 1998. Christianity Made in Japan: A Study of Indigenous Movements. Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press.
-
Nakai, Kate Wildman. 2013. “Coming to Terms with ‘Reverence at Shrines’: The 1932 Sophia University-Yasukuni Shrine Incident.” Kami Ways in Nationalist Territory: Shinto Studies in Prewar Japan and the West, ed. Bernhard Scheid, Vienna: Austrian Academy of Sciences, 109–153.
-
Nakai, Kate Wildman. 2017. “Between Secularity, Shrines, and Protestantism: Catholic Higher Education in Prewar Japan.” Japan Review 30: 97–127.
-
NHK. 2019. ISSP kokusai hikaku chōsa shūkyō nihon no kekka kara ISSP国際比較調査宗教日本の結果から. https://www.nhk.or.jp/bunken/research/yoron/20190401_7.html (accessed 18 July 2021).
-
Nihon Kirisuto Kyōdan 日本キリスト教団. 2009. Nihon kirisuto kyōdan nenkan 日本キリスト教団年鑑. Tokyo: Nihon Kirisuto Kyōdan Shuppan Kyoku.
-
Nihon Kirisuto Kyōdan 日本キリスト教団. 2006. Shikibun 式文. Tokyo: Nihon Kirisuto Kyōdan Shuppan Kyoku.
-
Orthodox Church in Japan. 2016. Inori 祈り. http://www.orthodoxjapan.jp/tebiki/inori01.html (accessed 4 March 2016).
-
Reader, Ian. 1991. Religion in Contemporary Japan. Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press.
-
Reader, Ian and George Tanabe. 1998. Practically Religious: Worldly Benefits and the Common Religion of Japan. Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press.
-
Scheid, Bernard. 2013. Kami Ways in Nationalist Territory: Shintō Studies in Prewar Japan and the West. Vienna: Austrian Academy of Sciences.
-
Shimazono, Susumu. 2009. “State Shintō in the Lives of the People: The Establishment of Emperor Worship, Modern Nationalism, and Shrine Shintō in Late Meiji.” Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 36(1): 93–124.
-
Secretariat, Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Japan. 2018. Statistics of the Catholic Church in Japan. https://www.cbcj.catholic.jp/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/statistics2017.pdf (accessed 18 July 2021).
-
Thal, Sarah. 2002. “A Religion That Was Not a Religion.” In The Invention of Religion: Rethinking Belief in Politics and History, eds. Derek Peterson and Darren Walhof, New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 100–114.
-
Tōkyō Kirisutokyō Daigaku 東京基督教大学. 2019. JMR chōsa repōto JMR調査レポート. http://www.tci.ac.jp/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/JMR_report_2018.pdf (accessed 18 July 2021).
-
Wedding Central Park. 2016. Abbey la Tour Church. http://www.w-cp.com/index.html (accessed 18 July 2021).
-
Wedding Park. 2016. Ōura Tenshudō 大浦天主堂. https://www.weddingpark.net/000014a1/kuchikomi/434650/ (accessed 18 July 2021).
-
Zexy. 2019. Zekushi kekkon torendo chōsa ゼクシィ結婚トレンド調査. https://souken.zexy.net/data/trend2019/XY_MT19_report_06shutoken.pdf (accessed 18 July 2021).
-
Zexy. 2021. Zexy ゼクシィ. https://zexy.net (accessed 18 July 2021).
| All Time | Past 365 days | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 699 | 277 | 27 |
| Full Text Views | 123 | 9 | 1 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 237 | 41 | 3 |
The Rise of Wedding Churches
The Nonreligious Transformation of Japanese Christianity
In: Journal of Religion in JapanSearch for other papers by Jesse R. LeFebvre in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Abstract
The popularity of Christian weddings represents the new widespread acceptance and popularity of a religious ceremony that sits at the intersection the familial, social, commercial, political, and religious. These rites challenge established preconceptions concerning both Christianity and Japanese identity. The postwar history of Christian wedding ceremonies is best understood in light of the efforts made by traditional Christian churches and the bridal industry to meet the religious demands of Japan’s largely “nonreligious” constituency. In responding to the needs and desires of nonreligious Japanese, commercial and religious institutions not only cooperate to produce and provide Christian weddings, but also compete to satisfy expectations for religious authenticity. There are no better examples of this than the efforts made by Christian churches to open their doors to individuals with no espoused Christian faith and the production of the bridal industry’s fleet of “wedding churches.” As such, Japan’s massive nonreligious constituency has contributed to the creation of a unique form of Christianity particular to Japan.
| All Time | Past 365 days | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 699 | 277 | 27 |
| Full Text Views | 123 | 9 | 1 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 237 | 41 | 3 |
