Acknowledgements

This project started with a simple question that arose over 10 years ago: why do Japanese people seem to react so negatively to the word ‘religion’ (shūkyō)? Little did I know then that tackling such a question would result in my writing a book about collective memory. Although this monograph cannot hope to give a complete picture of the deeply contested relationship between religion and culture in Japan, I have attempted to provide a partial solution to this question through the lens of memory and commemoration.

Writing this book would not have been possible without the support of so many people who generously offered their time and gave me words of encouragement. First and foremost, I express my sincere gratitude to my interviewees who were most candid about their experiences, corrected and challenged my assumptions about Aum, and continued to engage with my questions post-interview by email. Neither my Ph.D. dissertation nor this book would have been possible without their full cooperation. My fieldwork was also aided by the rich archival material at the Religious Information Research Center in Tokyo, which I’d like to thank for giving me access to Aum’s out-of-print publications.

Patrick Baert, with whom I co-authored a journal article that forms the basis of Chapter 6, has been a consistent source of support and advice throughout my research career, starting with my Master’s dissertation and continuing throughout the Ph.D. and a postdoctoral fellowship. His encyclopaedic knowledge, theoretical rigour, steadfast confidence in me, and above all, his warm personality, have made this book project possible. I could not have asked for a better mentor, colleague, and friend.

Over the course of preparing this manuscript, I have benefited from the critical feedback, input, and words of encouragement from numerous senior colleagues in Sociology, Japanese Studies, and Religious Studies. Although there are too many to name them all, I would like to thank in particular Eileen Barker, Lucia Dolce, Linda Flores, Inagaki Hiroshi, Kamata Tōji, Kohama Fumiko, David Lehmann, Marcus Morgan, Susan Palmer, Jim Richardson, and John Thompson. Erica Baffelli and Richard Gardner have been steadfast supporters of this project since its earliest iterations, and there are sections of this book I could not have written without their feedback and input over many years. As PhD examiners, David Inglis and Ian Reader gave me invaluable suggestions for improving both the theoretical framework and the empirical discussions, which I hope to have successfully incorporated into this book.

Much of the redrafting of the manuscript took place during my tenure as a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow at the Department of Sociology, University of Cambridge, and as an Early Career Research Fellow at Murray Edwards College, University of Cambridge. The British Academy’s generous funding offered me the time to concentrate on my research, and both the Sociology department and Murray Edwards were equally important for developing my career and pushing my research forward in new directions. Of course, institutions are only as good as the people inside them. Completing the manuscript would not have been possible without the help and encouragement of my friends and colleagues with whom I could openly share my anxieties and frustrations as an early career researcher. Thanks to Zeina Al-Azmeh, Jeff Barda, Federico Brandmayr, Masato Kato, Naim Bro Khomasi, Tiago Carvalho, Teije Donker, Peter Gardner, Dev Maitra, Helena Pérez Niño, Hillary Taylor, and Linzhi Zhang for their kindness and generosity over the years.

My present colleagues at the School of Social Science, Education and Social Work at Queen’s University Belfast could not have been more supportive of this book project, for which I am deeply grateful. Jonathan Heaney, John Nagle, and Lisa Smyth have been outstanding mentors and colleagues, helping me learn the ropes of a university lectureship during the final stages of finishing the book.

I would like to thank Portia Taylor and the Publications Committee at the British Academy for their continued support as well as the anonymous reviewers for their constructive feedback which has significantly improved the manuscript. Two people deserve special mention for their part in helping me to finish the book manuscript. Ever since he served as a PhD examiner, Ian Reader has read multiple iterations of this book in part and in whole; each time, his constructive criticism has been indispensable. Eileen Barker, whom I’ve had the pleasure and privilege to work with for the past several years, has been no less generous with her time. With her unmatched knowledge of minority religions and precise editorial skill, she has suggested various ways for improving the manuscript to push it over the finish line. Needless to say, all remaining errors are my own.

Finally, I would like to thank my family for everything they have done for me. My parents went to great lengths for my education and have been cheerleaders for my career from the start. My wife Jane has supported me throughout this journey, from the earliest days of writing my PhD research proposal to applying for academic jobs and copy-editing the manuscript multiple times. I dedicate this book to her.