The Religiosity of Japanese Migrants in the Czech Republic
Author(s)
Petra Tlcimukova
ABSTRACT
This study examines the role of religion in lives of the Japanese migrants in the Czech Republic. Scholars have been dealing with issues concerning both the religiosity and migration for a long time. The contemporary sociology of religion offers various theoretical and methodological tools to approach both social phenomena; nevertheless, regarding the transformative character of both of them, it remains difficult to characterize the nexus of the various modes of religiosity and migration development. Based on critics of contemporary research on migrants’ religiosity, I propose a qualitative approach that builds upon the postulates of theories of transnationalism and draws on Jean-Claude Kaufmann’s method of understanding interviews. The method of gaining and analysing the interviews conducted with the Japanese living long-term in the Czech Republic allowed me to observe the process of religious identity construction, or in other words to uncover the deeper levels of claims concerning their relationship with religion. The results of my empirical investigation and analysis show that 1) not all migrants create transnational identities, 2) the method of understanding interview allowed some respondents to construct their own individualized and fragmented religious identities, 3) not all religious identities of migrants can be interpreted as transnational.
This study examines the role of religion in lives of the Japanese migrants in the Czech Republic. Scholars have been dealing with issues concerning both the religiosity and migration for a long time. The contemporary sociology of religion offers various theoretical and methodological tools to approach both social phenomena; nevertheless, regarding the transformative character of both of them, it remains difficult to characterize the nexus of the various modes of religiosity and migration development. Based on critics of contemporary research on migrants’ religiosity, I propose a qualitative approach that builds upon the postulates of theories of transnationalism and draws on Jean-Claude Kaufmann’s method of understanding interviews. The method of gaining and analysing the interviews conducted with the Japanese living long-term in the Czech Republic allowed me to observe the process of religious identity construction, or in other words to uncover the deeper levels of claims concerning their relationship with religion. The results of my empirical investigation and analysis show that 1) not all migrants create transnational identities, 2) the method of understanding interview allowed some respondents to construct their own individualized and fragmented religious identities, 3) not all religious identities of migrants can be interpreted as transnational.
Cite this paper
Tlcimukova, P. (2014) The Religiosity of Japanese Migrants in the Czech Republic. Open Journal of Social Sciences, 2, 11-19. doi: 10.4236/jss.2014.21002.
Tlcimukova, P. (2014) The Religiosity of Japanese Migrants in the Czech Republic. Open Journal of Social Sciences, 2, 11-19. doi: 10.4236/jss.2014.21002.
References
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[1] Havlícek, J. (2012). Cesty bozstev: Otázka interpretace nábozenství a nacionalismu v moderním Japonsku. Novy Orient, Praha. [2] Tweed, T.A. (2006) Crossing and dwelling. A theory of religion. President and Fellows of Harvard College. [3] Befu, H. (2001) The global context of Japan outside Japan. In: Befu, H. and Guichard-Anguis, S., Eds., Globalizing Japan: Ethnography of the Japanese Presence in Asia, Europe, and America, Routledge, London, 3-22. [4] Earhart, B.H. (1999) Japonské nábozenství: Mnoho tradic na jedné svaté cestě. Prostor, Praha. [5] (2013) The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus. Ethnic Identity, Culture, and Race: Japanese and Nikkei at Home and Abroad. http://japanfocus.org/-Nobuko-Adachi/3410 [6] Fujita, Y. (2009) Cultural migrants from Japan: Youth, media, and migration in New York and London. Lexington Books, New York. [7] Matsue, R.Y. (2006) Religious activities among the Japanese-Brazilian. In: Kumar, P.P., Ed., Religious Pluralism in the Diaspora, Brill, Leiden, 121-146. [8] Clarke, P.B. (1999) Japanese new religious movements. In: Wilson, B. and Cresswell, J., Eds., New Religious Movement: Challenge and Response, Routledge, London, 197-210. [9] Nešpor, Z.R. and Luzny, D. (2012) Sociologie nábozenství. Portál, Praha. [10] Luzny, D. (2010) Globalizace a sociologie nábozenství. In: Luzny, D., Ed., Individualizace Nábozenství a Identita: Poznámky k Soucasné Sociologii Nábozenství, Malevrn, Praha, 5-35. [11] (2013) Bussiness Info. Japonsko: Obchodní a ekonomická spolupráce v CR. http://www.businessinfo.cz/cs/clanky/japonsko-obchodni-a-ekonomicka-spoluprace-s-cr-18637.html [12] Barešová, I. (2010) Socio-kulturní specifika japonské komunity v Ceské republice. In: Barešová, I., Ed., Soucasná Problematika Vychodoasijskych Menšin v Ceské Republice, UPOL, Olomouc, 43-51. [13] Topinka, D. (2010) Integrace muslimu/imigrantu do “ceské” spolecnosti. In: Luzny, D., Ed., Individualizace Nábozenství a Identita: Poznámky k Soucasné Sociologii Nábocenství, Malevrn, Praha, 276-293. [14] Wimmer, A. and Glick Schiller, N. (2002) Methodological nationalism and beyond. Nation-state building, migration and the social sciences. Global Networks, 2, 301-334. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1471-0374.00043 [15] Levitt, P. (2007) God needs no passport: Immigrants and the changing American religious landscape. The New Press, New York. [16] Kaufmann, J.C. (2010) Chápající rozhovor. SLON, Praha. [17] Giddens, A. (1987) Social theory and modern sociology. Polity Press, Cambridge.