XXVII.  SOME RELIGIOUS CONCEPTIONS

Japanese conceptions as to deity—­The number and relation of the gods to the universe—­Did the Japanese have the monotheistic conception?—­Attractiveness of Christian monotheism—­Confucian and Buddhist monism—­Religious conception of man—­Conception of sin—­Defective terminology—­Relation of sin to salvation—­“Holy water”—­Holy towels and the spread of disease—­The slight connection between physical and moral pollution—­W.E.  Griffis quoted—­Exaggerated cleanliness of the Japanese—­Public bathing houses—­Consciousness of sin in the sixteenth century—­A recent experience—­Doctrine of the future life—­Salvation from fate—­“Ingwa”—­These are important doctrines—­“Mei” (Heaven’s decree)—­Japan not unique—­Sociological interpretations of religious characteristics, 310

XXVIII.  SOME RELIGIOUS PRACTICES

Loyalty and filial piety as religious phenomena—­Gratitude as a religions trait—­Hearn quoted—­Unpleasant experiences of ingratitude—­Modern suppression of phallicism—­Brothels and prostitutes at popular shrines—­The failure of higher ethnic faiths to antagonize the lower—­Suppression of phallicism due to Western opinion—­The significance of this suppression to sociological theory—­Religious liberty—­Some history—­Inconsistent attitude of the Educational Department—­Virtual establishment of compulsory state religion—­Review and summary—­The Japanese ready learners of foreign religions—­The significance of this to sociology—­Japanese future religion is to be Christianity, 322

XXIX.  SOME PRINCIPLES OF NATIONAL EVOLUTION

Progress is from smaller to larger communities—­Arrest of development—­The necessity of individualism—­The relation of communal to individual development—­A possible misunderstanding—­The problem of distribution—­Personality, 332

XXX.  ARE THE JAPANESE IMPERSONAL?

Assertion of Oriental impersonality—­Quotations from Percival Lowell—­Defective and contradictory definitions—­Arguments for impersonality resting on mistaken interpretations—­Children’s festivals—­Occidental and Oriental method of counting ages—­Argument for impersonality from Japanese art—­From the characteristics of the Japanese family—­The bearing of divorce on this argument—­Do Japanese “fall in love"?—­Suicide and murder for love—­Occidental approval and Oriental condemnation of “falling in love”—­Sociological significance of divorce and of “falling in love,” 344

XXXI.  THE JAPANESE NOT IMPERSONAL