Das religiöse als unentbehrlicher Bestandteil des japanischen Bildungskonzepts: wandel und Kontinuität

In Japan, religion is still a current subject of educational discourse. This article presents a picture of the evolution of this discourse over the last two centuries. First, the article reconstructs transformations which have taken place in the relationship between education and religion in Japan, with particular emphasis on the period of Japanese educational reform. Then, on the basis of two items of school learning – lessons on morality and ethics – the current controversy is presented with regard to the relation between education and religion. In the first of these analyses, the question is primarily about how public schools deal with religion, and specifically with religious feeling. In the second, the author considers how these same schools transmit knowledge on topics related to different religions. Finally, the article discusses moments of continuity and change which appear with regard to the role to be attributed to religion in Japanese education.