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School of Languages, Linguistics and Cultures

Ian Reader

Professor of Japanese Studies

Address: SLLC, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL
Phone: 0161 275 3158
email: ian.reader@manchester.ac.uk

Research Interests:

In general my research interests centre around the study of religion, especially in the modern day, and on Japan, and my main focus is on using studies of  Japanese issues and topics to inform wider academic discussions and studies of religion. I give outlines of my main areas of research below, along with relevant publications in each area.

 
Pilgrimage in historical and contemporary contexts 

Even before entering the academic world I was interested in travel and movement, and my travels around the world included visits to a numbers of pilgrimage sites, notably in India.  After studying Japanese and visiting Japan, I began to do research on a number of pilgrimage sites in Japan and, with Dorothy, my wife, to walk a number of routes.  In 1981 we walked the Chichibu pilgrimage route (a 34 temple pilgrimage route that took us five day to walk) and in 1984 the Shikoku 88 stage pilgrimage route- a journey of 900 miles that took us six weeks to walk.  We subsequently visited dozens of other pilgrimage routes in Japan and, over close to two decades, I have continued to research on the subject.

The areas I have worked on include examinations of pilgrim experiences, studies of how pilgrimage routes are constructed and 'made', how issues of commercialisation, tourism and the like impact on pilgrimage structures, and how modern developments are shaping contemporary pilgrimage structures and experiences. I am also involved in developing new theoretical approaches to the study of pilgrimage, and over the years my publications have sought to examine pilgrimage in broader contextual and theoretical contexts.  In 1993, for example, my   book Pilgrimage in Popular Culture  (co-edited with Tony Walter) on pilgrimage, looked beyond   pilgrimages associated with religious traditions, to more  'secularised' sites, and sought to expand understanding of pilgrimage through new theoretical models.

In 2005 I published my book Making Pilgrimages  about  the Shikoku pilgrimage, based on 16 years fieldwork which included thousands of interviews with pilgrims, priests, local people who live along the pilgrimage route, commercial actors who are involved with pilgrimage-related businesses. The book, which also drew extensively on  historical documents and archives, sought to develop a wider theoretical understanding of pilgrimage through using Shikoku as a model that could inform studies of pilgrimage in general.  Besides my work on Shikoku, I have written about the replication of miniaturised versions of major pilgrimages and the construction of pilgrimage routes historically and in the present.  My studies have extended beyond Japan to examinations of pilgrimages in other places, notably England, and I am working on further studies of the construction, replication and reproduction of pilgrimage sites in local and global contexts, which will use Japanese examples as a key means through which to explore wider themes in the study of pilgrimage.

Please click to see my publications in the area of pilgrimage in historical and contemporary context


Contemporary religious dynamics and popular religious practices in Japan

I have written extensively on issues such as contemporary religious issues in Japan, with books on the contemporary religious situation, and on issues such as the use of talismans, amulets and prayers for worldly benefits- another area in which I have published a book, co-authored by George Tanabe.  I continue to be interested in such areas, and to examine changes in religious behaviour and participation in Japan, as part of a wider interest in such phenomena globally.  I am also working on a study of new religions in Japan; apart from providing a general overview of this topic in modern contexts, this will seek to relate the Japanese new religions to wider studies of new religions as a global phenomenon.

Please click to see my publications in the area of contemporary religious dynamics and popular practices in Japan

In recent years I have done extensive studies of  religion,  violence and terrorism especially in contemporary contexts.  I first became interested in the relationship between religion and conflict as a result of my studies in Japan, and in 1994 I co-edited, with George Tanabe,  a special edition of the Japanese Journal of Religious Studies, on Religion and Conflict in Japan.   After  the 1995 Tokyo subway attack by Aum Shinrikyo this interest developed into a major research topic.  In the aftermath of the subway attack I spoke on the TV and radio frequently on the topic, and conducted intensive research on Aum, interviewing members, gaining access to hundreds of Aum publications, including unpublished materials that circulated within the movement, and attending trials of Aum members in Tokyo. 

What interested me was how a movement that initially was peaceful and claimed to have a mission of world salvation, became violent and developed extreme apocalyptic visions. My studies initially focused on how millennial visions and internal dynamics and group structures, influenced the turn of  communal and charismatically led movements such as Aum towards violence, and in them I identified religious factors as a core causal influence in the development of violence. In particular, I examine how religiously motivated groups create a polarised view of the world and construct an 'other' that becomes the target of its violence, and how such religious groups create doctrinal frameworks and interpretations, that lead them to claim that the violence and acts of terror they commit are 'legitimate'. 
 
Subsequently, and in the light of dramatic events in the 21st century, my studies have expanded into wider areas related to religion, violence and terrorism both historically and in the modern day.  I have written and lectured widely on this topic, seeking to develop, from empirical case studies such as the Aum Affair, broader analytical frameworks through which to extend public understanding of the influences of religion in the contemporary context of terrorism.  

I have also become interested in the impact that cases of religious violence have on domestic and international agendas, including legal responses to religious violence in democratic societies. I have also lectured to, and given advice to,  law enforcement agencies in this area, and published analytical  critiques of the understandings of security and intelligence services in such areas.  In particular I am interested both in how Japanese society in general has responded to the Aum Affair, and how the Japanese case has impacted on and influenced the thinking of governments, law enforcement agencies and  policy-making bodies in Asia and beyond,  in the current era in which concerns with 'terrorism' and 'dangerous religions' have become part of the modern political agenda. 

Please click to see my publications and lectures in religion, violence and terrorism

 Religion, violence and terrorism

Research students:
PhD Supervision

I am able to supervise postgraduate research in all the areas outlined above under Research Interests. Among the PhDs I have supervised or am currently supervising are ones on:

Teaching Areas:

I have taught at numerous institutions in Europe, Japan and the USA, at BA and MA level (as well as supervising PhD students).  The courses I have taught range from studies of religion to courses on Japanese society and on reading Japanese texts.  I have taught courses at undergraduate level on studies of pilgrimage, on Buddhism, on Religion and Global Modernities,  and on Japanese Religions, and at MA level on Studies in Asian Religions, and on Japanese Buddhism. 
I am currently involved in devising new courses for the Manchester undergraduate Japanese Studies programme,  including introductory courses on Japanese society and popular culture, and on Japanese history. As the programme develops I plan to add courses on the history of religion in Japan, and on  contemporary Japanese religion and society.

Outside Interests

My main interests revolve around my family - Dorothy and our two children Rosie (18) and Philip (15)- as well as our cat Spike. We all enjoy doing things together, from going for walks to visiting ancient and historical monuments.  Dorothy and Rosie go salsa dancing together a lot, while  Philip and I are interested in politics and international affairs;  Philip has recently become interested in film, and has got me into watching lots of films with him.  We  are also are mad about sports, playing football, cricket and tennis together in the garden, going to watch Blackburn Rovers (one of our nearest Premiership clubs, although we really support Arsenal, the true poets of soccer- perhaps not something to say too loudly in Manchester?) and also (with Rosie) watching Test cricket. Until Monday September 12, 2005 my dream had been for England to stuff the Aussies and win back the Ashes one day & the ecstasy of that event has lasted a mere 15 months but (as a true optimist) I can only look forward to 2009 and the rekindling of the dream. 

I am an avid gardener (vegetables and fruit: the photo of me on this webpage is taken amidst my sweetcorn) and like cooking, drinking beer and listening to good music (e.g., Dylan, the Stones, Elvis, Sandy Denny and Fairport Convention: I also confess to having bought Bananarama's Greatest Hits,  which the rest of the family only let me play when they are out,  and having a soft spot for Japanese stars of the 1980s such as  Nakamori Akina, Minamino Yoko and Tomita Yasuko). Rosie shares many musical interests with me, Dorothy just about tolerates them,  and Philip is trying to educate me in more recent developments. I am, however, in my very late-50s, know that the old songs are the best, and still hope to convince them all that "Like a Rolling Stone" was the greatest single ever released. Among other hopes are that one day the UK will be Republic with a sane foreign policy,  and that people will seriously wake up to the environmental problems that face us and that will be borne by our children and future generations.


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