Barriers to Women's Religious Attainment in Japan: Issues and Prospects

From the late 1990s, scholarship examining religion from a gender perspective began to emerge gradually in Japan. However, researchers advocating for gender-based analysis of religion were marginalised and regarded with scepticism within the academic community. Moreover, the number of female scholars in religious studies remained extremely limited, and male dominance and patriarchal structures pervaded the field.

For over 20 years I have studied female mountain practitioners in Japan who seek spiritual power through their ascetic practices in the mountains. They are also profoundly influenced by the androcentric values and patriarchal traditions deeply embedded in Japanese society. This is not only an issue for religious groups associated with mountain worship but a problem faced by various established religious institutions throughout Japan.

This presentation draws on extensive ethnographic fieldwork to examine the difficulties Japanese female mountain practitioners have encountered within religious organisations that perpetuate patriarchal customs and hierarchical systems. The analysis explores how these women have navigated and responded to such challenges. Finally, attention is giving to the emergence of a group that, rather than seeking to reform established religious institutions, have chosen to distance themselves from these institutions and engage with mountain worship in a new way.