Permalink : http://hdl.handle.net/2115/44946

The content of this paper was originally presented under the title of ‘Fragmented Society and the Popularity of Spiritualism in Japan 1990-2000,’as a presenter at the Meeting of International Society for the Sociology of Religion, Santiago de Compostela, Spain, July 25-31, 2009. Then I was invited to deliver special lecture under the title of “Spirituality Boom and Declining of Religious Order,”at the Research Institute of Humanity and Social Sciences,Sofia, Bulgaria, October 19, 2009. This research examines the relation between spiritualism and contemporary society fragmented by globalized capitalism and neo-liberal reform in Japan. Since the end of 1990s the spiritualism movement has changed from the subculture of‘Spiritualism Otaku’to the mainstream culture represented by the extensive exposure of some fortune-teller and healer in the prime time TV programs. The cyber space as well as shelves in bookstores are occupied by various schools of thoughts and practices of spiritualism that include alternative therapy,slow life,and multi-level marketing. This paper illustrates a case study involving a healing salon,called ‘Shin-Sekai (God World)’ and a spiritualist convention, ‘Spi-Con,’in which young people as well as middle aged women joined and purchased the peculiar packaged fortune. They worry about the degradation of their relatively prosperous lives that were equally provided by the long-term economic growth and welfare in Japan. The more they become socially vulnerable because of job competitions and family problems,the more likely they are dependent on spiritualism. Since neo-liberalism policy imposes us self-help endeavor, we have to energize and comfort ourselves by means of positive thinking and various healing methods.