JJRS > Volume 31 Issue 1 SCAP's Scapegoat? The Authorities, New Religions, and a Postwar Taboo

Dorman, Benjamin

Download PDF

This article considers the issue of how the authorities have dealt with the question of guaranteeing religious freedom during the postwar period at the same time as dealing effectively with groups that compromise, or are widely rumored to compromise, public safety. While the various circumstances surrounding Aum Shinrikyo are clearly relevant to this area, in order to make sense of what happened in the wake of Aum, it is necessary to look at the period of the Allied Occupation (1945-1952). By examining the case of Jiu, one of the first new religions after the surrender that ran into trouble with the authorities, we can develop a better picture of the contemporary religious scene.