著者

Mueller Charles Nagashima Miori

出版者

SAGE Publications

雑誌

Social Compass (ISSN:00377686)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.70, no.2, pp.263-282, 2023-05-06

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Factors that currently lead Japanese men to enter and remain in the Buddhist priesthood are poorly understood. This article reports the results of a qualitative study that examines the profiles of a seminary instructor and six Shingon Buddhist priests ((sic)(sic)) at Koyasan guesthouse temples ((sic)). The data, collected from semi-structured interviews, were analyzed with ATLAS.ti using a thematic analysis approach. The study identified seven key themes related to (1) family, (2) mentoring relationships, (3) education, (4) labor, (5) spiritual practices, (6) religious doctrines and faith, and (7) the devotion of guests. For the six priests, family connections were found to play an especially critical role in initial decisions to enter the priesthood, whereas other factors chiefly contributed to sustained commitment. The results are discussed in terms of theories of 'costly signalling', ego-identity statuses, and the Japanese tendency to construct personal identity within the context of social affiliations.