tmiura

Dr. Takashi Miura Profile Picture
tmiura@arizona.edu
Phone
520-621-7505
Office
Learning Services Building 108
Miura, Takashi
Associate Professor

Takashi Miura's research focuses on Japanese religions in the early modern and modern periods. He is the author of Agents of World Renewal: The Rise of Yonaoshi Gods in Japan (2019, University of Hawai'i Press). In this book, he examines the spread of the concept of "world renewal" (yonaoshi) in Japanese society from the late eighteenth to early twentieth centuries and highlights the rise of "yonaoshi gods," a new category of divinities that emerged during this time period. He is currently working on his second book, in which he analyzes the history of deified peasants in the early modern period and its impact on subsequent religious practices in Japan. At the University of Arizona, he teaches courses on Japanese religions and Buddhism. He received his B.A. (Religion & Japanese-English Translation) and M.A. (Asian Religions) from the University of Hawai'i at Manoa and his Ph.D. (Asian Religions) from Princeton University.

Publications:

Agents of World Renewal: The Rise of Yonaoshi Gods in Japan (2019). Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press.

Articles:

"Healing Illness at the End of the World: A Millenarian New Religion in Post-war Japan" (2025). In Bloomsbury Handbook of Religious Ecstasy, eds. Alison Marshall, Rubina Ramji, and Michael Wilkinson, New York: Bloomsbury Academic, pp. 195-208.

"Legitimizing an Evil Teaching: Deguchi Onisaburō and 'Superstition' in Modern Japan" (2025). Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 50 (2): pp. 153-173.

"Cosmology and Time" (2024). In The New Nanzan Guide to Japanese Religions, eds. Matthew D. McMullen and Jolyon Baraka Thomas, Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, pp. 105–116.

"The Filial Piety Mountain: Kanno Hachiro and the Three Teachings" (2019). Japan Review 34: pp. 95–111.

“The Ee ja nai ka and the Meiji Restoration: A View from Nagoya through Hosono Yosai’s Kankyo manpitsu” (2019). Journal of Religion in Japan 7 (3): pp. 201–218.

“Shinto Is the Indigenous Religion of the World: Deguchi Onisaburo and His Shinto Universalism” (2018). Journal of Religion in Japan 7 (1): pp. 57–81.

“Yonaoshi no saikosatsu: shukyoshi teki kanten kara” (2018). In Kami to hotoke no Bakumatsu ishin, eds. Iwata Mami and Kirihara Kenshin, Kyoto: Hozokan, pp. 79–102.

“The Buddha in Yoshiwara: Religion and Visual Entertainment in Tokugawa Japan as Seen through Kibyoshi” (2017). Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 44 (2): pp. 225–254.

Currently Teaching

EAS 160A1 – The Worlds of Buddhism

An introduction to Buddhism as both a global religion and an array of cultural traditions, with emphasis on its various forms and development in South, Southeast, and East Asian cultures & history.

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An introduction to Buddhism as both a global religion and an array of cultural traditions, with emphasis on its various forms and development in South, Southeast, and East Asian cultures & history.

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An introduction to Buddhism as both a global religion and an array of cultural traditions, with emphasis on its various forms and development in South, Southeast, and East Asian cultures & history.

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An introduction to Buddhism as both a global religion and an array of cultural traditions, with emphasis on its various forms and development in South, Southeast, and East Asian cultures & history.

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JPN 220 – Nature, Gods, and Zen: Religion in Japanese Society

This course analyzes the history of religions in Japan and the ways in which "Japanese religion" is portrayed in the contemporary world. In particular, the course examines how issues of race, ethnicity, and equity manifest in Western representations of Japanese religion, which is often essentialized, exoticized, and interpreted through a series of cultural stereotypes as the perpetual "Other" in relation to the West. In order to approach this central theme, the course adopts the disciplinary perspectives of Religious Studies, History, and Asian Studies, all of which will be synthesized through a number of writing exercises to allow for a robust analysis of Japanese religious history and practices in the original context of Japan as well as their portrayals in the West, as evident in such outlets as newspaper articles, travel guides, blogs, and YouTube clips, among others. By taking this course, students will be able to integrate multiple disciplinary perspectives to write analytically on the historical significance of Japanese religion as well as questions of race, ethnicity, and equity in representations of Japanese religion in various contexts.

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This course analyzes the history of religions in Japan and the ways in which "Japanese religion" is portrayed in the contemporary world. In particular, the course examines how issues of race, ethnicity, and equity manifest in Western representations of Japanese religion, which is often essentialized, exoticized, and interpreted through a series of cultural stereotypes as the perpetual "Other" in relation to the West. In order to approach this central theme, the course adopts the disciplinary perspectives of Religious Studies, History, and Asian Studies, all of which will be synthesized through a number of writing exercises to allow for a robust analysis of Japanese religious history and practices in the original context of Japan as well as their portrayals in the West, as evident in such outlets as newspaper articles, travel guides, blogs, and YouTube clips, among others. By taking this course, students will be able to integrate multiple disciplinary perspectives to write analytically on the historical significance of Japanese religion as well as questions of race, ethnicity, and equity in representations of Japanese religion in various contexts.

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JPN 486 – History of Japanese Religions: Medieval

Selective survey of the history of religions in Japan from the 11th century through the 16th. Topics covered may include the medieval worldview; apocalyptic thought and related practices; Pure Land Buddhism; Zen; and proselytization and religious competition in medieval Japan.

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JPN 586 – History of Japanese Religions: Medieval

Selective survey of the history of religions in Japan from the 11th century through the 16th. Topics covered may include the medieval worldview; apocalyptic thought and related practices; Pure Land Buddhism; Zen; and proselytization and religious competition in medieval Japan. Graduate-level requirements include oral presentations and longer, more in-depth papers.

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To view full listing of courses offered, please visit our Course Schedule.

Course Schedule