Modernization of Japanese Society and Religious Ethics.

由于马克思·韦伯在《新教伦理与资本主义精神》中论证了现代理性资本主义只有在新教伦理的支持下才有可能实现，所以大多数近代日本研究学者都认为日本社会的现代化只不过是西方化。日本社会固有的文化和宗教与现代化或合理化无关。另一方面，美国宗教社会学家罗伯特·贝拉（Robert Bellah）在《德川宗教》（Tokugawa religion, 1957）中指出，佐道信教是日本与西方新教最接近的类比，其伦理与新教伦理最相似。他认为，日本的近代化并非始于19世纪末的明治时代，而是至少早在18世纪的江户时代就开始了。但这种观点被日本人认为是极端荒谬的。像Masao Maruyama这样的社会科学家。贝拉说，日本的佛教、儒教和神道教的宗教伦理起到了提高对团体忠诚的作用。只有具有这种集体精神，资本主义的发展才有可能。贝拉的书是在经济高增长奇迹发生之前出版的。过去四十年的事件似乎证明贝拉是对的。然而，贝拉指出，另一方面，日本社会似乎特别欢迎道德普遍主义。在他看来，“竞争的群体主义”激发了自我牺牲和奉献精神，但这种道德行为的结果很少超越个人群体的利益。因此，他问道，日本传统及其现代排列方式所大力培育的经济快速增长的结果，是否还没有开始考虑到使这种增长成为可能的条件。这项研究回答了这个问题。

Since Max Weber demonstrated in his The Protestantism Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism that modern rational capitalism had been only passible together with the Protestant ethic, most scholars of modern Japanese studies believe that modernization of Japanese Society is nothing but Westernization. Culture and religion which are indigenous to Japanese Socity are irrelevent to modernization or rationalizationOn the other hand, on American sociologist on religion, Robert Bellah pointed out in his Tokugawa Religion (1957) that Jodo Shinshu is the closest Japanese analogue to Western Protestantism and its ethic is most similar to the Protestant ethic. According to him, Japanese modernization did not originote in the late nineteenth century Meiji era but began at least as early as the eighteenth century Edo era. But this view has been neglected as extreme of absurdity by Japanese.Social scientist like Masao Maruyama.Bellah said that Japanese religious ethic of Buddhism, Confucianism and Shinto functioned to exalt loyalty to the group. Thus achievement of collective goal was realized, Development of capitalism was only possible by such collective spirit. Bellah's book was published before a miracle of high economic growth happened. The events of the last forty years would seem to prove Bellah right.However, Bellah pointed out on the other hand that Japanese society would seem to be especially in hospitable to ethical universalism. According to him, the "competitive groupism" constimulate self-sacrifice and devotion, but the end of such ethical action seldom transcend the interests of one's group. So, he asked whether the results of rapideconomic growth, which the Japanese tradition and its modern permutations have so assidnously fostered, have not begun to under mind the very conditions that made that growth possible. This study is anasirer to that question.