The Religiosity of Japanese Migrants in the Czech Republic

Petra Tlcimukova

Palacky University, Olomouc, Czech Republic.

DOI: 10.4236/jss.2014.21002                

Abstract

This study examines the role of religion in lives of the Japanese migrants in the Czech Republic. Scholars have been dealing with issues concerning both the religiosity and migration for a long time. The contemporary sociology of religion offers various theoretical and methodological tools to approach both social phenomena; nevertheless, regarding the transformative character of both of them, it remains difficult to characterize the nexus of the various modes of religiosity and migration development. Based on critics of contemporary research on migrants’ religiosity, I propose a qualitative approach that builds upon the postulates of theories of transnationalism and draws on Jean-Claude Kaufmann’s method of understanding interviews. The method of gaining and analysing the interviews conducted with the Japanese living long-term in the Czech Republic allowed me to observe the process of religious identity construction, or in other words to uncover the deeper levels of claims concerning their relationship with religion. The results of my empirical investigation and analysis show that 1) not all migrants create transnational identities, 2) the method of understanding interview allowed some respondents to construct their own individualized and fragmented religious identities, 3) not all religious identities of migrants can be interpreted as transnational.

Keywords

Japanese Migrants; Religious Identities; Transnationalism; Complementary Research Attitudes; Transnational Religious Identity

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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