The reception of Otto and Das Heilige in Japan: in and outside the phenomenology of religion

ABSTRACT

In Japan, Rudolf Otto is commonly identified as a precursor of the phenomenology of religion, claiming the sui generis nature of religion. However, the first Japanese translation of Das Heilige was published in 1927, far before the reception of the phenomenology of religion. This article divides the history of the reception of Das Heilige into three periods: before, during and after the heyday of the phenomenology of religion. It also examines both academic and lay receptions of Otto’s work, considering that its paperback version has sold over 53,000 copies. Its major findings are scholars of religion in the pre-war period framed Das Heilige according to a hierarchical dichotomy of the East and the West; post-war, phenomenological scholars empathetically interpreted the work, rejecting this ideological dichotomy; younger scholars have recently attempted more history-conscious, critical analyses; and, largely ‘non-religious’ general readers viewed it as a classic of Western thought, without being disturbed by its claim of Christian superiority.