Jiyū Shūkyō — A creative, free-religion
Given that my Profile and ABOUT page says one of my major religious sympathies is towards the kind of dynamic, creative, inquiring, free and liberative religion/spirituality (jiyū shūkyō 自由宗教)
encouraged by the quite remarkable and influential figure in the
development of progressive and liberal religion in Japan, Imaoka Shin’ichirō-sensei (1881-1988), it seems important to direct readers of this blog to
a couple of things that will help them get a greater sense of what that this means.
One good place to begin to get to know about Imaoka Shin’ichirō-sensei and his basic understanding of in what consists “jiyū shūkyō” is by watching the four video introductions to him that I have given for the International Association for Free Religion (IARF). You can find those videos at the bottom of this post or by clicking this link.
And the second good place to begin is by reading some of the shorter essays found in the following selection of translations I have been working on since 2023:
My own interest in the work of Imaoka Shin’ichirō-sensei began properly in 2019 when George M. Williams, the retired professor of Asian religions
from California State University, Chico, published an important book
about Imaoka-sensei that, for the first time, made both his extraordinary life story and few of his essays available to those of us in the English-speaking
world. Although you can purchase a hard copy from your preferred bookseller, George has also very generously made his book freely available via his academia.edu page or at the link below:
Secondly,
with George’s blessing, kind encouragement and help, a few years ago I put
together a short book of, not only of the essays by Imaoka-sensei that
appear in “Cosmic Sage” but also a number of other translations that George had collected over the years. This, too, is now freely available at the
following link:
VIDEOS
An Introduction to Imaoka Shin’ichirō, Session One (January 2025) — International Association for Religious Freedom (IARF)
An Introduction to Imaoka Shin’ichirō, Session Two (February 2025) — International Association for Religious Freedom (IARF)
An
Introduction to Imaoka Shin’ichirō, Session Three: Free-Religious
Practices (June 2025) — International Association for Religious Freedom
(IARF)
A video introduction for the Free-Religion Institute (August 2025) to Imoaka Shin’ichirō’s essay, “The Position of a Free-Religious Person [1951]”
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| Imaoka Shin’ichirō and his wife Utayo in 1955 |
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| Imaoka sensei in his study at 102 years old, after his morning meditation (Seiza), corresponding with international friends. |
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