Details of the Researcher

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Gaitanidis Ioannis
Section
Graduate School of International Cultural Studies
Job title
Associate Professor
Degree

  • PhD (University of Leeds (UK))

Research History 3

  • 2026/04 - Present
    Graduate School of International Cultural Studies, Tohoku University　Japanese Religion and Intellectual History　Associate Professor

  • 2022/04 - 2026/03
    Chiba University　Graduate School of Global and Transdisciplinary Studies　Associate Professor

  • 2020/04 - 2022/03
    Chiba University　Graduate School of Global and Transdisciplinary Studies　Assistant Professor

Committee Memberships 3

  • Fear Research Network (FeRN)　Member

    2024/07 - Present

  • Aries (Brill)　Editorial Board Member

    2023/08 - Present

  • Journal of Religion in Japan (Brill)　Editorial Board Member

    2021/07 - Present

Research Interests 2

  • Anthropology of Religion

  • Medical Anthropology

Research Areas 3

  • Humanities & social sciences / Cultural anthropology and folklore /

  • Humanities & social sciences / Local studies / Japanese Studies

  • Humanities & social sciences / Religious studies /

Awards 3

  1. Research Encouragement Award

    2024　The Japan Federation of Societies for the Study of Religions

  2. Essay Competition Grand Prize

    2019/11　Toshiba International Foundation, European Association for Japanese Studies　The Future of Japanese Studies: Researching and Teaching Transnational Contingencies

  3. Japanese Studies Fellowship

    2008/09　The Japan Foundation

Papers 25

  1. Beyond the rational consumer: religion, value, and legal comparison in Japanese consumer law International-journal Peer-reviewed

    Ioannis Gaitanidis

    Religion, State and Society　54　1-20　2026/06/05

    Publisher: Informa UK Limited

    DOI： 10.1080/09637494.2026.2669513 　

    ISSN： 0963-7494

    eISSN： 1465-3974

  2. The Supernatural Is Not Religion: Okaruto TV Programs in Japan Invited Peer-reviewed

    Ioannis Gaitanidis

    Handbook of Contemporary Religion, Film, and Television　468-489　2026/01

    Publisher: Brill

    DOI： 10.1163/9789004727595_025 　

  3. The Co-constitution of Bad Religion and Unethical Sales: Fear at the Heart of Japan’s “Spiritual Sales” International-journal Peer-reviewed

    Ioannis Gaitanidis

    Implicit Religion　25　(3-4)　337-353　2024/10/30

    Publisher: Equinox Publishing

    DOI： 10.1558/imre.27205 　

    ISSN： 1463-9955

    eISSN： 1743-1697

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    Legal decisions surrounding activities associated with beliefs often described as “religious” usually conflate with laws and regulations that delineate other aspects of the context in which such activities occur. For example, transactions with psychics or fortune tellers usually need to abide by general consumer protection laws. In this article, I argue that controversies surrounding frauds and other troubles occurring during such transactions point to the equation “bad religion=unethical sales.” To explain my argument, I first compare the rise of “spiritual sales” as a legal category in Japan in the last 35 years, to British regulations of mediumship. I then proceed to locate the emotion of “fear” at the centre of debates about the appropriateness of these laws for consumer protection. I end up concluding that “spiritual sales” are yet another example in which, today, the consumer’s negative feelings have become the basis for claims of illegality, in contrast to how positive feelings are proof of sincerity and transparency.

  4. How Consumer Law in Japan Shapes Religion: “Spiritual Sales” as a Legal Category International-journal Peer-reviewed

    Gaitanidis, I.

    Asia Pacific Journal Japan Focus　22　(10)　2024/10/30

    ISSN： 1557-4660

  5. Introduction: Western Esotericism, the Cultic Milieu, and Lived Religion: Problems and Possibilities of “Other-than-Religion” Concepts International-coauthorship Invited

    Ioannis Gaitanidis, Erica Baffelli

    (7)　33-42　2024/03

  6. 'Spiritual Sales' as a Consumption Issue: Sociological and Anthropological Perspectives of Capitalist Values Invited

    Gaitanidis Ioannis

    The Religious Law　42　183-206　2023/11

  7. DE-RACIALIZING JAPANESENESS: A Collaborative Approach to Shifting Interpretation and Representation of “Culture” at a University in Japan

    Gaitanidis, I., Shao-Kobayashi, S.

    Race Equity and the Learning Environment the Global Relevance of Critical and Inclusive Pedagogies in Higher Education　2023

    DOI： 10.4324/9781003446637-13 　

  8. Spirituality and Alternativity in Contemporary Japan: Beyond Religion?

    Gaitanidis, I.

    Spirituality and Alternativity in Contemporary Japan Beyond Religion　2022

    Publisher: Spirituality and Alternativity in Contemporary Japan Beyond Religion

  9. Polarized agents of internationalization: an autoethnography of migrant faculty at a Japanese University Peer-reviewed

    Gaitanidis, I., Shao-Kobayashi, S.

    Higher Education　83　(1)　2022/01

    Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media {LLC}

    DOI： 10.1007/s10734-020-00582-7 　

    ISSN： 0018-1560 1573-174X

    eISSN： 1573-174X

  10. A “nihilist philosophy?” Christian orthodox heretical discourse and Japanese buddhism in Greece International-journal Invited Peer-reviewed

    Gaitanidis, I.

    Journal of Religion in Japan　10　(2)　271-298　2021/07/14

    Publisher: Brill

    DOI： 10.1163/22118349-01002006 　

    ISSN： 2211-8349

    eISSN： 2211-8349

  11. Japanese Religions and the Global Occult: An Introduction and Literature Review International-journal

    Ioannis Gaitanidis, Justin Stein

    Japanese Religions　44　(1-2)　1-32　2021/03

    Publisher: NCC Center for the Study of Japanese Religions

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    As with the relationships between shūkyō and “religion” and supirichuariti and “spirituality,” the Japanese term okaruto is embedded in a global network of practice and discourse around “occultism,” but is also informed by the politics of local practitioners and the media, and by scholarly narratives that try to make sense of them. In this introduction, we present: 1) an overview of the varied relationships between Japanese religions and “the global occult,” 2) an analysis of the Japanese-language scholarship on occult phenomena from sociological, cultural studies, and intellectual historical perspectives, and 3) a brief chronology of modern Japanese occultism. We conclude with some theoretical considerations about how to conceive of the Japanese occult vis-à-vis a transnational community of practice, including the roles of media, translation, and affect.

  12. Economy and Spirituality

    Gaitanidis, I.

    Bloomsbury Handbook of Japanese Religions　2021

  13. “Spiritual Apostasy” in Contemporary Japan: Religion, Taboos and The Ethics of Capitalism Peer-reviewed

    Ioannis Gaitanidis

    Silva Iaponicarum　60/61　41-65　2020/03/30

    DOI： 10.12775/sijp.2019.60-61.3 　

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    In the last decades, supirichuariti, the katakana word that refers to the concept of “spirituality,” which is generally understood as a post-1970s phenomenon in Japan, has been used to argue for the return of religiosity in domains outside “traditional religions.” The first decade of the twenty-first century even saw what was termed a “spiritual boom” which was mostly fuelled by an increased visibility on television and popular magazines of alternative therapies and self-development theories, resembling the spiritual-but-not-religious (SBNR) interests in other parts of the world, but basing themselves on an explicit boundary work with established religious practice. The spiritual, however, has, like the so-called “cults” since the Aum affair, been the target of attacks by media and scholarly discourse for its allegedly “dangerous” religiosity and fraudulent money transactions. The religion vs spirituality debate seems therefore to hide another debate, good spirituality vs bad spirituality, where taboo-discourse in relation to religion thrives. This paper introduces a recent phenomenon that adds yet another layer of attacks on spirituality in Japan. In the last 5 years, criticism against supirichuariti (sometimes termed datsu-supi, “ditching spirituality”) seems to have risen from among the ranks of the spiritual’s most fervent followers, to attack an ideology that has become “too self-centred” as its critics argue. This type of rhetoric seems, at first glance, to reiterate the anti-cult, pseudo-nostalgic narrative that considers money transactions to be “taboo” in the case of “proper religion.” Yet, I argue, that the taboo-ization of spirituality as object of business transactions by those whom I call “spiritual apostates”, reveals a more subtle critique, which is centred on capitalism rather than on religion. Spiritual apostasy, contrary to the anti-cult rhetoric, is, first and foremost, about what “good” capitalism is; not what “good” spirituality is.

  14. New Religious Movements, the Media, and “Japanese Animism”

    Gaitanidis, I.

    Spirits and Animism in Contemporary Japan the Invisible Empire　2019

  15. Jobbing as methodology: Victor T. King's involvement with area studies and some implications for Japanese studies and beyond

    Gaitanidis, I.

    Borneo and Sulawesi Indigenous Peoples Empires and Area Studies　2019

  16. More than just a photo?: Aura photography in digital Japan Peer-reviewed

    Ioannis Gaitanidis

    Asian Ethnology　78　(1)　101-125　2019

    ISSN： 1882-6865

  17. 'Not Who You Are, but What You Do': Collaborativity beyond Language and Culture Peer-reviewed

    Satoko Shao-Kobayashi, Ioannis Gaitanidis

    Japan in the World， the World in Japan: A Methodological Approach December 2016 Symposium Proceedings　2018/04

  18. Towards a Higher Learning Motivation among Malaysian Undergraduate Students - A Case Study of Motivation Change in Malaysian Undergraduate Students after the Global Study Program (GSP) in Japan Peer-reviewed

    Lim Way Soong, Leow Meng Chew, Lim Chot Hun, Hiroki Igarashi, Ioannis Gaitanidis, Satoko Shao-Kobayashi

    American Journal of Applied Sciences　14　(8)　808-822　2017/08

  19. Reconsidering “Culture” through Collaboratively-Made Conceptual Diagrams: The Example of a Critical Japanese Studies Approach in the Classroom Peer-reviewed

    Ioannis Gaitanidis

    Bulletin of Intercultural Education Society, Japan　(46)　16-29　2017

    Publisher:

    ISSN： 0914-6970

  20. Southeast Asia in Japan’s Spiritual Market: The Sacralization of Exoticism Peer-reviewed

    Ioannis Gaitanidis

    SUVANNABHUMI, Multi-disciplinary Journal of Southeast Asian Studies　8　(1)　95-119　2016/06

  21. From Miko to Spiritual Therapist: Shamanistic Initiations in Contemporary Japan Peer-reviewed

    Ioannis Gaitanidis, Murakami Aki

    Journal of Religion in Japan　3　(1)　1-35　2014

    DOI： 10.1163/22118349-00301001 　

    ISSN： 2211-8330

    eISSN： 2211-8349

  22. Gender and Spiritual Therapy in Japan Peer-reviewed

    Ioannis Gaitanidis

    INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR THE STUDY OF NEW RELIGIONS　3　(2)　269-288　2012/12

  23. Spiritual therapies in Japan Peer-reviewed

    Ioannis Gaitanidis

    Japanese Journal of Religious Studies　39　(2)　353-385　2012

    ISSN： 0304-1042

  24. At the forefront of a 'spiritual business': Independent professional spiritual therapists in Japan Peer-reviewed

    Ioannis Gaitanidis

    Japan Forum　23　(2)　185-206　2011/06

    DOI： 10.1080/09555803.2011.598015 　

    ISSN： 0955-5803

    eISSN： 1469-932X

  25. Socio-economic aspects of the 'spiritual business' in Japan : A survey of professional spiritual therapists Peer-reviewed

    GAITANIDIS Ioannis

    Religion and Society　16　(0)　143-160　2010

    Publisher: The Japanese Association for the Study of Religion and Society

    DOI： 10.20594/religionandsociety.16.0_143 　

    ISSN： 1342-4726

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    不景気が社会に全体的に影響を与えているということは周知の事実である。2009年7月から有効求人倍率が3ヶ月連続、史上最低の0.42になり、30歳以下のニートが64万人に増えたり、今年の自殺者数が22,362人にすでに達したりする実例を見ると日本にもグローバル的な危機が到着したということが分かる。その中で、最近研究者の間で興味を持たれているサービス業界の一部分、スピリチュアル・ビジネスという現象にも不景気の影響が表れている。「スピリチュアル・ブームは終わった」と発言するセラピストがいる一方で、「不況でお客さんが殺到した」と言い出すヒーラーの方が多いようである。しかし、日本の社会経済的状況が今さらスピリチュアル・ビジネスの行方とかかわるわけではない。ここで紹介する65人のスピリチュアル・セラピストのケースを分析しながら、著者はスピリチュアル・サービスという業界の発展が1980年以降の日本の経済と密接な関係を持っていると論じる。スピリチュアル・セラピストの生まれた年、セラピストになろうと考え始めた年とサロンを開いた年をグラフに表してみるとセラピストが三世代に分類されること、セラピストへの道を歩み始めたのが90年代後半であること、サロンの半分以上が2005年以降に開店されたことが分かる。その結果をセラピストの話に照らし合わせた結果、著者は次の結論に到達した。ジョルジュ・バタイユの「普遍経済学」という理論を用いるなら、日本の1980年代の裕福な社会の剰余生産のおかげで、スピリチュアル・セラピストの初代になる人々が存在の意味を探るにあたり、西洋で人気だったニューエイジ概念と道具を追うことができ、使用し始めたということがいえる。その道具を日本に輸入した初代のセラピストがスピリチュアルの「場」(「場」はメアリー・C・ブリントンの概念である)の基礎を築いたともいえる。バブル崩壊の影響で「場」をなくし、そして二代目セラピストになる複数の日本人がそのスピリチュアル・「場」で社会化できたうえ、仕事を見つけることができたと著者は論じる。最後に三代目のセラピストは、そのスピリチュアル・「場」の存在を前提として前世代より速く、スピリチュアル・ビジネスをキャリアとして選び始めている世代なのである。

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Misc. 26

  1. 書評：吉永進一著『吉永進一セレクション』全二巻

    ヤニス・ガイタニディス

    宗教研究　99　(3)　95-102　2025/12

  2. Book Review: Kakusareta Shōtoku Taishi: Kingendai Nihon no gishi to okaruto bunka (Shōtoku Taishi Veiled: Alternative Histories and Occulture in Modern Japan) by Orion Klautau Invited

    28　(1)　2025/03

    DOI： 10.1093/ssjj/jyaf005 　

  3. (Re)defining Esotericism International-journal Invited

    Ioannis Gaitanidis, Orion Klautau

    Aries　24　(2)　223-226　2024/07/22

    Publisher: Brill

    DOI： 10.1163/15700593-02402006 　

  4. コメント： オカルティズム研究の方法論的課題――吉永先生のアプローチを手掛かりに Invited

    Ioannis Gaitanidis

    近代仏教　31　56-61　2024/05

  5. 書評：小池靖『心理療法が宗教になるとき』 Invited

    ヤニス・ガイタニディス

    宗教研究　97　(3)　156-161　2023/12

  6. スピリチュアルとビジネスの共通構成性を考える Invited

    ガイタニディス・ヤニス

    現代思想　51　(12)　32-41　2023/09/29

  7. Book Review: Timothy O. Benedict, Spiritual Ends: Religion and the Heart of Dying in Japan

    Ioannis Gaitanidis

    Japanese Journal of Religious Studies　50　(1)　105-111　2023/09

  8. The “Questionable” as Method: Yoshinaga Shin’ichi and Research Methodology Invited

    Ioannis Gaitanidis

    Japanese Religions　45　(1-2)　9-15　2023/08

  9. 書評：伊藤雅之著 『現代スピリチュアリティ文化論—ヨーガ、マインドフルネスか らポジティブ心理学まで—』 Invited

    Ioannis Gaitanidis

    宗教と社会　29　151-155　2023/06

  10. Business Spirits: Religion and Business as Co-constitutive Phenomena International-journal International-coauthorship

    Gaitanidis, I., Christopher, S.

    Implicit Religion　25　(3-4)　213-223　2022

    Publisher: Equinox Publishing

    DOI： 10.1558/imre.30687 　

    ISSN： 1463-9955 1743-1697

    eISSN： 1743-1697

  11. Can Deconstructing ‘Religion’ Be More than Critique? Invited

    2021/12/10

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    Responding to our interview with Mitsutoshi Horii, Ioannis Gaitanidis highlights Horii's analysis of the public benefit-aspect of religion in Japan and expands the conversation by asking how scholars can build on and push further our deconstructive analyses for the critical study of religion.

  12. The corporate nature of “alternative” practices International-journal International-coauthorship Invited

    Ioannis Gaitanidis, Aike P. Rots

    The Immanent Frame　2021/04

    Publisher: The Social Science Research Council

  13. English translation of Okumura Daisuke's "Matsumoto Chiwaki’s Theory of Human Radioactivity: A Case of Reception of Western European Science in Japan" International-journal

    Matthew Anning, Ioannis Gaitanidis

    Japanese Religions　44　(1-2)　65-88　2021/03

    Publisher: NCC Center for the Study of Japanese Religions

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    This paper is a translation of Okumura Daisuke 奥村大介. 2019. Matsumoto Chiwakino jintai hōshanō-ron: Nihon ni okeru seiō kindai kagaku jyuyō no ichidanmen 松本道別の人体放射能論—日本における西欧近代科学受容の一断面. In: Kurita Hidehiko 栗田英彦, Tsukada Hotaka 塚田穂高, Yoshinaga Shin’ichi 吉永進一 (eds.). Kingendai Nihon nominkan seishin ryōhō: fukashina/okaruto enerugii no shosō 近現代日本の民間精神療法:不可視な(ルビ:オカルト)エネルギーの諸相. Tokyo: Kokushokankōkai, 51-77.

  14. Dissertation topics and guidance for liberal arts students in Japan: The case of Chiba University’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Peer-reviewed

    Gaitanidis, Ioannis

    5　177-192　2021/03

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    Despite the recent substantial increase of the number of universities offering liberal arts degrees in Asia, there exists a serious lack of research on the kind of guidance that students attending such programs require when writing their final dissertations. This brief paper assumes that the peculiar, multidisciplinary curricula followed by liberal arts students throughout their undergraduate studies prevent them from being able to write mono-disciplinary-type of research work. I suggest, instead, that we need to consider novel pedagogical approaches that allow students to grasp the “politics” of inter/multi/trans-disciplinarity and, following Edgar Morin’s work, to visualize the complexities of social issues without falling into the usual simplification processes associated with problem-based teaching. To illustrate my argument, I analyze the dissertation topics of approximately 200 students of Chiba University’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and subsequently offer suggestions for how we could tackle the students’ apparent tendency to rushing into “solution”-based arguments without having utilized the potential that a transdisciplinary education is supposed to have offered them.

  15. 問い続けられる「日本の研究」 Invited

    ガイタニディス・ヤニス

    千葉大学短期留学生による「特別研究」―20周年記念誌―　119-126　2021/03

  16. Studying Abroad at Home: The Meaning of Education Abroad During the Pandemic International-journal

    Ioannis Gaitanidis

    PORTAL Journal of Multidisciplinary International Studies　17　(1-2)　2021/01/28

    Publisher: University of Technology, Sydney (UTS)

    DOI： 10.5130/pjmis.v17i1-2.7409 　

    eISSN： 1449-2490

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    Studying abroad has virtually ended with the pandemic. New (online) formats are being already offered, but this has not stopped universities from having to revise curricula, renegotiate partnerships and consult with students about studying abroad in 2020 and beyond. This short essay stems from the author’s experience of cancelling his own Japanese study abroad program in late February 2020 to avoid the program participants taking unnecessary risks in the face of the unknown speed at which Covid-19 was spreading in Europe. The cancellation of that study trip brought to the fore, however, entrenched issues with short term study abroad programs and pushed the author to consider what the value of the ‘abroad’ in ‘study abroad’ had been until then. A short comparison with the practice of ethnography ensues, inspired by early pandemic debates on the future of anthropological fieldwork, which is another endeavour that has traditionally depended on relatively extended stays abroad. The essay closes with two problems that study abroad organisers will have to think about in a post-corona world.

  17. How I fostered student discussion in asynchronous online classes International-journal

    Ioannis Gaitanidis

    Times Higher Education Campus　2020/10

    Publisher: Times Higher Education

  18. short essay based on panel presentation for the cancelled AAS 2020 conference International-coauthorship

    Paula R. Curtis, Laura Miller, Melinda Landeck, Mark Pendleton, Takeshi Watanabe, Christina Yi, Ioannis Gaitanidis

    Virtual Roundtable: The “Rebirth” of Japanese Studies　2020/05

  19. What is the study of liberal arts and sciences?: A personal reflection on the first ４ years of Chiba University’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Peer-reviewed

    GAITANIDIS, Ioannis

    Chiba University Journal of Liberal Arts and Sciences　(4)　195-207　2020/03

  20. Hypnotherapy in Japan : Hypnosis, popular spiritual therapies and modernity

    ガイタニディス ヤニス

    こころと文化 = Psyche & culture　17　(2)　133-141　2018/09

    Publisher: 多文化間精神医学会

    ISSN： 1347-1791

  21. Pedagogical approach of collaborative learning focused on Japan : case studies from classes in liberal arts

    ガイタニディス ヤニス, 小林 聡子, 西住 奏子, 和田 健, 吉野 文

    国際教育 = International education　(9)　1-73　2016/03

    Publisher: 千葉大学国際教育センター

    DOI： 10.20776/S18819451-9-P1 　

    ISSN： 1881-9451

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    [Abstract] This paper is a report of a joint research project on collaborative learning in a multilingual andmulticultural class environment. The report is composed of four case-studies of liberal arts coursesat undergraduate level. Each course convener uses records of in-class student discussions, commentpapers and follow-up interviews to analyse how the learning locus set up in advance impacted onthe learning experiences and outcomes of the course participants.In this research project, collaborative learning is considered to be a form of learning that 1)emphasizes the process of student interaction, 2) takes an affirming stance towards student diversityin terms of linguistic, experiential and knowledge levels and differences, and 3) pays particularattention to the tensions arising from such diversity in the process of learning. Through specificexamples, the report discusses methods of interaction such as zadan (round-table conversation) orcollaborative argumentation and focuses on the necessity of introducing learning techniques thataim for student participation on even grounds.

  22. A Liberal Arts Approach to Japanese Studies : Transcript of the November 2014 faculty development seminar conducted by Chiba University Center for International Research and Education

    小林 聡子, ガイタニディス ヤニス

    国際教育 = International education　(8)　77-102　2015/03

    Publisher: 千葉大学国際教育センター

    DOI： 10.20776/S18819451-8-P77 　

    ISSN： 1881-9451

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    Following the establishment of Chiba University's Global Program for Japanese Studies in 2013, theCenter for International Research and Education launched a new series of modules called 'JapaneseStudies.' In this faculty development seminar, we employ as case-studies two of our JapaneseStudies courses, to introduce a liberal arts approach that stems from two basic understandings. 1)"Japan" is not a fixed, monolithic entity, but a concept that is imagined and constantly(re)constructed by people living around the world, including the residents of Japan. 2) "Studying"should not be conceived as an either passive or active endeavor, but as an activity that should be atthe same time reflexive, and should encourage the student to always consider the viewpoints fromwhich he/she is learning. By attaching scare quotes to these two terms, "Japan" and "Studies", wethus describe the pedagogical methods of what we call 'Critical Japanese Studies.'

  23. スピリチュアリティとプレカリティ : 経済とスピリチュアリティを結ぶ議論の二極化を超えて (21世紀のスピリチュアリティ研究)

    ヤニス ガイタニディス

    宗教と社会 = Religion & society　21　(21)　154-156　2015

    Publisher: 「宗教と社会」学会

    DOI： 10.20594/religionandsociety.21.0_154 　

    ISSN： 1342-4726

  24. The Medicalization of "Psycho-therapies" : Based on an Analysis of Spiritual Therapies(The Development of Folk "Psycho-Therapies" in Modern and Contemporary Japan,Panels,THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE SEVENTY-SECOND ANNUAL CONVENTION OF THE JAPANESE ASSOCIATION FOR RELIGIOUS STUDIES)

    GAITANIDIS Ioannis

    Journal of religious studies　87　(0)　89-90　2014

    Publisher: Japanese Association for Religious Studies

    DOI： 10.20716/rsjars.87.Suppl_89 　

    ISSN： 0387-3293

  25. 思い込みのないよそ者

    ガイタニディス ヤニス

    国際宗教研究所ニュースレター　(69)　37-40　2011/01/25

    Publisher: 国際宗教研究所

  26. Folk shamanistic practitioners, psychics and new religious leaders: The reinōsha of contemporary Japan

    Ioannis Gaitanidis

    Japan Anthropology Workshop Newsletter　43　38-40　2009

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Books and Other Publications 18

  1. Esotericism in East Asia: Cultural Interpretation and Politics

    Ioannis Gaitanidis

    Bloomsbury Academic　2026/05

    DOI： 10.5040/9781350559233.ch-001 　

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    Since the 1990s, no other field in Japan has done more service to the analysis of popular understandings of the “occult” than studies of cultural texts that are associated with the concept of kaii. Referring to the “unreal” or the “monstrous,” kaii has slowly become—like the “occult”—a category that defines a type of media based on an implicitly affective evaluation of that media’s content. Material that has already been qualified as “dark” and “strange” is subsequently analyzed as the “dark and strange Other” of Japanese (popular) culture. Focusing on the methodological implications of this type of looping argument, this chapter provides an analysis of the historical background of the subfield of kaii studies, and examines the connections between the affective fleetingness of the uncanny discussed in scholarly works and the tendency to structure such studies around mediatic “booms.”

  2. 国際教養学を学ぶための横断的思考法 : 15の漢字からひらく発見と問い

    Gaitanidis, Ioannis, 佐々木, 綾子, 社会学, Biontino, Juljan, 和田, 健, 見城, 悌治, Paskevicius, Algirdas, 片桐, 大輔, 五十嵐, 洋己, 小林, 聡子, 高光, 佳絵, 野村, 和之, 三野, 弘文, 永瀬, 彩子, 本間, 祥子, Tao, Bo

    明石書店　2026/03/31

    ISBN: 9784750361178

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    近年の大学教育は、文・理の枠、従来の学問を越境する方向にむかっている。本書は「創」「信」など15の漢字から発想を広げ、様々な学問の考え方や日常の事象との関わり等について分野を横断する思考法を養う。学生だけでなく広く一般読者に有用な一冊。

  3. Japanese Buddhism in Europe (originally published in Journal of Religion in Japan, in 2021)

    Jorn Borup, Elisabetta Porcu

    Brill　2025/07/31

    ISBN: 9789004730755

  4. Therapy, Spirituality, and East Asian Imaginaries

    Ioannis Gaitanidis, Luis Fernando Bernardi Junqueira, Avery Morrow, Sang-yun Han

    Amsterdam University Press (Health, Medicine, and Science in Asia Series)　2025/02

    ISBN: 9789048559015

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    In the context of modern global exchanges, an imagined and essentialised notion of ‘East Asia’ has served as both a source of inspiration and a catalyst for new connections, extending beyond the geographic boundaries of China, Japan, and Korea. This volume explores the global circulation of practices, technologies, and ideas identified as ‘East Asian’ in alternative therapies and spiritual practices since the 1970s. Case studies range from the incorporation of traditional Chinese medicine into Brazilian naturopathy to self-development seminars promoting Korean national identity. Rather than focusing on questions of authenticity, the book uniquely interrogates how and why the cultures of China, Japan, and Korea have been invoked over the last fifty years to promote specific therapeutic, spiritual, and political agendas worldwide.

  5. Special Issue: Business Spirits: Religion and Business as Co-constitutive Phenomena

    Ioannis Gaitanidis, Stephen Christopher

    Implicit Religion 25 (3-4)　2024/10/30

  6. Teaching Japan : A handbook

    Gaitanidis, Ioannis, Poole, Gregory S.

    MHM Ltd Japan Documents Series and Amsterdam University Press　2024/07

    ISBN: 9784909286468

  7. Special Issue: Western Esotericism, the Cultic Milieu, and Lived Religion: Problems and Possibilities of “Other-than-Religion” Concepts

    Ioannis Gaitanidis, Erica Baffelli

    2024/03

  8. Spirituality and Alternativity in Contemporary Japan: Beyond Religion?

    Ioannis Gaitanidis

    2022/11

    ISBN: 9781350262614

  9. The Bloomsbury Handbook of Japanese Religions

    Baffelli, Erica, Castiglioni, Andrea, Rambelli, Fabio

    Bloomsbury Academic　2021/04

    ISBN: 9781350043732

  10. Special Issue: "Japanese Religions and the Global Occult"

    Ioannis Gaitanidis, Justin Stein

    Japanese Religions vol.44　2021/03

  11. クリティカル日本学――協働学習を通して「日本」のステレオタイプを学びほぐす

    ガイタニディス・ヤニス, 小林 聡子, 吉野 文

    明石書店　2020/03/06

    ISBN: 4750349836

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    「日本」のイメージとされるものを、歴史学、社会学、人類学、言語教育など、専門の異なる執筆者が取り上げて解きほぐし、日本をとらえ直す方法を示す。大学生・高校生向けの協働学習テキストとしても、「日本学」「日本研究」の教養書としても最適の一冊。

  12. Borneo and Sulawesi : indigenous peoples, empires and area studies

    Ooi, Keat Gin

    Routledge　2020/01

    ISBN: 9781138365667

  13. 近現代日本の民間精神療法: 不可視なエネルギーの諸相

    栗田 英彦, 塚田 穂高, 吉永 進一

    国書刊行会　2019/09/17

    ISBN: 433606380X

  14. Spirits and Animism in Contemporary Japan: The Invisible Empire

    Rambelli, Fabio

    Bloomsbury Academic　2019/05/02

    ISBN: 1350097098

  15. Special Issue: Critique of/in Japanese Studies

    Ioannis Gaitanidis

    New Ideas in East Asian Studies: A Working Paper Series for Experiments in East Asian Studies　2017/12

  16. Mad Travelers: Reflections on the Reality of Transient Mental Illnesses

    2017

    ISBN: 9784000248228

  17. Race, equity, and the learning environment : the global relevance of critical and inclusive pedagogies in higher education

    Tuitt, Frank (Franklin A.), Haynes, Chayla, Stewart, Saran, Patton, Lori D.

    Stylus　2016

    ISBN: 9781620363409

  18. をちこち 第27号(2009年2月・2009年3月号) 特集 世界の研究者が見つめるNIPPON

    ヤニス・ガイタニディス

    山川出版社　2009/02/02

    ISBN: 4634580454

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Presentations 94

  1. (in absentia) Pedagogy as Public, Scholarly Engagement: Lessons from Teaching Japan

    Gregory S. Poole, Ioannis Gaitanidis

    Philosophy and Theory of Higher Education Society (PaTHES) Conference 2026　2026/06/03

  2. 消費者の脆弱性と感情の管理 ―「霊感商法」問題を通じた 消費者法の展開―

    ヤニス・ガイタニディス

    日本文化人類学会第60回研究大会　2026/05/30

  3. Does contractual intent apply to financial transactions with religious groups? Informed consent as a legal argument in trials concerning “spiritual sales” in Japan.

    Ioannis Gaitanidis

    Association for Asian Studies Annual Conference　2026/03/13

  4. 西村展蔵による天下一家思想の系譜

    ヤニス・ガイタニディス

    宗教・霊性・精神実践と国家・社会の力学 ――制度の周縁・内部・対抗の諸相から　2025/12/20

  5. The vulnerable consumer International-presentation

    2025/12/19

  6. 日本宗教、日本の宗教、日本と宗教：「日本」と「宗教」をめぐる多様な本質主義をどう乗り越えるか Invited

    ヤニス・ガイタニディス

    国際研究フォーラム 「日本／宗教をとらえなおす――ウチとソトを越えて」　2025/12/13

  7. discussant at Workshop: Comparing Genealogies of Hidden Knowledge in Global Modernity: Religion, Folklore, and Occultism

    Ioannis Gaitanidis

    Workshop: Comparing Genealogies of Hidden Knowledge in Global Modernity: Religion, Folklore, and Occultism　2025/11/07

  8. 消費者問題としての「霊感商法」にみる法と宗教の共生成 Invited

    ガイタニディス・ヤニス

    「条理の法人類学」第６回研究会　2025/10/11

  9. Beyond Perspectivalism: Problems (and Solutions) to the Study of “Spiritual Therapies” International-presentation

    Ioannis Gaitanidis

    21st Pacific Rim College of Psychiatrists & 7th World Association of Cultural Psychiatry Joint Congress　2025/09/25

  10. Co-convenor of the "Religion&Philosophy" section Invited

    Ioannis Gaitanidis, Lorenzo Marinucci

    The 4th EAJS (European Association for Japanese Studies) Japan Conference

  11. On Feeling and Belonging in Japanese Religions (Panel: New Directions in the Study of Japanese Religions: Reviewing New Nanzan Guide) Invited

    Ioannis Gaitanidis

    84th Annual conference of the Japanese Association for Religious Studies　2025/09/15

  12. 霊感商法における「不安」とは何か？ ―消費者委員会資料の分析―

    ガイタニディス・ヤニス

    日本宗教学会 第84回学術大会　2025/09/15

  13. Ehara Hiroyuki’s Spiritualism in 21st c. Japan: More than a fashionable import? (Panel: Methodologies in Global Religious History: Is there “Esotericism” in Japan?） International-presentation

    Ioannis Gaitanidis

    XXIII International Association for the History of Religions World Congress　2025/08/28

  14. Ethnocentric Imaginaries and Cross-Cultural Projections: The Ainu as Ancient Greeks in Postwar Greece (online) International-presentation Invited

    Ioannis Gaitanidis

    Research Workshop "Conspiracy Theories in Japan" I　2025/08/29

  15. Fraud and Consumer Choice in Early Postwar Japan: A Pre-History of the “Spiritual Sales”

    Ioannis Gaitanidis

    Japan Anthropology Workshop / Anthropology of Japan in Japan Conference 2025　2025/04/06

  16. discussant for the panel: Reflecting and Revisiting 「Teaching Japan」 Invited

    Ioannis Gaitanidis

    Japan Anthropology Workshow/Anthropology of Japan in Japan Conference 2025　2025/04/05

  17. Darkness, Strangeness, and Monstrosity: The Affectiveness of Kaii in Japanese Studies of the “Occult” International-presentation

    Ioannis Gaitanidis

    Esotericism and Japan: Recent Developments　2025/03/28

  18. “Spiritual Sales” and the Battle for Consumers’ Minds in Japan International-presentation

    Ioannis Gaitanidis

    Association for Asian Studies Annual Conference　2025/03/15

  19. The construction of “religion” through legislation: the case of Japan Invited

    Ioannis Gaitanidis

    Workshop Religion and Politics in Japan: Historical Legacies, Contemporary Dynamics, and Critical Reflections　2025/02/12

  20. 法と感情―霊感商法を事例に― Invited

    ガイタニディス ヤニス

    第116回宗教法制研究会　2025/01/17

  21. conference co-organiser, chair of Session 1: Body, Mind and Eastern Religions

    2nd International Conference of the East Asian Network for the Academic Study of Esotericism

  22. Hypnotherapy in Contemporary Japan: A Not-So Alternative Therapy in the Age of Attention International-presentation Invited

    Ioannis Gaitanidis

    Medical Humanities in East Asia and Beyond　2024/10/11

  23. Photographic Technology and Aura Reading in Contemporary Japan Invited

    Ioannis Gaitanidis

    Esotericism and Global Visual Culture　2024/10/05

  24. 「霊感商法」の被害者は宗教と消費の関係をどう考えているか

    ヤニス・ガイタニディス

    日本宗教学会第83学術大会　2024/09/14

  25. “What was your state of mind when you bought it?”: The Co-Constitution of Legal Understandings of Religion and Consumption in the History of Spiritual Sales

    Ioannis Gaitanidis

    Workshop: Law and religion, in comparison: The co-making of two epistemic fields　2024/09/04

  26. Healthist Arguments, Political Ideologies and National Responses in the Context of Complementary and Alternative Medicine in Japan

    Ioannis Gaitanidis

    Society for the Social History of Medicine Biennial Conference　2024/07/18

  27. Fear, Legal Victimhood and ‘Fraudulent’ Religion in Contemporary Japan

    Ioannis Gaitanidis

    Fear Research Network (FeRN)　2024/07/11

  28. organiser for panel: Interpreting Legal Loopholes: Justice and Morality in the Co-Construction of Religion and Law

    Ioannis Gaitanidis

    The 6th Annual Conference of East Asian Society for the Scientific Study of Religion (EASSSR)　2024/07/06

  29. Morality and Victimhood in Cases of "Spiritual Sales"

    Ioannis Gaitanidis

    The 6th Annual Conference of East Asian Society for the Scientific Study of Religion (EASSSR)　2024/07/06

  30. Omission and the Globalization of Academic Concepts (online) International-presentation Invited

    Ioannis Gaitanidis

    Religion and the Occult in Modern Japan　2024/06/21

  31. Mind, Money and Morality: the “Spiritual Sales” as a Legal Category Invited

    Ioannis Gaitanidis

    Political Discourses on Religion in Contemporary Japan: Beyond the “New”?　2023/12/22

  32. Religious Studies, Methodology and the Violence of Normative Empathy Invited

    Ioannis Gaitanidis

    THE FIFTH TOHOKU CONFERENCE ON GLOBAL JAPANESE STUDIES　2023/12/09

  33. Book Launch: Teaching Japan (1)

    Ioannis Gaitanidis, Gregory Poole

    Anthropology of Japan in Japan　2023/12/02

  34. Disentangling “Japanese Religion” in the Classroom

    Ioannis Gaitanidis

    Anthropology of Japan in Japan　2023/12/02

  35. The Economics of “mind control” in Reiwa Japan International-presentation

    Ioannis Gaitanidis

    17th International Conference of the European Association for Japanese Studies　2023/08/19

  36. Chair of panel: "The occult in postwar Japan: New perspectives" International-presentation

    17th International Conference of the European Association for Japanese Studies　2023/08/19

  37. The Esotericism of "Japanese Religions" International-presentation Invited

    Ioannis Gaitanidis

    Workshop: What is “Esotericism” in South and East Asia?　2023/06/30

  38. "The Ainu were Ancient Greeks": Japan in post-WWII Greek Ethnocentric Imaginations International-presentation

    Ioannis Gaitanidis

    The 9th bi-annual conference of the European Society for the Study of Western Esotericism (ESSWE)　2023/06/26

  39. コメント：「オカルティズム研究の方法論的課題」 Invited

    Ioannis Gaitanidis

    第31回日本近代仏教史研究会研究大会　2023/05/27

  40. “Bad religion” or “bad business”? Shared moralities and the illegality of “spiritual sales” International-presentation Invited

    Ioannis Gaitanidis

    Business Spirits: Contested Terrains of Trade Models and Religious Value　2023/05/05

  41. Invisible, Too Visible or Both: Problems with Studies of the Alternative International-presentation Invited

    Ioannis Gaitanidis

    How can we best understand spiritual alternativity?　2023/05/03

  42. Entangled Moralities: “Spiritual Sales” as a Consumer Issue International-presentation Invited

    Ioannis Gaitanidis

    2023/04/01

  43. Comment for panel: "Countercurrents: Pseudo-history and the Occult in Modern and Contemporary Japan" Invited

    Ioannis Gaitanidis

    Association for Asian Studies　2023/03/17

  44. A Short History of Legal Conflicts over “Spiritual Sales” in Japan International-presentation

    Ioannis Gaitanidis

    Association for Asian Studies　2023/03/18

  45. 消費問題としての「霊感商法」と資本主義経済の価値観―文化人類学・社会学からの視点― Invited

    ガイタニディス・ヤニス

    第84回宗教法学会　2022/11/12

  46. Invisible, Too Visible or Both: Problems with Studies of the ‘Alternative’

    Ioannis Gaitanidis

    EANASE Workshop: “Esotericism East and West: New Perspectives”　2022/09/22

  47. Panel:Esotericism, Occultism, and Spiritual Therapies during the Long Twentieth Century: Theoretical Implications International-coauthorship Invited

    日本宗教学会第81回学術大会　2022/09/11

  48. 「霊感」が法律用語となったとき－消費者法関連の平成誌の分析－

    ヤニス・ガイタニディス

    日本宗教学会第81回学術大会　2022/09/11

  49. The "Spiritual Town" of Nishi-Ogikubo: At the Crossroads of Tokyo's Counter-Culture, New Religious and Spiritual Movements Invited

    Ioannis Gaitanidis

    From Seabeds to Mountaintops: East Asian Religions in Situ　2022/07/12

  50. “Cults” and “spirituality” in Japan: American inspirations and Japanese religious studies in the last 30 years

    Ioannis Gaitanidis

    Asian Studies Conference Japan (Panel 9: Global Transfer of Knowledge and the Change of the Local: “Western” Knowledge and Japanese Academia in East Asia, 1890 to now)　2022/07/02

  51. Response to Panel 3: Reiki in the Twenty-first Century Invited

    Ioannis Gaitanidis

    Ioannis Gaitanidis　2022/05/28

  52. Fictitious Billings and the Regulation of Spiritual Sales in Contemporary Japan

    2022/05/19

  53. Are fraud victims 'blind believers'? Entrepreneurial ethics and the discourse on the illegality of 'spiritual sales' (reikan shōhō) Invited

    Ioannis Gaitanidis

    2022/05/16

  54. 非組織的宗教、消費と道徳 Invited

    ガイタニディス・ヤニス

    全国霊感商法対策弁護士連絡会集会　2022/03/25

  55. Japanese Studies Teaching in Japan Invited

    Ioannis Gaitanidis

    国際交流基金基調講演：国内大学との連携による外国人日本研究者のキャリア形成　2022/02/07

  56. 「クリティカル日本学」の経緯と実践 Invited

    ガイタニディス・ヤニス

    広島大学比較日本文化学プロジェクト研究センター 特別講義　2022/01/19

  57. Analysing Rehearsed Life Stories: Spiritual Therapists, Local Phenomenologies of Religion and the Researcher’s “Responsibilities” Invited

    International Master's Program (IMAP) in Japanese Humanities - "Japanese Religious Studies Behind the Scenes"　2021/10/06

  58. 非組織的宗教と詐欺 －法廷で語られる「誠実性」

    ヤニス・ガイタニディス

    日本宗教学会第80回学術大会　2021/09/08

  59. From the Suburbs of Nicosia to the Heart of Tokyo: The Resilience of Daskalos’ Esoteric Teachings International-presentation

    Ioannis Gaitanidis

    The European Association for the Study of Religions (Panel: Resilient Esotericism)　2021/08/31

  60. Making "Alternative Religion" Japanese: An Analysis of Scholarly Discourse on Supirichuariti (Panel: Inclusion and Exclusion in (the Study of) Japanese Religions) International-presentation

    Ioannis Gaitanidis

    European Association of Japanese Studies Triennial Conference 2021　2021/08/26

  61. TIFO Roundtable: Connecting the dots. Yes, but which dots? Invited

    Ioannis Gaitanidis

    European Association of Japanese Studies Triennial Conference 2021　2021/08/26

  62. COIL exchange between Japan and Greece: Enhancing collaborativity remotely – the case of the GSP Invited

    Ioannis Gaitanidis

    Online Symposium on Collaborative Online International Learning: Exploiting virtual environments and global exchange to enhance higher education　2021/03/16

  63. 藤井岐彦の神霊文化と科学

    ヤニス・ガイタニデス

    戦後のオカルト流行と『日本神学』　2021/02/28

  64. The "spiritual" on trial: An analysis of court cases involving fortune-tellers and psychics in Japan Invited

    Ioannis Gaitanidis

    2021/02/15

  65. Print Spirituality: Publishers and Translators of the Spiritual World

    Ioannis Gaitanidis

    2021/01/23

  66. Roundtable: Global Japanese Studies during the Pandemic: The Case of Chiba University Invited

    Ioannis Gaitanidis

    Emerging International Approaches to Japanese Studies: Global Research, Global Education　2020/12/19

  67. 異端論としての脱スピ論－内からのスピリチュアル批判－

    ガイタニディス・ヤニス

    日本宗教学会第78回　2019/09/14

  68. Criticizing spiritual prosumption from within: the case of the anti-spirituality discourse in contemporary Japan International-presentation

    2019/07/11

  69. Datsu-supi: Heretical Discourse and Spirituality in Contemporary Japan

    2019/06/29

  70. 現代宗教と代替性―日本の事例から― Invited

    Ioannis Gaitanidis

    東北大学国際文化研究科国際日本研究講座企画公開講演　2018/10/25

  71. 宇宙人の首相―「友愛」と鳩山由紀夫の政治思想をめぐるオカルト言論―

    ガイタニディス・ヤニス

    「宗教と社会」学会第26回学術大会　2018/06/10

  72. Western Esotericism in Contemporary Japan: The Case of a Greek Theosophical Study Group

    Ioannis Gaitanidis

    Workshop: Asia, Buddhism, and Theosophy　2017/12/10

  73. The “alien” prime minister: Hatoyama’s “occult” politics

    Ioannis Gaitanidis

    15th European Association of Japanese Studies International Conference　2017/09/01

  74. デジタル時代におけるオーラ写真の非聖化の可能性

    ガイタニディス・ヤニス

    「宗教と社会」学会第25回学術大会　2017/06/03

  75. Japanese Studies as a Liberal Arts subject: Area Studies and Cosmopolitanism in Japanese higher education

    Ioannis Gaitanidis

    BAJS/IMC Conference　2016/07/30

  76. Southeast Asia in Japan’s Spiritual Market: The Sacralization of Exoticism Invited

    Ioannis Gaitanidis

    2016 International Conference of ISEAS/BUFS　2016/05/28

  77. Translation and Interpretation of Western Occultism in Contemporary Japan,

    Ioannis Gaitanidis

    XXI IAHR World Congress, University of Erfurt　2015/08/27

  78. スピリチュアリティとプレカリティ : 経済とスピリチュアリティを結ぶ議論の二極化を超えて (21世紀のスピリチュアリティ研究)

    ヤニス ガイタニディス

    「宗教と社会」学会第22回学術大会　2014/06/22

  79. 「日本」を学ぶ―パズルとしての日本学

    ガイタニディス・ヤニス

    異文化間教育学会第35回大会　2014/06/08

  80. The Medicalization of "Psycho-therapies" : Based on an Analysis of Spiritual Therapies(The Development of Folk "Psycho-Therapies" in Modern and Contemporary Japan,Panels,THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE SEVENTY-SECOND ANNUAL CONVENTION OF THE JAPANESE ASSOCIATION FOR RELIGIOUS STUDIES)

    GAITANIDIS Ioannis

    Journal of religious studies　2014

  81. Contemporary Western Esotericism in Japan: Transmission, translation, adaptation

    Ioannis Gaitanidis

    1st EAJS Japan Conference　2013/09/29

  82. Globalisationn of the New Age Movement? The case of a latecomer New Ager in Japan

    Ioannis Gaitanidis

    Asian Studies Conference Japan　2012/06/30

  83. 日本におけるスピリチュアルブームと現代西洋エソテリシズム

    ガイタニディス・ヤニス

    「宗教と社会」学会第20回学術大会　2012/06/16

  84. スピリチュアル・ビジネスの定量分析

    ガイタニディス・ヤニス

    「宗教と社会」学会第19回学術大会 ,　2011/06/11

  85. The Changing Meaning and Role of ‘Community’ in Japanese Spiritual Therapy Circles

    Ioannis Gaitanidis

    Anthropology of Japan in Japan Spring Workshop　2011/04/23

  86. Spiritual Therapists in Contemporary Japan: Consuming Explanations for Distress

    Ioannis Gaitanidis

    British Association of Japanese Studies Triennial Conference　2010/09/09

  87. Battling with Japanese Magico-Religious Language

    Ioannis Gaitanidis

    Languages for the 21st century: training, impact and influence, University of Sheffield　2010/09/02

  88. Gender and Spiritual Therapy in Japan

    Ioannis Gaitanidis

    Gender Perceptions and Practices in East Asia Workshop, White Rose East Asia Centre, University of Sheffield　2010/06/17

  89. Consuming Transcendence: Spiritual Therapists or the Otaku of the Spiritual

    Ioannis Gaitanidis

    White Rose East Asia Centre Day, University of Sheffield　2010/05/18

  90. スピリチュアル・セラピーという職業：現代日本人のビジネスセンス

    ガイタニディス・ヤニス

    2009年度大正大学宗教学会　2010/04/04

  91. Socio-economic aspects of the 'spiritual business' in Japan : A survey of professional spiritual therapists

    GAITANIDIS Ioannis

    Religion and Society　2010

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    不景気が社会に全体的に影響を与えているということは周知の事実である。2009年7月から有効求人倍率が3ヶ月連続、史上最低の0.42になり、30歳以下のニートが64万人に増えたり、今年の自殺者数が22,362人にすでに達したりする実例を見ると日本にもグローバル的な危機が到着したということが分かる。その中で、最近研究者の間で興味を持たれているサービス業界の一部分、スピリチュアル・ビジネスという現象にも不景気の影響が表れている。「スピリチュアル・ブームは終わった」と発言するセラピストがいる一方で、「不況でお客さんが殺到した」と言い出すヒーラーの方が多いようである。しかし、日本の社会経済的状況が今さらスピリチュアル・ビジネスの行方とかかわるわけではない。ここで紹介する65人のスピリチュアル・セラピストのケースを分析しながら、著者はスピリチュアル・サービスという業界の発展が1980年以降の日本の経済と密接な関係を持っていると論じる。スピリチュアル・セラピストの生まれた年、セラピストになろうと考え始めた年とサロンを開いた年をグラフに表してみるとセラピストが三世代に分類されること、セラピストへの道を歩み始めたのが90年代後半であること、サロンの半分以上が2005年以降に開店されたことが分かる。その結果をセラピストの話に照らし合わせた結果、著者は次の結論に到達した。ジョルジュ・バタイユの「普遍経済学」という理論を用いるなら、日本の1980年代の裕福な社会の剰余生産のおかげで、スピリチュアル・セラピストの初代になる人々が存在の意味を探るにあたり、西洋で人気だったニューエイジ概念と道具を追うことができ、使用し始めたということがいえる。その道具を日本に輸入した初代のセラピストがスピリチュアルの「場」(「場」はメアリー・C・ブリントンの概念である)の基礎を築いたともいえる。バブル崩壊の影響で「場」をなくし、そして二代目セラピストになる複数の日本人がそのスピリチュアル・「場」で社会化できたうえ、仕事を見つけることができたと著者は論じる。最後に三代目のセラピストは、そのスピリチュアル・「場」の存在を前提として前世代より速く、スピリチュアル・ビジネスをキャリアとして選び始めている世代なのである。

  92. Nationalistic Interpretations of Japanese Mythology Used to Reassure Clients during a Session with a Japanese Type of Professional Psychic in Present-Day Tokyo

    Ioannis Gaitanidis

    3rd Annual International Conference on Comparative Mythology　2009/05/23

  93. 現代日本の霊能者とその相談者の関わり

    ヤニス・ガイタニディス

    第16回多文化間精神医学界総会　2009/03/28

  94. “Reinōsha" : The Shamans of Contemporary Japan Invited

    Ioannis Gaitanidis

    5th European Association of Japanese Studies Doctoral Workshop　2008/09/20

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Research Projects 11

  1. "Religion" and "Fear" in Contemporary Japanese Consumer Law: The Case of Legal Measures Against "Spiritual Sales"

    Offer Organization: Japan Society for the Promotion of Science

    System: Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research

    Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)

    Institution: Chiba University

    2025/04 - 2028/03

  2. Japanese Mind Cure Movements during the Total War and Occupation Period: Their Intersections with Buddhism and Shinto

    Offer Organization: Japan Society for the Promotion of Science

    System: Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research

    Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)

    Institution: Bukkyo University

    2025/04 - 2028/03

  3. Non-organised religion and fraud in the Heisei era: A history of entanglements between 'religion' and 'consumption'

    Offer Organization: Japan Society for the Promotion of Science

    System: Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)

    Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)

    Institution: Chiba University

    2022/04 - 2025/03

  4. Business Spirits: Contested Terrains of Trade Models and Religious Value Competitive

    Susannah Crockford, Stephen Christopher, Ioannis Gaitanidis

    Offer Organization: American Academy of Religion

    System: Project Grant

    Institution: University of Exeter

    2023/05 - 2023/05

  5. How can we best understand spiritual alternativity? Competitive

    Stephen Christopher

    Offer Organization: University of Copenhagen

    System: Asian Dynamics Initiative

    Institution: University of Copenhagen

    2023/05 - 2023/05

  6. Business Spirits: Contested Terrains of Trade Models and Religious Value Competitive

    Stephen Christopher, Ioannis Gaitanidis

    Offer Organization: University of Copenhagen

    System: Asian Dynamics Initiative

    Institution: University of Copenhagen

    2023/05 - 2023/05

  7. Modern Buddhism and Popular Spiritual Therapies: The Modernisation and Globalisation of Practice

    Offer Organization: Japan Society for the Promotion of Science

    System: Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)

    Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)

    Institution: Bukkyo University

    2020/04 - 2023/03

  8. A sociology of religion of "post-spirituality": the case of spiritual therapy dropouts

    Gaitanidis Ioannis

    Offer Organization: Japan Society for the Promotion of Science

    System: Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists

    Category: Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists

    Institution: Chiba University

    2018/04/01 - 2022/03/31

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    This research project aimed to understand the criticism against spirituality coming from people who claimed to have once been ‘insiders’. In the first half of the project, the analysis of 504 blog entries written by these ‘spirituality ditchers’revealed that their critiques were not targeting spirituality itself, but the morality of capitalist transactions framed as ‘spiritual’. This led me, in the second half of the project, to consider through an examination of 306 court judgements (from the late 1980s to 2020), the kinds of consumer claims usually associated with 'spiritual' services. This research pointed me towards the existence of structural and moral commonalities between today’s rising problem of fictitious billing and the increase in the number of trials dealing with the so-called spiritual sales. This project funded the conduct of 7 research presentations, 1 research article, 1 book chapter, 1 co-authored dialogue and 1 monograph (to be published in November 2022).

  9. The Theosophical Movement in the Postwar Period: Theosophy and the Development of Occultism in Japan

    Offer Organization: Japan Society for the Promotion of Science

    System: Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)

    Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)

    Institution: Maizuru National College of Technology

    2020/04 - 2022/03

  10. 雑誌メディアによる戦後日本の秘教運動の宗教史的研究―『日本神学』の変遷を追って

    吉永 進一, 栗田 英彦, GAITANIDIS IOA, 塚田 穂高

    Offer Organization: 日本学術振興会

    System: 科学研究費助成事業 基盤研究(C)

    Category: 基盤研究(C)

    Institution: 舞鶴工業高等専門学校

    2017/04/01 - 2020/03/31

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    昨年度は5月26日に千葉大学で「戦後オカルト再考―政治的背景をさぐる―」と題して現代オカルトと政治に関するワークショップを行い、大道晴香「戦後社会と〈東北〉――1960年代の〈イタコ〉表象をめぐって」、栗田英彦「新左翼運動からオカルト思想へ――太田龍の「革命」と「宗教」」、橋迫瑞穂「オカルト雑誌」の女性たち――80年代「ムー」を中心に」、ヤニス・ガイタニディス「鳩山由紀夫の「友愛」思想――政治家のオカルト言論について」の発表があり、『日本神学』の周囲に展開する1960年代から現代にかけてのオカルトと政治についての議論を深めた。一方、雑誌メディアにおけるオカルト的なものについて明治期から戦後までの俯瞰図を描くために、明治末期に出されていた精神療法雑誌『心の友』（1906～1912年）を調査した。他方、戦後については、2019年1月26日京大人文研にてワークショップ「余白の宗教雑誌：宗教と宗教ならざるものの間」を共催し、大道晴香より「〈秘境〉の時代―「オカルトブーム」前夜としての60年代―」の発表があり、秘境雑誌がオカルト雑誌の先駆となったことについて議論された。また調査では、『日本神学』の前身『宗教文化』創刊に重要な役割を果たした今成覚禅のご子孫にインタビューを行い、今成の宗教と文化活動について聞き取りを行った。また『日本神学』発行者中野文隆のご子孫にもインタビューして、文隆の父は、彼自身も有力な僧侶であり、また日蓮宗管長をつとめた金子日威の従兄弟にあたるなど、中野家は日蓮宗の宗門の中心にあったが、文隆はさまざまなオカルト運動と接触しプロモートしていた。さらに、何度かの静岡の図書館にて新聞などを閲覧し、『日本神学』の背景となる近代静岡の宗教事情を調査した。分担者の栗田はロンドンでの国際ワークショップに参加し、グローバルな戦後オカルティズムの広がりについての知見を得た。

  11. Longitudinal Research on Collaborative Learning in a Multilingual and Multicultural Classroom Environment

    YOSHINO AYA, NISHIZUMI Kanako, WADA Ken, KOBAYASHI Satoko, GAITANIDIS Ioannis

    Offer Organization: Japan Society for the Promotion of Science

    System: Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research

    Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research

    Institution: Chiba University

    2014/04/01 - 2016/03/31

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    This research project aimed at clarifying three processes taking place in liberal arts courses that dealt with topics related to Japanese culture and society, and that specifically targeted undergraduate students of multicultural and multilingual backgrounds: the process of building collaborative learning environments, the ensuing process of change of awareness among students, and the related process of relationship-building between students. We recorded and analyzed student group conversations throughout the semester, in four courses, which were held either in Japanese or in Japanese and in English. Our findings clarified the possibilities offered to students to acquire multiple perspectives, not only about each course’s content, but about themselves and others too. The project also identified conflicts arising from the existence (even situational) of linguistic minorities, and illustrated the multilateral awareness that stemmed from participation in such conflicts among students.

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Media Coverage 4

  1. 鼎談＝藤原聖子×ヤニス・ガイタニディス×オリオン・クラウタウ「悪魔崇拝を通して見る、西洋エソテリシズム研究の最前線 ルーベン・ファン・ラウク著『悪魔崇拝とは何か 古代から現代まで』刊行を機に」

    中央公論新社　週刊読書人　第3594号（8）

    2025/06/20

    Type: Newspaper, magazine

  2. Navigating the Challenges of Japanese Studies Pedagogy at Universities in Japan

    Ioannis Gaitanidis, Sachiko Horiguchi, Gregory Poole, Satoko Shao-Kobayashi　Roundtable Japan　https://roundtablejapan.transistor.fm/2

    2025/05/31

    Type: Internet

  3. Podcast: Spirituality and Alternativity in Contemporary Japan Beyond Religion?

    New Books Network

    2023/03/31

    Type: Other

  4. Japan's 'power spots' draw those looking for hope, drive, and a touch of the mystical

    The Mainichi Daily News

    2012/01/14

    Type: Newspaper, magazine

Academic Activities 6

  1. editorial board member

    2023 - Present

    Activity type: Peer review

  2. 日本宗教学会 評議員

    2022/09 - Present

    Activity type: Academic society, research group, etc.

  3. editorial board member

    2021 - Present

    Activity type: Peer review

  4. Coordinator for the East Asian Network for the Academic Study of Esotericism

    2020/12 - Present

    Activity type: Academic society, research group, etc.

  5. Book Review Editor for Journal of Religion in Japan (Brill)

    2018/07 - 2021/07

    Activity type: Peer review

  6. Coordinator for the Japanese Network for the Academic Study of Esotericism

    2016 - 2020

    Activity type: Academic society, research group, etc.

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