Newly-adopted religions and Social Change on the Ryukyu Islands (Japan).

This paper describes the relationship between the adoption of a newly-imported religion and social change on the Ryukyu Islands, Japan, focusing upon the case of the village of Bora on Miyako Island, where the author has done research for several years. This paper also refers to the case of Sokagakkai and Iesu no Mitama Church. Interested in the problem of the adoption of Christianity in isolated villages of Japan, the author has been doing socio-religious research in the village of Nishiamuro on Kakeroma Island since 1966. In contemporary society, mass conversion and the adoption of Christianity culminating in baptism are considered to be exceptional phenomena. Field research done by the author in Okinawa (Ryukyu Islands) brought to light a similar example of mass conversion on the island of Miyako. In observing the adoption of new religion and the performance of field research, various standards are possible. The author has focused upon the following points: 1) the way by which Catholicism was brought to Bora; 2) the socio-cultural factors which made this adoption possible; 3) personal factors as the way of thinking, the religious consciousness, and the human relationships of the converts, and changes in them.