Mothers and Moral Activists : Observing Religious Informal Volunteering in Japan

Many sociological studies have discussed the importance of religion and gender as two key components facilitating civic engagement, which in turn is believed to foster citizenship and democratization. Most female members of Japanese new religious organizations engage in a variety of service-oriented volunteer initiatives where they tend to provide help and support to individuals directly, outside of organized volunteer organizations and civic associations. Such volunteer behavior is defined in the literature as informal volunteering. In this respect, this paper addresses three main questions: How does religiosity relate to women’s tendency toward informal volunteering sponsored by Japanese religious organizations? What volunteer models of women’s social engagement are articulated through informal volunteering? How do these models foster women’s citizenship and social participation? In this article I will first evaluate the combined effects of religiosity with the contextual gendered influences permeating the daily lives of women. Secondly, I will explore how such contextual dynamics are articulated within religious organizations through two models of social engagement identified in this study: the mother and the moral activist. In doing so, this study aims to disclose what components of religiosity influence women’s prosocial aspirations and what diffused gendered moral sensibilities channel Japanese women volunteers into participatory roles that best support women’s agency. This paper draws upon two sets of qualitative data (2010-12 and 2015-17) of religious-based volunteer activities performed by women belonging to four Japanese religious organizations: Risshō Kōseikai, Shinnyoen, the Roman Catholic Church in Japan, and GLA (God Light Association).