| Immigrants to the Pure Land Religious acculturation is typically seen as a one-way process: The dominant religious culture imposes certain behavioral patterns, ethical standards, social values, and organizational and legal requirements onto the immigrant religious tradition. In this view, American society is the active partner in the relationship, while the newly introduced tradition is the passive recipient being changed. Michihiro Ama's investigation of the early period of Jodo Shinshu in Hawai'i and the United States sets a new standard for investigating the processes of religious acculturation and a radically new way of thinking about these processes. Michihiro Ama is associate professor at Otani University, Japan. |