• Journal of the Daesoon Academy of Sciences
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• v.19
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• pp.165-192
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• 2005

The purpose of this paper is to make clear the relation of traditional religion with economic ethics and attitude in Japan. I selected Shimhak(心學) of Japanese traditional religions to analyze because it has been said that Shimhak was related to the modern ethics of merchants in Japan. The contents of this paper is composed of two parts. First, the religious character of Shimhak is discussed. I will analyze the relation of Shinto, Buddhism and Confucianism to Shimhak to certify the syncretism of Japanese religion. Second, the economic ethics of Shimhak is discussed. I will make clear the historical significance of Shimhak in modern Japan, and the relation of the economic ethics of Shimhak with the spirit of Japanese capitalism. This paper will be useful to make out the social influence of Japanese traditional religion, to estimate the sustaining mode of traditional value and ethics in Japan in the future.

• Cross-Cultural Studies
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• v.39
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• pp.33-59
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• 2015

This study is for understanding what is the significance and ethics of business in the Ukiyozoushi Seken Tedai Katagi written by Ezima Kiseki in Edo era. There were many merchants called Tedai in Seken Tedai Katagi, and they worked for their owners and the family(家). Tedai thought the business was not for themselves. Their attitudes seemed almost same as the loyalty of chivalry to the lord, so the merchants themselves thought business was not so different from the chivalry's conduct. Then the merchants thought business ethics were changeable, because the result of business was more important than the process of business. If the merchants earned the money by unethical conduct, the business could be eulogized by case, because the earning money was not for themselves but for the owner and the family ultimately. On the other hand, the business was also built up from trust, repute, etc. in Seken Tedai Katagi. So the business was not only the hylic conduct but also the mental conduct for the merchants, then the idea showed the business was not the social ills. In the Edo era, the chivalry and the Confucianists thought the business was social ills, so the merchants should build up the significance and ethics of business by themselves. Seken Tedai Katagi was the one of the cultural conduct to build up the significance and ethics of business of merchants', as we could see them in the stories.