Some Japanese Are Undergoing a Self-Help Spiritual Revival

May 30, 2006

Original Source: The Boston Globe

Wire Service: Reuters

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On May 30, 2006 Reuters reported, "The room suddenly grows quiet as Hiroyuki Ehara stares at the Japanese actress in front of him, closes his eyes and leans forward in deep thought. Moments later, the wide-eyed actress' past life is revealed -- she is the reincarnation of a British nobleman's daughter. 'You should never go to Britain,' she is told. 'You have too many painful memories there. You couldn't marry the man you loved and were instead forced to marry someone else. But that family was ruined and for the rest of your past life you were impoverished.' The popularity of the bearded Ehara, a self-professed spiritual counselor, and his weekly television show where he looks into celebrities' past lives and reads their 'auras,' has set off a boom of Japanese seeking comfort in their inner selves. Spiritual books, counseling centers and even 'power stone' jewelry have become hits in a country where spiritualism has a long tradition but has met with skepticism in modern times. Ehara's books alone have sold more than 7 million copies. The fascination, social commentators say, appears to reflect growing anxieties over work, family and lifestyles in general that have led many Japanese to feel a loss of identity. For Yukari Kato, head of a company that makes teaching materials, visits to spiritual counselors are an annual ritual. 'I saw two different counselors and I was surprised how they used the exact same expression to describe my social and business network just by looking at me -- that it was like a spider's web,' she said. 'They said they were speaking with "someone" next to me, someone like my guardian angel,' she said, admitting to spending 20,000 to 60,000 yen ($180-$360) an hour for the readings."