After the Great East Japan Earthquake, the Department of Practical Religious Studies was founded at Tohoku University and launched the course for training “Rinsho-shukyoshi” (interfaith chaplain) in 2012. 95 religious practitioners have finished the course in these three years. They have learned deep listening and spiritual care and now start up various pioneering activities in public sphere, such as in medical or welfare settings. Some are hired full time, though most of them are working as volunteers.

The Great East Japan Earthquake was a turning point for the religious practitioners in Japan to reexamine their public role in society in terms of spiritual care. From the experience of supporting people in disaster area, they learned it was not religions teaching or doctrine that would be helpful to the care receivers. But they could support people only by standing by them, listening to their voice. On the other hand, it became clear that religious practitioners are in a unique position in that they can conduct rituals, especially in the face of death, which is quite a different role from that of doctors or counselors. That role of religious practitioners is actually in demand in various situations where people need to be cared.

Religious practitioners cannot play the role of care provider in public sphere unless they are prepared to communicate with people who have different or no faith even in peacetime. It is also necessary for them to cooperate with each other over the religious boundary and with different professionals. And religious facilities, such as temples or churches, should be open to public.

Tohoku University continues the project of training “Rinsho-shukyoshi” (interfaith chaplain), in cooperation with other universities and institutions, in view of the various possible activities of religious practitioners. They could be hopeful social resource for the future.