Japan is going viral!
Date: 12. November 2026Time: 16:15 – 17:45Location: 📍Platform ReliLab
How religious influencers are shaping Japan’s image around the world
Dunja Sharbat Dar, M.A. (Ruhr University Bochum)
Holiday photos and videos from Japan – a country that is both dazzlingly cool and deeply traditional – are flooding Instagram, TikTok and other platforms. As a nation that blends modernity with tradition and is renowned for sushi, anime and video games, Japan has become a popular travel destination. Posts featuring ancient Shinto shrines, Buddhist temples and religious talismans are particularly popular. Japan is both cool and traditional – an image shaped significantly by religious influencers and the social media presence of temples and shrines. In her talk, Dunja Sharbat Dar takes a close look at how images and videos of Japanese religious traditions create a global perception of a ‘spiritual’ Japan.
Moderation: Jan Gehm, M.A. (FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg)
This lecture is part of the Bavarian Interreligious College (BIK), the lecture series organised by the Bavarian Research Centre for Interreligious Discourse (BaFID) at FAU Erlangen-Nuremberg. The theme for the 2026/2027 winter semester is: “Follow Me! Religious Self-Presentation on Social Media”.