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"This paper presents research on the activities of a symphony orchestra organized by Soka Gakkai, Japan's largest new religious movement. Examples drawn from the author's experience as a musician and researcher within the group illustrate that the members' activities are a fusion of Buddhist practice, value inculcation and musical expression. The latter informs their religious experience, manifest on the one hand as Western musical elements infused into Buddhist chant, and on the other as a deep reverence for one particular composer—Ludwig van Beethoven. Historical evidence and ethnographic case studies provide an explanation for this dynamic combination, and point to avenues of inquiry that can be undertaken by scholars researching Japanese new religious movements at the grass‐roots level. Material drawn from fieldwork is in part analysed using typologies of new religions proposed by Japanese scholars. These models prove useful in describing general tendencies, but long‐term participant observation reveals complexities of personal religious experience that do not necessarily conform to macro‐level theory."

"This article examines the extent to which the increasing number of non-profit organisations (NPOs) can be considered a vehicle for promoting participatory democracy. Based on the analysis of data generated from my research, I argue that the rise of NPOs in Japan should not be uncritically considered the enhancement of participatory democracy. Based on the analysis of data generated from my research on NPOs that provide welfare services for older people in Japan, this article reveals that the degree and the location of participation of NPOs vary widely, depending on the organisational types of NPOs. NPO participation in welfare policy planning does not necessarily mean that their members also take part in such a process. NPO members participate in the delivery of welfare services but it may not be that they also participate in decision-making or policy-planning processes."