Training ‘Clinical Religious Specialists’: The rinshō shūkyōshi Training Program. Vignette for Salvage and Salvation: Religion and Disaster Relief in Asia, special issue of Asian Ethnology 75(1)

This clip presents an on-the-ground view of the training of rinshō shūkyōshi, literally “clinical religious specialists,” or “interfaith chaplains,” at Tohoku University in Sendai. Since 2012, Tohoku University has led the development of "spiritual care" by training chaplains in collaboration with scholars, medical doctors, and religious professionals. As this short film illustrates, this program's distinctive collaboration of religious and non-religious aid providers has contributed to a shifting image of religion in Japan's public sphere.