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The question of exactly how folk religious beliefs are transmitted has been discussed most effectively in the Cognitive Science of Religion field. I have contributed a bit to this debate with a participation observer ethnography in rural southern Japan. The results of that work were presented in 2014 in summary form here: "Arakabu and the Arakawa Mountain Kami, Journal of the Anthropological Society of Oxford (Available online) and other places. The basic summary is that religious type concepts are applied to problems just as any other concept is, though they provide something extra that can be encapsulated in the definition of myth that I hold to: 1) some form of oral transmission; 2) presentation of religious concepts that within the local belief system still maintain a firm grip on the community; and, 3) unfolding events in the story that maintain a clear relevancy to how the community understands itself to be constituted. I invite disagreement, discussion, etc. of any kind. Another angle of this discussion is linked to a documentary film I have just completed called "Dance of the Tanokansa." (Tanokansa is in the southern Japanese Kagoshima dialect the rice god). The ultimate question is this: How do communities maintain traditional beliefs amidst the social environment of modern urbanization and mechanization? I am currently uploading serially sections of the film at my Minds site JcChristopher under the project name 'Rock's Second Blossom,' which is to be a longstanding discussion of myth from the perspective of freedom (Though it is starting now only with the film so that I can get used to the new media). If anyone has interest in this topic, please watch Parts 1-3, now available at the site, and comment here or there. Best regards, JCF

From the outside Japan dosen't seem so bad. Sure, we know that the economy is fucked by keynesianism and they probably have lots of crony capitalism like in the west. But the japanese socialist hasn't created the welfare state yet (as far as I know), they haven't destroyed the family structure replacing it with single mother culture and feminism, stuff like ostracism still seems to work, the socialist hasn't started importing low iq voters yet, and crime is still as low as it gets. But when you look at the problems in Japan one would think that the country had big government and full blown socialism: Low birthrates Men and women not intrerested in each other High suicide rates This culture called hikikomori, young people withdraw from social life, stay at home all day What I'm I missing? I'm sure the usual suspects (government and socialism) is behind this somehow? Would love to hear some explanations from people with insight on Japan. And btw. visited Japan last year, absolutely loved it. Can recommend it to anybody that hasn't been there

About year ago I stumbled across a story that was so incredible that it was almost impossible to believe. When I asked myself the question "would the government really do that?", the answer was a clear and resounding "yes". It's a long story, but the introduction for newcomers must begin by reading the book "Gold Warriors - America's secret recovery of Yamashita's Gold". It's available here at the author's website http://www.bowstring.net, where you can also buy 1.5GB of additional material and evidence on 3 CDs. You can also buy it from Amazon and for the Kindle. [Full Disclosure: I have no association with Sterling or Peggy Seagrave, their website, nor any of the material they're written or produced. I'm simply a guy who read the story and was totally stunned how much real evidence of this conspiracy is readily available today, but basically no one knows about it.] In an effort to keep this post short I'll summarise as follows: If there was ever enough public awareness of the information revealed in this book, it would unmake the world. If all it took to destroy the world as we know it, was for the truth to see the light of day, then it is right that it should be destroyed. If this topic is of interest to people, I have a lot more information that I will post about. As I said, I've been researching this story for over a year now.

I meet regularly and am very close with 3 fellow FDR listeners in Tokyo and we were wondering if there is anyone else in the Tokyo area. Please feel free to contact me at tysonbatino [at] gmail.com

Hello all! My name is Shea and I'm a Texan who has lived in Japan for nearly six years. I found out about Stefan and FDR via his first appearance on Joe Rogan's podcast some months ago. I've been listening to FDR ever since. I've just now gotten to joining the forums. I'm still learning a lot and playing catch up with a lot of the materials, but I just wanted to introduce myself! I teach kindergarten aged kids and I find the information on peaceful parenting techniques and teaching kids to think rationally to be of particular interest. I've been actively implementing it to the kids I teach and it's been great! I've also always had an interest in philosophy and discussion. One of my goals is to become better at presenting and defending my ideas to others. Shea

Hello folks. Long time listener, first time poster. I'm from Michigan in the US. I am posting this to learn more about what seems to be the one and only soft spot in my anarchist philosophy, that being Japan's apparent success with gun control. For those who don't know, just look up the stats. The bottom line is that they have scores less gun murders. I thought there had to be a disclaimer, like massive amounts of rape or theft or something that guns deter, but I couldn't find anything. Now, of course I realize that Japan has a completely different history than the USA, as well as a different cultural mentality. I know this plays an important role, but I have a hard time chalking up Japan's stats to just this. Another point I realized is that having low gun crime is not at all worth the cost of enforcing gun law: a massive, all-powerful government who can rule and misrepresent you (think WW2) anytime. Yet still, I feel like I must be missing some important datapoint. It seems that Japan's gun control just works, which baffles me. Anywhere it's been tried here in America, it's been a complete failure- maybe because our country is so full of guns that criminals will always have a much easier time getting ahold of them? I don't know, and that's why I'm here to ask. Thanks very much, -Dan