If something lacks substance, it is not to the taste of Bible scholar Michiko Ota. Thus, she contends, humans are better off without religion if that religion has lost its substance.

The outspoken 70-year-old scholar pointed out that many Japanese wrongly interpret religion as being something that exists above real life. But religion, in her view, is not something noble but rather "a way of life."

Ota said all religions began when people critically analyzed their societies and tried to overcome problems to make them better. She maintains, however, that this original spirit has been lost over the years and that religion has become entrenched in established institutions.