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.

"Be it Buddhism or Judaism or Christianity, religions compromised with existing social or state powers so they could be accepted by the society of the time," she said. "This has led to a situation in which (religions) do not change, and this stalemate is the current situation. I think it is about time all religions came to an end."

Ota was born to a family that has been Christian for four generations, but she said her immediate family was critical of the authority of the church. In addition, her family taught her to express her opinions in precise words.

Such an upbringing led her to feel uneasy living in a Japanese society that often opts for ambiguity. Her simple question of why she is "different" led her to study the Bible and the ancient Oriental world it describes as she believed the answer lay in her Christian upbringing.

She ended up spending 20 years studying in the United States, Israel, Italy and Germany.

Among Christians, Ota is noted as the translator who unified the Japanese translations of the Catholic and Protestant Bibles. Although that project was part of the world ecumenism movement, Ota said she herself had no interest in the cause. "I think it is better to allow as much diversity as possible."

Ota's activities are not limited to the study of the Bible and the ancient Orient.

She was a member of a Japanese Catholic group that made headlines by opposing the government's plan to send the Self-Defense Forces abroad during the Gulf War. The group actually acted on its convictions, chartering planes to help people flee Iraq and Kuwait, especially migrant workers from poor countries.

"So far as a movement goes, just repeating 'No!' is weak," she said. "If we were against it, we thought we had to present an alternative."

This spirit of "think and act" continues to this day, mixed with her dislike of things that lack substance, an attitude that is also evident in her way of life.

Contrary to the widely held image of a scholar in Japan, she has never taught at a college. "Japanese colleges are not a place for study . . . but a system focusing on how to obtain an advantageous job," she said. "I didn't want to waste my time in such a place."

She now heads a group called NGO Peace on Earth, based in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward. The organization studies peace and human rights and runs humanitarian projects in several developing countries.

"Some NGOs appear to have no clear, future vision and haven't thought deeply about the position of Japan in the world," she observed. "(They) need to study more and become professionals."

Ota said that understanding the Bible offers some significant help to Japanese who want to work in the international arena. She believes the Bible is the oldest history and social science textbook and forms the foundations of the present international community, which is largely dominated by the West.

"If you go to the United Nations or the World Bank without understanding this, you will never truly understand the mentality and sense of values on which the people you work with stand."