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Collective rituals, particularly those characterized by synchrony and pain, have been shown to yield positive social and emotional outcomes. The question arises as to whether these findings extend to low-arousal, family-centered rituals and how spiritual beliefs factor into these communal practices. This study set out to examine the interplay between belief, ritual participation, and their effects on anxiety, social cohesion, and prosocial behavior during a low-arousal collective ritual in Mikasa, Japan. Drawing upon a sample of 183 festival participants, we measured belief in ancestors using a novel scale, identifying significant and consistent associations between these beliefs and measures of social cohesion across multiple targets. Moreover, active participation as a festival dancer displayed a positive relationship with feelings of social cohesion, particularly towards other festival attendees and at the national level. On measures of prosocial behavior, ancestral beliefs were positively associated with generosity shown within the festival setting, whereas observers were less generous towards community members than a non-attending control group. Anxiety outcomes displayed a negative relationship with ancestral beliefs and ritual observation but not participation as seen in previous research, suggesting a complex interplay between rituals, emotions, and individual states. These findings provide novel insights into the importance of belief systems and active participation in shaping social bonds and behaviors in the context of collective rituals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In early modern Japan, the Buddhist monopoly on death-related rituals eventually triggered a movement for the development of Shintō funerals. Based on an analysis of ritual texts produced by several Shintō groups—Yoshida Shintō, Yoshikawa Shintō, Suika Shintō, and Kokugaku Shintō—this study delineates how each group adopted and localized Confucian discourses to establish Shintō funerals during the Edo period. While there were Buddhist overtones in the practices of Yoshida Shintō, clergy from the other three groups frequently borrowed from Confucian rituals in their construction of Shintō-style funerals. Attempting to revive ancient Japanese funerary rites, scholars created Shintō versions of Confucian-style spirit tablets and justified Confucian rituals by invoking the practices of the kami. This study provides a deeper understanding of the history of Shintō funerals, and the inherent Shintōization of Confucian practices therein, while also exploring the relationship between Buddhist, Confucian, and Shintō thought in Edo-period Japan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Zen practice is often associated with aloof silence and introspection. However, any visitor to a Japanese Zen training temple will be surprised by the abundance and richness of the acoustic environment. In effect, every moment of the training schedule is accompanied, chronicled, and choreographed by percussions and chanting vocals. This paper will introduce this sonic environment and explain how different sounds construct the training experience. In particular, I will focus on sound instruments that coordinate daily activities, such as bells, gongs, drums, and the like, arguing that they are essential to Zen practice. The first part of the paper explains the unique characteristics of a Japanese Zen training temple, focusing on ritual sound instruments and their place within the monastic soundspace. The second part examines the meaning of these instruments as described in Zen canonical writing, focusing mainly on Baizang's monastic regulation and different references to it by Japanese masters throughout history. The third part explores how contemporary monastics understand sound instruments and their function in regulating the body, conveying values, and evoking spiritual transformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the utilization of the mantra of light and its associated maṇḍala practices by Wang Hongyuan 王弘願 (1876–1937), a Chinese Buddhist during the Republican Period, and his adherents, which has not yet been noticed by previous scholars. With the import of esoteric Buddhist doctrines and practices from Japan, the mantra of light, which was a rarely used mantra in pre-modern China, gained renewed significance. This led to the widespread adoption of the ritual practices of this mantra by Wang Hongyuan and his surrounding Buddhist groups in early modern China. The rituals of this mantra were used as a supplement or substitute for near-death Pure Land practices. This paper presents Pure Land Buddhist practices intertwined with esoteric Buddhist elements or "esoteric" approaches to Pure Land rebirth in modern Chinese Buddhism which have been overlooked by previous scholars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper addresses esoteric Buddhist rituals in Japan, with special focus on the changes that happened in its practice in the first couple of centuries after its initial arrival to the country. Although esotericism originated in India, it was the brief spotlight it gained in China during the Tang Dynasty (especially in the 8th century) that determined its transmission to Japan in the beginning of the 9th century, where it spread rapidly and reached a particular culmination within the same time period, i.e., the Heian Period (794 to 1185/1192). On the one hand, the Shingon school, established by the monk Kūkai (774-835), was essentially the first time the esoteric Buddhist teachings were systematised, and although the founder's person and teachings are still very much revered to this day, changes have begun right after his death in 835. On the other hand, the Tendai school, a rival for imperial recognition and support and also established (or rather introduced) in the beginning of the 9th century by the monk Saichō (767-822, a contemporary of Kūkai) included some esoteric teachings, and with the practices introduced by later Tendai monks, such as Ennin (794-864) or Enchin (814-891), this school cultivated esoteric practices that are still extant in Japan today. Firstly, the meaning and usage of the honzon (an icon of a deity) in esoteric Buddhist rituals is clarified in the paper, while later the evolution of two specific icons that were used during the Fugen Enmei rituals of both the Shingon and Tendai schools is introduced, with explanations as to why there are two different types of iconographies extant for the same kind of ritual. The paper contributes to the study of those esoteric practices that were created and developed in a locally recognized Buddhist milieu that served specific purposes in Japan and are found in no other Buddhist cultures in Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The following article conducts two case studies into the premodern caste societies of medieval Bengal and early modern Japan. The Pirali Brahmins in Bengal and eta-hinin castes of Japan—both became scapegoats during these periods and were subject to popular disgust and stigma. The common aspects are that they were both close to the centres of power, and that these castes were feared in the ancient period for their supernatural prowess and they served as ritual scapegoats in pollution cleaning rituals. How they both became actual scapegoats from being ritual scapegoats is explored in this article using the framework popularized by the works of René Girard. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three Japanese Buddhist scriptural manuscripts related to the practice of calling back the soul are kept in Nanatsudera, Hōbodaiin in Toji, and Kōshōji, respectively. They show complex lineage connections that have been discussed little. This paper discusses the relations between the two sutras contained in the three manuscripts, traces their respective origins, and analyzes how Japanese authors transformed the apocryphal sutras into a liturgical text. Both the Nanatsudera and the Hōbodaiin manuscripts consist of the Sutra on Calling Back the Soul, while the Kōshōji manuscript comprises the Duxing Sutra. All of them were classified as Buddhist apocrypha written by Chinese authors. While the two sutras share similar text structures and the use of words, their contents reveal remarkable differences. The Sutra on Calling Back the Soul focuses mainly on how to release the souls of the dead and how to prevent fulian (reconnection with the dead), while the Duxing Sutra focuses on the healing of diseases and the alleviation of disasters through the restitution of the souls of the living. The Sutra on Calling Back the Soul has exerted a long-lasting effect in Japan where it was paraphrased into a liturgical text for the removal of disasters and the prolongation of life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The popularity of Christian weddings represents the new widespread acceptance and popularity of a religious ceremony that sits at the intersection the familial, social, commercial, political, and religious. These rites challenge established preconceptions concerning both Christianity and Japanese identity. The postwar history of Christian wedding ceremonies is best understood in light of the efforts made by traditional Christian churches and the bridal industry to meet the religious demands of Japan's largely "nonreligious" constituency. In responding to the needs and desires of nonreligious Japanese, commercial and religious institutions not only cooperate to produce and provide Christian weddings, but also compete to satisfy expectations for religious authenticity. There are no better examples of this than the efforts made by Christian churches to open their doors to individuals with no espoused Christian faith and the production of the bridal industry's fleet of "wedding churches." As such, Japan's massive nonreligious constituency has contributed to the creation of a unique form of Christianity particular to Japan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional historiography of Japanese Buddhism presents the Muromachi period as an era of triumph for Zen, and of decline for the previous near-hegemony of Esoteric Buddhism. However, for the Shingon school, the period from the late Middle Ages to early Edo period was rather a phase of expansion, especially in the more remote locales of Eastern Japan. Focusing on a text authored during the fifteenth century, this article will analyze how this idea of the outskirts or periphery was integrated with the process of creation of orthodoxy in local Shingon temples. In doing so, it will shed new light not only on the evolution, but also on the epistemological role of discourse relating to heresy, and on their role in the legitimation of monastic lineages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human rituals exhibit bewildering diversity, from the Mauritian Kavadi to Catholic communion. Is this diversity infinitely plastic or are there some general dimensions along which ritual features vary? We analyse two crosscultural datasets: one drawn from the anthropological record and another novel contemporary dataset, to examine whether a consistent underlying set of latent dimensions in ritual structure and experiences can be detected. First, we conduct a factor analysis on 651 rituals from 74 cultural groups, in which 102 binary variables are coded. We find a reliable set of dimensions emerged, which provide potential candidates for foundational elements of ritual form. Notably, we find that the expression of features associated with dysphoric and euphoric experiences in rituals appears to be largely orthogonal. Second, we follow-up with a pre-registered factor analysis examining contemporary ritual experiences of 779 individuals from Japan, India and the US. We find supporting evidence that ritual experiences are clustered in relatively orthogonal euphoric, dysphoric, frequency and cognitive dimensions. Our findings suggest that there are important regularities in the diversity of ritual expression and experience observed across both time and culture. We discuss the implications of these findings for cognitive theories of ritual and cultural evolution. This article is part of the theme issue 'Ritual renaissance: new insights into the most human of behaviours'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The matagi are traditional hunters in the mountainous beech forests of northeastern Japan. They are distinguishable from recreational hunters in their veneration of the yama no kami , a female spirit or god who dwells in the mountains. This article will focus on their kuma matsuri , a set of rituals associated with bear hunting. It will argue that the rituals reinforce a sense of connectedness and interdependence with the forested mountains, as personified by the yama no kami , and that the bear epitomizes the gifts they bestow. From this perspective, the mountains are central to people's lives and livelihoods, a recognition that is somewhat at odds with the "mainstream" culture of the lowland plains and urban areas. For their part, the matagi routinely move back and forth across boundaries, both physical and conceptual. They therefore play a vital role as intermediaries between the cultivated human realm and that of untamed nature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contemporary rural Japan is characterized by depopulation, reflected by the large number of aging residents, abandoned houses and shops (akiya 空家) and an increased number of "hamlets at the margin" (Ono 2005), i.e. hamlets with more than 50 % of residents over 65 years old. As a result, many ritual festivities including matsuri 祭 (festivals) of various kinds face challenges in securing practitioners. This study explores the impact of demographic change on selected ritual practices in Niigata Prefecture, drawing on extensive ethnographic fieldwork conducted in 2007–2009 and 2018. With a focus on the changes that traditional Buddhist dances and Shintō shamanic performing arts known as kagura have undergone as a result of demographic decline and lifestyle shifts, this paper examines the measures residents are taking to ensure the continuity of ritual practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Mirai. Estudios Japoneses is the property of Universidad Complutense de Madrid and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The question motivating this essay is how tantric Buddhist practitioners in Japan understood language such as to believe that mantra, dhāra;ņī, and related forms are efficacious. "Extraordinary language" is introduced as a cover term for these several similar language uses found in tantric Buddhist practices in Japan. The essay proceeds to a critical examination of Anglo-American philosophy of language to determine whether the concepts, categories, and concerns of that field can contribute to the analysis and understanding of extraordinary language. However, that philosophy of language does not contribute to this analysis, as it is constrained by its continuing focus on its founding concepts, dating particularly from the work of Frege. Comparing it to Indic thought regarding language reveals a distinct mismatch, further indicating the limiting character of the philosophy of language. The analysis then turns to examine two other explanations of tantric language use found in religious studies literature: magical language and performative language. These also, however, prove to be unhelpful. While the essay is primarily critical, one candidate for future constructive study is historical pragmatics, as suggested by Ronald Davidson. The central place of extraordinary language indicates that Indic reflections on the nature of language informed tantric Buddhist practice in Japan and are not simply cultural baggage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rituals have played a vital role in the wake of the earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disasters that struck northeastern Japan on 11 March 2011 (subsequently referred to as "3.11"). Rituals have enabled survivors to differentiate social order from the immediate chaos of disaster, to mourn, to overcome grief, and to exorcise the spirits of the disaster dead. Yet, much remains to be learned about the transformative potential of ritual after 3.11. The significance of pilgrimage, for instance, which is a prominent aspect of religious practice in Japan, has received minimal attention. In this article, I draw on ethnographic fieldwork carried out in Dewa Sanzan, a sacred mountain range in Yamagata Prefecture, to discuss mountain pilgrimage for post-disaster memorialization. I argue that the event of 3.11 expanded the ontological meaning of the summit of Gassan 月山(Mount Moon), thought to be an axis between the world of the living and that of the ancestral dead. Pilgrimage to the peak of Gassan has become a path of remembrance and overcoming, a formula for posthumous care, and an act of hope in post-disaster Japan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modeled after the famous Gion Matsuri, Saijo Matsuri only boasts 300 years of history, yet pride in the local festival is high and those born in Saijo will return there from all corners of Japan in order to take part or simply enjoy three days of revelry in the company of the descending gods. Centered around Isono Shrine (a place of worship dedicated to the goddess Amaterasu), Saijo Matsuri involves more than eighty exquisitely decorated parade floats that are almost continuously carried around the city for two days and two nights. The present paper focuses on the human sacrifice aspect apparent during the festivities, where the participants are somehow unique in their stubbornness about carrying the danjiri (which weigh several hundred kilograms each) for two days, with very few breaks for eating and sleeping. Exhaustion and physical pain become apparent after the first hours and by the end of the second day some of them sleep walk; nevertheless, sadness, not relief, is the prevalent emotion the day after the festival, when the danjiri are taken apart and stored in special warehouses, to be taken out again the next year. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper details the 'cylinder-gruel rite' ( tsutsugayu shinji) observed annually on 15 January at Suwa Taisha, a Shintō shrine complex in Nagano Prefecture. The oracular ritual is an instance of the Japanese tradition of New Year's divination ( toshiura), and involves the boiling of hollow reeds or bamboo in rice gruel to augur crop yields and economic prospects for the coming year. Whereas Japan's modernization and shift away from an agricultural economy has rendered such observances archaic, their continued practice cannot be explained solely by their heritage value as survivals of pre-modern tradition. Careful analysis of the Suwa oracle's formal structure within the frame of Shintō practice reveals that the ritual works to intimate a transcendent sociality, an infallible source of divinatory revelation that provides a sustaining source of hopeful momentum. Consideration of the documentary history of the ritual further suggests the ways that the ritual has been leveraged by various actors throughout history to support imagined aspirational trajectories. Following Zigon's anthropological critique that hope does not obviate human agency but necessitates and sustains it, this paper discusses the possible implications of these generative/sustaining and imagined/instrumental modes for an anthropological engagement with hope. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the Shiza kōshiki (Kōshiki in four sessions), composed by the Kegon-Shingon monk Myōe (1173-1232) for the Nehan'e (Assembly on the Buddha's nirvana). It analyzes the performance practice of the Shiza kōshiki at Myōe's temple Kōzanji during his lifetime and at Shingon temples in the Tokugawa period, paying special attention to its musical dimension. During the Nehan'e, clerics sang various liturgical pieces of different styles and thus created a rich sonic landscape. The musical method of reciting a kōshiki text further helped effectively convey its content and thereby supported the devotional function of the kōshiki. At certain occasions, singing was also a means to actively engage lay attendees in the ritual. In this way, I demonstrate that music is an essential element in kōshiki, as well as in Buddhist rituals in general. An annotated translation of the Nehan kōshiki, the first of the Shiza kōshiki's four kōshiki, is included in the online supplement to this JJRS issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the roles of folk performing arts within the wider context of disaster relief in Japan following the March 2011 earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disasters. It focuses on two Shinto-based troupes located along the devastated Sanriku coastal region--Kadonaka-gumi Toramai and Unotori Kagura. Both groups perform ludic, entertaining acts as part of their repertoires. Their playful ritual practices draw upon elements of local religious traditions as they provide a form of relief to aid the victims of disaster by helping them rebuild their lives and communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper is a short overview of Japanese practices and rituals associated with each significant stage in a child's life, from the moments before birth--announcing and celebrating the pregnancy--to the ceremony that marks the beginning of life as an adult. I have borrowed Arnold Van Gennep's concept of "rites of passage" in order to emphasize the idea of transition from one age to another, each being a joyous occasion that requires formal celebration. In my description of family traditions such as Obi-iwai, Miya-mairi, Hina-matsuri, Kodomo-no-hi, Shichi-go-san, or Seijin-shiki, I try to analyze the relationship between the sacred and the community, as well as the shift from a religious practice (making offerings to appease the gods and acquire their benevolence towards the new member of the community) to social ritual--the practice that focuses on the individual, and his/her bond with the family and the community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An early nineteenth-century British voyager, Captain Hall, published in 1818 an account of his landing at Okinawa Island and encounter with the court nobility of what was still at that time the Kingdom of the Ryukyus: Account of a Voyage of Discovery to the West Coast of Corea and the Great Loo-Choo [Ryûkyû] Island in the Japan Sea. The paper asks: Why did the Ryukyuans respond to the unannounced entry into their waters by two British naval ships by a seemingly boundless hospitality? With a sideline view on the Sahlins-Obeyesekere controversy, the author proposes that even as the Ryukyuans were eulogizing the entry of the British by showering them with one-sided attention and acknowledging their royal credentials, they tried at the same time to make a bid for their departure. They might have been deploying ritual techniques apparent still today: of welcoming and (subsequent) sending-off in one single act. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Toshidon is a 'visiting deity' ( raihōshin) ritual that takes place every New Year's Eve on a small island off the southwest coast of Japan. Performed for purposes of education, Toshidon is an event in which groups of men, masked and costumed as demon-deity figures, walk from house to house frightening and disciplining children. In 2009, Toshidon was inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List, a significant occurrence for this relatively isolated community. Based on ongoing fieldwork on the island, this essay explores specific events and discourses that emerged from this recognition. I conclude that the UNESCO inscription becomes a floating signifier within the community, one of many elements in an ongoing discussion about the broader future of the island itself. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on rituals in the wake of a disaster, particularly those rituals that concern the dead. Previous studies have paid little attention to such rituals, which have developed and evolved over a long period of time. A diachronic case study of the Nagasaki atomic bomb memorial ceremony shows that memorial rituals gradually shift their attention from the dead to the living. The characteristics observed in this ceremony that orient towards the living can be distinguished from folk rituals, whose central object is to appease or comfort the dead, and also from political rituals, whose aim is to honor the dead and acknowledge the tragic past within a political framework. In addition to economic as well as political factors, the broadcasting of the Nagasaki ceremony on television is instrumental in the changes in these rites and the inclusion of the third-person plural subject: the 'we', appears to be vital in apprehending the experience of violent death. Relying on historical materials, photographs, and data collected by participatory observation and interviews, this article aims to show how people use symbolic practices to make meaning out of violent death. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyzes how Japanese handle problematic situations involving the care of the dead. Drawing upon narratives of hauntings, dream visitations, and split-grave internments, and other ethnographic data collected in northern Japan, we show the central importance of ongoing ritual attention and attentiveness to the needs of the dead as a means of maintaining proper emplacement of ancestral spirits. We argue that ongoing concerns about maintaining connections between the dead and their proper loci is a manifestation of concerns about constructing and maintaining social relationships among the living and between the living and the dead, providing a way to physically represent and work through social problems displaying interdependencies. In their emphasis on emplacement as an ongoing process, our informants' narratives reveal a different way of thinking about the divide between the living and the dead, and the possibility of its transcendence through the actions of the living. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Mimicking research and practice that demonstrates the importance of seemingly mundane acts for resolving protracted conflicts, this article enquires into the potential contributions of food-related practices to post-conflict reconciliation. Based on fieldwork with a Japanese-South Korean reconciliation initiative (Koinonia), the argument is made that food-related practices can create the spatio-temporal conditions necessary to mitigate successfully situations that may otherwise be characterised by misunderstandings, animosity and an unwillingness to move beyond dividing lines. It is demonstrated that food-related practices have the capacity to influence reconciliation positively throughout the three stages that are perceived as vital for building lasting relationships between conflicting parties: encouragement of participation in reconciliation events (stage 1), encouragement of positive interaction during reconciliation events (stage 2) and sustainability of reconciliation events after participants re-enter daily life and the likely negative perceptions of the Other therein (stage 3). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Croatian Journal of Ethnology & Folklore Research / Narodna Umjetnost is the property of Institute of Ethnology & Folklore Research and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

For most death discharge ('shibou tai-in') patients, hospitals in Japan offer seeing-off ('omiokuri') services, a practice characteristic of Japanese culture. When a patient dies, nurses usually perform after-death procedures before transferring the body to the mortuary, where the nurses and doctors gather to provide the seeing-off service. This study was carried out to determine differences between the nurses' and bereaved families' opinions and thoughts regarding the seeing-off service. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 17 nurses (focus group interviews) and 6 bereaved families ( personal interviews). The interviews assessed: (1) the reasons why nurses provided seeing-off services; (2) thoughts during the seeing-off service; (3) impressions of the mortuary rituals; and (4) the necessity for the seeing-off service. The results indicated that nurses expressed their courtesy and sense of appreciation during the seeing-off service, which was recognised as an important nursing role. In contrast, bereaved families felt thankful but also doubtful, particularly as regards the mortuary rituals. In light of the differences in perspective between nurses and families, it may be that the level of satisfaction with the seeing-off service is largely affected by the relationship between the family and the medical professionals before the patient's death. Our study also notes that Japanese people respect the dead body and treat it with care, reflecting the unique culture and customs of Japan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An essay is presented which discusses the role that ritual played in the rule of the Japanese military leader Taira no Kiyomori during the late 12th century. An overview of the rites of Kiyomori's leadership, which are referred to as ritual regimes, including political rites' association with rulers' displaying of themselves as socially distinct, is provided. Kiyomori's visiting of shrines at Itsukushima, Japan and Fukuhara, Japan is discussed.

Namahage is a Japanese New Year's Eve ritual in which masked demon-deity figures enter private households to chase and frighten children. The first half of this article situates Namahage within the historical and theoretical context of Japanese folkloristics, and discusses strategies employed by the community to adapt the tradition for tourism. The second half further explores the role of tourism, particularly by invoking the notion of the "uninvited guest" and the process by which private ritual transforms into public performance. It is argued that one way to understand heritage tourism is to shift questions of "authenticity"from the object of tourism to the embodied subject of the visitor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Studia Universitatis Babes-Bolyai, Philologia is the property of Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Take kagura … is a Japanese religious dance that has been performed in Iwate prefecture for centuries. It is primarily used as a purification ritual, although it is also a form of popular entertainment. The most significant deity for local inhabitants is Hayachine dai gongen …, which they believe is the incarnation of Mt. Hayachine. The deity appears in a specific dance, the gongen mai …, and together with the dai gongen forms a core of practices and beliefs surrounding Take kagura for performers and their audiences. The images and associations of the deity in the mountain that these people hold are expressed through concepts such as terror, beauty, purity, and gratitude. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Valentine’s Day is a culturally hybridized and popularly celebrated consumption ritual in Japan. We examine its historical transformation based on a visual and textual analysis of advertisements in print media over fifty years. Changes in the meanings, functions, and structure of gift-giving rituals correspond to changes in the national economy, social values, consumer ideology, and gender roles and power relationships in Japanese society. There are five major findings: one, the importance of food—chocolate—in the creolization process of the consumer ritual; two, the persistent gender asymmetric nature of the Valentines consumer holiday; three, the ritual’s structural aspects and changes over the time; four, the importance of confession in the ritual process; and five, the transformation of its role from a simple instrument of love and a way to elevate a relationship to a rite to reconfirm gender identity. This study supplements the very limited literature on Japanese gift-giving rituals. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Abstract: The article points out the limitations in surveys measuring religiosity and spirituality using the measures developed in Christian or Western contexts. Japanese people think of religion (shūkyō) as revealed religion such as Christianity that has specific doctrinal belief and faith. Through their history of religious regulation, Japanese people came to consider themselves “non-religious” as a way of survival, not to be punished by political authorities and not to be stigmatized in their community. Thus they tend to answer that they consider themselves “non-religious” in surveys, while performing ritual performances for their ancestors in Buddhist temples and Buddhist altars not only to thank ancestors but also to ease the psychological fear people have toward muenbotoke, restless ancestors who have no legitimate offspring to take care of them. To extend the study of spirituality or religiousness in the Japanese context, qualitative studies are necessary not to misinterpret religiousness and spirituality in Japanese context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article analyzes the effects of Neo-Confucianism on the social conditions and perceived oppression of Japanese women during Japan's Tokugawa era. More specifically, the author explains the primacy of Neo-Confucian thought regarding women and the home within the household of the Rai family in Hiroshima, Japan. The male head of household's use of the text "Family Rituals," by Chinese Confucian philosopher Zhu Xi, is emphasized by the author. The development of household rituals by Japanese scholar Rai Shunsui, the head of the household, in order to implement Neo-Confucian standards in his home is explained.

The primary aim of Aoi-matsuri, which takes place in Kyoto on May 15th, is to uphold the refined traditions and customs of the Heian Court and the ancient songs and dances given as offerings to the celebrated deities. It emphasizes at the same time the role of purification encountered at every step in order to meet the sacred. The festival consists of two main parts - the religious rituals which take place at the two Kamo-shrines and the grand procession parading through the old capital. The bouquet of Japanese traditional arts - ikebana, tea ceremony, poem contest, etc. - displayed at Kamo-shrines as offerings to the ensuing festival as well as the breath-taking landscape and the impressive brightly colored vermillion wooden sanctuaries around, imbued with 13 century-old mystery, make one feel in an out-of-the-world realm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article considers the significance of liturgical worship for the purpose of overcoming the problem of intellectualism and rationalism that have been prevalent in the modern Christian missions since the 19th century. Despite its centrality in Christian life, worship has been given a marginal place in the discussions of Christian mission. The author, however, maintains that it should play a crucial and powerful role in mission at the age when human identity is increasingly becoming fluid and problematic, as it is capable of producing profound spiritual transformation among worshippers and thus establishing in them a new identity centered on Christ without eradicating “primordial attachments.” This is because liturgy has a holistic nature with its rich symbolism and is able to reach the non-rational level of personality where the primordial attachments operate. The author, who teaches courses in Christianity at a Christian college in Kobe, Japan, takes as his starting point the apparent impasse of Christian higher education in today's Japan which still operates on the Enlightenment model of mission with its emphasis on knowledge as the foundation of faith. He takes advantage of some insights of recent Ritual Studies to illuminate the identity-forming character of liturgical rituals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As Japan expanded its political influence over its Asian neighbors, Japanese migrants increasingly began to erect Shinto shrines in which to worship the deities they had brought with them from Japan. The Japanese government, which encountered resistance on foreign soil, saw those newly erected Shinto shrines as an opportunity to launch a policy that would incorporate them into its colonial governing system; consequently, it established government-sponsored Shinto shrines in its colonial territories. Taiwan and Korea functioned as testing grounds for what proved to be the quite successful attempt to indoctrinate native peoples into Shinto. Over time, Imperial Japan and its colonial governments paid more and more attention to these "overseas shrines" and introduced a range of legal measures that would transform colonial subjects into followers of State Shinto, the spiritual center of colonial rule. This article introduces major research on the overseas shrines, discusses key features of Imperial Japan's policy regarding the indoctrination of foreign subjects into Shinto, and then suggests some issues that need to be further explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined one of the seven famous Japanese laughter festivals called the Mountain Goddess Festival. A comparative analysis of an old narrative for an origin of the festival with that of a modern one has revealed a continuing folk belief in the local deity’s guardian role in the community. The result of an on-site anthropological field research demonstrated that the tradition of the laughter festival has been reinvented by adding new elements for its continuity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ogyu Sorai's eighteenth-century theory of rituals pushed to an unsettling conclusion the assumption made popular by many contemporary authors that internalization of social norms is better achieved through the subtle control of bodies and gestures than through coercion, threats or argumentation. Because Sorai's rituals aimed at shaping in everyday life, according to pre-determined status, body gestures, utterances, and all the objects surrounding the body, from clothes to houses, furniture and conveyances, they would have transformed life into a performance of a scripted play. They would also have represented the ideal and absolute form of authority, following Hannah Arendt's famous definition of the concept as that which elicits obedience or conformity without need for coercion or argument. The fluidity inherent in the urban life of Tokugawa Japan, however, made sure that Sorai's utopia would remain just that - and probably explains why Arendt found authority so elusive in our modern societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper will illustrate naturally occurring thanking episodes among Japanese students at a university campus in Tokyo, and compare them with the conventional Japanese thanking ritual (o-rei). This comparison illustrates the diverse and changing nature of the thanking repertoire in Japanese. The qualitative analysis of the data illustrates striking differences between o-rei rituals and expressions used by Japanese university students in thanking episodes. The students' speech repertoire contains some innovative speech formulae; yet, none of the data suggest that the students are influenced by the established communication practice of debt-credit balancing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ema ... is the generic Japanese word for "votive tablet." This article explores the challenge of interpreting ema created and offered during World War Two, and argues that the meanings of an ema are multiple and layered. Whether actualized or not, or only in part, the potential of votive tablets both signifies the agency of popular consciousness and lies in transforming popular consciousness. The legibility of a presented tablet is informed by a reader's symbolic literacy and structural relationship to the producer, subject, or ritual context. The ambivalence and ambiguity of wartime ema resist impositions of an official or true story, and their scarcity and ephemerality make moot interpretive approaches premised on a large data base. Also addressed, therefore, is the necessity of developing strategies for tapping the ethnographic, historical, and cultural richness of ephemeral artifacts, such as votive tablets, that were ubiquitous yesterday and scarce today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents abstracts on theology which include "Arumuga Navalur and the Construction of a Caiva Public in Colonial Jaffna," the "Rethinking the Supposed JE Document," and "Strategic Alliances: The Complex Relationship Between Japanese and Korean Buddhism, 1877 to 1912."

In this study, residents of Kyôto's Gion Festival “float-cart neighborhoods” reveal how ritual participation yields a strong sense of community, and this is connected with several forms of social support. By applying the theory of ritual practice to qualitative research conducted in 2003, I examine how some of the main participants in this month of rites and festivities gain a sense of belonging and emotional support based on their roles in this historically and culturally significant shrine-related festival. Specifically, highly involved male participants form intimate and exclusive relationships and develop enduring networks that offer feelings of unity and spiritual guidance. With a combination of well-accepted “Western” theories and methods, and an understanding of distinct cultural differences, I explore how involvement in a major Japanese religious festival is positively associated with a sense of community and lasting social support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of the new Japanese religions (the so-called shinshukyō), right since their first appearance at the end of the 19th century, has always been wholly tied to the development of the means of mass communication. Numerous studies have investigated Japanese new religious movements, but there has been little study of the role played by the media in their development. This article presents an analysis of the relationship between new religion and media through the example of a group called Kōfuku no kagaku, founded in 1986 and particularly noted for having related its success to its communication strategies. The analysis will focus especially on the two-year period 1991–1992 when the sacralization of the body of the leader — brought about through a massive publicity campaign in 1991 — is then contrasted with the attempt at de-legitimisation carried out by the press in the same period (the so-called Kōdansha affair). The relationship with the media is revealed, therefore, in its double role as an instrument of legitimisation of the authority of the leader and the danger for his ‘aura’. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2004, Japan restructured the state-directed public university system to create the national university corporations (NUCs). Proponents of the reforms made explicit mention of agentification in the United Kingdom, changes to university management structures elsewhere, and reforms in the wider Japanese public sector. As such, the NUC reforms are an example of policy transfer. Despite rhetoric to the contrary, however, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) has not surrendered the large degree of control it had manifested over the university system. Rather the means of control have changed from largely direct ones to largely indirect ones. Policy transfer provided a means by which MEXT could legitimate its policy stance by referring to developments elsewhere, show it was responding to pressure for reform by adopting its rhetoric and superficial forms, but use this to capture the policy agenda to its own ends. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dōgen (1200–1253) occupies a prominent place in the history of Japanese religions as the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism. This essay examines the religious rituals and historical vicissitudes that helped elevate D6gen to his present position of prominence. It uses the example of Dōgen to illustrate how new historical identities are constructed in response to social imperatives and institutional struggles. It argues that we cannot fully understand Japanese religions in general and Sōtλ Zen in particular unless we become more sensitive to the ways that these historical, social, and institutional factors shape our received images of the past. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on the interpretation of the experiential/religious meaning of the Japanese ritual tradition called Shinto. Types of Shinto rituals; Essential insights of Shinto worldview; Similarities and differences of Georges Bataille's and Martin Buber's way of distinguishing the profane from the scared; Application of interpretive categories to the Shinto worldview.