Description
Book SynopsisDescribes the ritual cycle at Suwa Shrine, Nagasaki's major Shinto shrine
Table of ContentsA Year in the Life of a Shinto Shrine
Acknowledgments
Conventions
1. Frames and Focuses
2. Historical Momentums
3. The Kami
4. Ritual and Ceremony: An Overview
5. Finding the Measure
6. Head Priest Uesugi
Spring
7. Beans versus Demons
8. On Becoming a Priest: Matsumoto-san's Version
9. Backstage at the Doll's Day Festival
10. Judgement by Scalding Water
11. Festival for Fecundity
Summer
12. Being Dirty, Getting Clean, and the Ritual of Great Purification
13. "I Shouldn't Be Telling You This, But…"
14. A Woman's Place Is the Shrine
Autumn
15. Okunchi: A City's Heart and Soul
16. Children and Silk
17. Thanksgiving for New Rice
Winter
18. On Spirit, Geomancy, and Sake
19. Sanctifying the Earth
20. Three Rites for Enduring and Beginning the Year
21. To Be an Adult
Conclusion
Appendix 1: The Rituals and Festivals of Suwa Shrine
Appendix 2: Map and Guide to the Shrine Precincts
Notes
Glossary of Japanese Terms
Works Cited
Index
