Description
Book SynopsisBringing together the innovative work of scholars from a variety of disciplines, Matsuri and Religion explores festivals in Japan through their interconnectedness to religious life in both urban and rural communities. Each chapter, informed by extensive ethnographic engagement, focuses on a specific festival to unpack the role of religion in collective ritualized activities. With attention to contemporary performance and historical transformation, the study sheds light on understandings of change, identity and community, as well as questions regarding intangible cultural heritage, tourism, and the intersection of religion with politics. Read as a whole, the volume provides a uniquely multi-sited ethnographic, historical, and theoretical study, contributing to discourses on religion and festival/ritual/performance in Japan and elsewhere around the globe.
Table of ContentsPreface Notes on Contributors List of Figures 1 Introduction Matsuri and Religion in Japan Michael Dylan Foster (, , ) and Elisabetta Porcu (, , ) 2 Displaying Mythological Characters Changes in the Meanings of Decorations in the Sawara Grand Festival in Chiba, Japan Tsukahara Shinji 塚原伸治 (, , )Jude Pultz 3 Gion Matsuri in Kyoto A Multilayered Religious Phenomenon Elisabetta Porcu (, , ) 4 Sannō Matsuri Fabricating Festivals in Modern Japan John Breen (, , ) 5 Eloquent Plasticity Vernacular Religion, Change, and Namahage Michael Dylan Foster (, , ) 6 Kuma Matsuri Bear Hunters as Intermediaries between Humans and Nature Scott Schnell (, , ) 7 Fire, Prayer, and Purification Early Winter Events and Folk Beliefs in Kyoto Yagi Tōru 八木透 (, , ) 8 Encounters with the Past Fractals and Atmospheres at Kasuga Wakamiya Onmatsuri Andrea Giolai (, , ) 9 Demographic Change in Contemporary Rural Japan and Its Impact on Ritual Practices Susanne Klien (, , ) 10 Photographic Essay: Secret Eroticism and Lived Religion The Art of Matsuri Photography Michael Dylan Foster (, , ) and Ogano Minoru 小賀野実 (Photographer, Saitama City, Japan) Index
