Sacred Heritage in Japan

Sacred Heritage in Japan PDF Author: Aike P. Rots
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000045633
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 288

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Book Description
Sacred Heritage in Japan is the first volume to explicitly address the topics of Japanese religion and heritage preservation in connection with each other. The book examines what happens when places of worship and ritual practices are rebranded as national culture. It also considers the impact of being designated tangible or intangible cultural properties and, more recently, as UNESCO World or Intangible Heritage. Drawing on primary ethnographic and historical research, the contributions to this volume show the variety of ways in which different actors have contributed to, negotiated, and at times resisted the transformation of religious traditions into heritage. They analyse the conflicts that emerge about questions of signification and authority during these processes of transformation. The book provides important new perspectives on the local implications of UNESCO listings in the Japanese context and showcases the diversity of "sacred heritage" in present-day Japan. Combining perspectives from heritage studies, Japanese studies, religious studies, history, and social anthropology, the volume will be of interest to scholars and students who want to learn more about the diversity of local responses to heritage conservation in non-Western societies. It will also be of interest to scholars and students engaged in the study of Japanese religion, society, or cultural policies.

Sacred Heritage in Japan

Sacred Heritage in Japan PDF Author: Aike P. Rots
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000045633
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 288

Get Book

Book Description
Sacred Heritage in Japan is the first volume to explicitly address the topics of Japanese religion and heritage preservation in connection with each other. The book examines what happens when places of worship and ritual practices are rebranded as national culture. It also considers the impact of being designated tangible or intangible cultural properties and, more recently, as UNESCO World or Intangible Heritage. Drawing on primary ethnographic and historical research, the contributions to this volume show the variety of ways in which different actors have contributed to, negotiated, and at times resisted the transformation of religious traditions into heritage. They analyse the conflicts that emerge about questions of signification and authority during these processes of transformation. The book provides important new perspectives on the local implications of UNESCO listings in the Japanese context and showcases the diversity of "sacred heritage" in present-day Japan. Combining perspectives from heritage studies, Japanese studies, religious studies, history, and social anthropology, the volume will be of interest to scholars and students who want to learn more about the diversity of local responses to heritage conservation in non-Western societies. It will also be of interest to scholars and students engaged in the study of Japanese religion, society, or cultural policies.

Shinto Shrines

Shinto Shrines PDF Author: Joseph Cali
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
ISBN: 0824837754
Category : Travel
Languages : en
Pages : 330

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Book Description
Of Japan’s two great religious traditions, Shinto is far less known and understood in the West. Although there are a number of books that explain the religion and its philosophy, this work is the first in English to focus on sites where Shinto has been practiced since the dawn of Japanese history. In an extensive introductory section, authors Joseph Cali and John Dougill delve into the fascinating aspects of Shinto, clarifying its relationship with Buddhism as well as its customs, symbolism, and pilgrimage routes. This is followed by a fully illustrated guide to 57 major Shinto shrines throughout Japan, many of which have been designated World Heritage Sites or National Treasures. In each comprehensive entry, the authors highlight important spiritual and physical features of the individual shrines (architecture, design, and art), associated festivals, and enshrined gods. They note the prayers offered and, for travelers, the best times to visit. With over 125 color photographs and 50 detailed illustrations of archetypical Shinto objects and shrines, this volume will enthrall not only those interested in religion but also armchair travelers and visitors to Japan alike. Whether you are planning to visit the actual sites or take a virtual journey, this guide is the perfect companion. Visit Joseph Cali’s Shinto Shrines of Japan: The Blog Guide: http://shintoshrinesofjapanblogguide.blogspot.jp/. Visit John Dougill’s Green Shinto, “dedicated to the promotion of an open, international and environmental Shinto”: http://www.greenshinto.com/wp/.

Religions of Japan

Religions of Japan PDF Author: H. Byron Earhart
Publisher: Harper San Francisco
ISBN:
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 162

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Book Description
A quick review of Japanese history and a detailed account of the country's religions.

Japanese Popular Culture and Contents Tourism

Japanese Popular Culture and Contents Tourism PDF Author: Philip A. Seaton
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1315528673
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 110

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Book Description
Contents tourism is tourism induced by the contents (narratives, characters, locations and other creative elements) of films, novels, games, manga, anime, television dramas and other forms of popular culture. Amidst the boom in global interest in Japanese popular culture, the utilization of popular culture to induce tourism domestically and internationally has been central to the "Cool Japan" strategy and, since 2005, government policy for local community revitalization. This book presents four main case studies of contents tourism: the phenomenon of "anime pilgrimage" to sites appearing in animated film; the travel behaviours and "pop-spiritualism" of female history fans to heritage sites; the collaboration between local community, fans and copyright holders that underpinned an anime-induced tourism boom in a small town north of Tokyo; and the large-scale economic impacts of tourism induced by NHK’s annual samurai period drama (Taiga Drama). It is the first major collection of articles published in English about media-induced tourism in Japan using the "contents tourism" approach. This book will be of particular interest to students and researchers of media and tourism studies in Asia. This book was previously published as a special issue of Japan Forum.

Okinoshima: The Universal Value of Japan's Sacred Heritage

Okinoshima: The Universal Value of Japan's Sacred Heritage PDF Author: Simon Kaner
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 9783319445267
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
When Okinoshima was placed on Japan's tentative list for World Heritage designation in 2009, an unprecedented amount of new research into the archaeological and historical materials associated with this exceptional complex of sites was generated. This book provides an overview and sample of this research, and explores the significance and impact that such a targeted program of research can have on understanding a potential World Heritage Site both archaeologically as well as in management terms. The tiny island of Okinoshima, which lies in the Genkai Sea off the coast of northern Kyushu in western Japan, is an extraordinary place that deserves wider recognition in both global archaeology and international heritage management. It is believed to have controlled the important shipping lanes between the Japanese archipelago and the Korean peninsula from the 4th to 10th centuries AD. The island is also notable for being surrounded by secrecy and taboo for it was the sacred home and embodiment of the three jealous Munakata deities (three sisters mentioned in ancient texts, latterly enshrined in the Munakata Grand Shrine and on Okinoshima). Most of the more than 80,000 objects known from archaeological investigations originally had been deposited as offerings to the Munakata deities between the 4th and 10thcenturies AD. All of these objects are now designated as National Treasures by the Japanese government.

Heritage and Religion in East Asia

Heritage and Religion in East Asia PDF Author: Shu-Li Wang
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000327744
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 281

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Book Description
Heritage and Religion in East Asia examines how religious heritage, in a mobile way, plays across national boundaries in East Asia and, in doing so, the book provides new theoretical insights into the articulation of heritage and religion. Drawing on primary, comparative research carried out in four East Asian countries, much of which was undertaken by East Asian scholars, the book shows how the inscription of religious items as "Heritage" has stimulated cross-border interactions among religious practitioners and boosted tourism along modern pilgrimage routes. Considering how these forces encourage cross-border links in heritage practices and religious movements in China, Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan, the volume also questions what role heritage plays in a region where Buddhism, Taoism, and other various folk religious practices are dominant. Arguing that it is diversity and vibrancy that makes religious discourse in East Asia unique, the contributors explore how this particularity both energizes and is empowered by heritage practices in East Asia. Heritage and Religion in East Asia enriches understanding of the impact of heritage and religious culture in modern society and will be of interest to academics and students working in heritage studies, anthropology, religion, and East Asian studies.

Geography of Religion in Japan

Geography of Religion in Japan PDF Author: Keisuke Matsui
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 4431545506
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 199

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Book Description
This book discusses modern aspects of Japanese religion in terms of cultural geography. To understand the function of religion, it is essential to examine it in the context of local societies. One of the distinguishing characteristics of Japanese religion is its diversity; indeed, it is often remarked that “Japan is a museum of religions.” In this work, the author clarifies some geographical aspects of the complex situation of Japanese religion. Chapter 1 discusses the trend of geographical studies of religion in Japan, of which four types can be identified. Chapter 2 focuses on certain characteristics of Japanese religious traditions by discussing tree worship and the landscape of sacred places. Chapter 3 clarifies regional divisions in the catchment areas of Japanese Shintoism by analyzing the distribution of certain types of believers. The author discusses two case studies: the Kasama Inari Shrine and the Kanamura Shrine. Chapter 4 discusses some modern aspects of sacred places and tourism through two case studies. The first part of the chapter focuses on changes in the types of businesses at the Omotesando of the Naritasan Shinshoji-Monzenmachi, and the following sections examine the revitalization of the local community through the promotion of religious tourism.

Religious History of Japan

Religious History of Japan PDF Author: Masaharu Anesaki
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Buddhism
Languages : en
Pages : 196

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Book Description


Shinto in History

Shinto in History PDF Author: John Breen
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136826971
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 381

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Book Description
This is the only book to date offering a critical overview of Shinto from early times to the modern era, and evaluating Shinto's place in Japanese religious culture. In recent years, a few books on medieval Shinto have appeared, but none has attempted to depict the broader picture, to examine critically Shinto's origins and its subsequent development through the medieval, pre-modern and modern periods. The essays in this book address such key topics as Shinto and Daoism in early Japan, Shinto and the natural environment, Shinto and state ritual in early Japan, Shinto and Buddhism in medieval Japan, and Shinto and the state in the modern period. All of the essays highlight the dynamic nature of Shinto and shrine history by focusing on the three-way relationship, often fraught, between local shrine cults, Shinto agendas and Buddhism.

The Sea and the Sacred in Japan

The Sea and the Sacred in Japan PDF Author: Fabio Rambelli
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1350062871
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 296

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Book Description
The Sea and the Sacred in Japan is the first book to focus on the role of the sea in Japanese religions. While many leading Shinto deities tend to be understood today as unrelated to the sea, and mountains are considered the privileged sites of sacredness, this book provides new ways to understand Japanese religious culture and history. Scholars from North America, Japan and Europe explore the sea and the sacred in relation to history, culture, politics, geography, worldviews and cosmology, space and borders, and ritual practices and doctrines. Examples include Japanese indigenous conceptualizations of the sea from the Middle Ages to the 20th century; ancient sea myths and rituals; sea deities and sea cults; the role of the sea in Buddhist cosmology; and the international dimension of Japanese Buddhism and its maritime imaginary.