Overview

Bringing 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.

Full Product Details

Author:   Elisabetta Porcu ,  Michael Dylan Foster
Publisher:   Brill
Imprint:   Brill
Weight:   0.561kg
ISBN:  

9789004466524

ISBN 10:   9004466525
Pages:   316
Publication Date:   23 July 2021
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Available To Order  
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Table of Contents

Preface 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 (, , )Jude Pultz 3 Gion Matsuri in Kyoto A Multilayered Religious Phenomenon Elisabetta Porcu (, , ) 4 Sanno 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 Toru (, , ) 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 (Photographer, Saitama City, Japan) Index

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Author Information

Elisabetta Porcu, Ph.D. (2006), is Associate Professor of Asian Religions at the University of Cape Town. She is the author of Pure Land Buddhism in Modern Japanese Culture (Brill, 2008) and the founding editor of the Journal of Religion in Japan (Brill). Michael Dylan Foster, Ph.D. (2003; Stanford University), is Professor of Japanese and Chair of East Asian Languages and Cultures at the University of California, Davis. His most recent monograph is The Book of Yokai (UC Press, 2015). Contributors are: John Breen, Michael Dylan Foster, Andrea Giolai, Susanne Klien, Ogano Minoru, Elisabetta Porcu, Scott Schnell, Tsukahara Shinji, Yagi Toru.

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