Ikegami & Miyamoto (I)

I finished an article and a book I received from professor Ikegami from Komazawa University. The article is one written by the professor himself and it explained certain concepts we briefly discussed at our last meating. His definition of religion, or rather the distinction he makes between shinkō 信仰 – shūkyō 宗教 has changed my view on religion as a whole and I am convinced this will have a great impact on my further research. The tendency among scholars to consider the “unconditional faith” to be a worthier research topic than “folklore” or religious acts centred around the acquisition of “worldly benefits” is one I would like to raise objections against on the grounds of it being unscientific and perhaps even Eurocentric.

A very interesting remark professor Ikegami makes concerning the universalization of religion is that praying for gense riyaku 現世利益 is often criticised when one is praying for personal benefits, but when one prays for others the criticism is not as harsh, even though the “others” often belong to one’s own environment.

The first book I analysed from the ones I borrowed from professor Ikegami is Shomin shinkō to gense riyaku. This book was written by Miyamoto Kesao, a well know scholar in the world of Japanese folkloristics who passed away a few years ago. In this book Miyamoto deals with a broad range of topics (Inari, the Seven Lucky Gods, Shugendō, house spirits etc.) all somehow connected to the acquisition of worldly benefits. Miyamoto emphasises in several instances that religion is often something mainly lived by a community (rather than a purely individual set of beliefs). Perhaps this is not only the case for Japanese religion: simply going to church, taking part in the ceremonies (baptism, communion,…) or processions may well have been more important for a lot of Europeans in the past than actual faith. About ancient Roman religion one could also say that the exact execution of a certain ritual was deemed far more important than being convinced of the existence of certain deities (perhaps this attitude was adopted by Roman-Catholicism?).
As folk religion is very diverse and varies greatly from one area to another and even from family to family research on this subject started off rather late and perhaps even too late (a lot of interesting practises have already disappeared), but Miyamoto states this diversity and unsystematic character is inherent to folk religion.
Terms like “superstition” and “Aberglaube” that clearly originated in Christian countries were translated into Japanese as meishin 迷信 and the condescending attitude towards certain religious behaviours that comes with this term penetrated Japanese culture according to Miyamoto. He, however, treats folkloristic creatures like Tengu, Kappa, Yashiki Warashi and the like as a proper part of religion, not as beings from fairy-tales. Here I should note that there may be a tendency of modern Japanese as well as Europeans to avoid using the word “religion” when it comes to certain concepts that often appear in popular culture, but do not require “faith” (as opposed to more stereotypical religious concepts), even though there is an unmistakable religious atmosphere surrounding them. One can often hear “Well, that is not really religion, it is just folklore” about things that are obviously religious. Perhaps the emphasis on faith within religion has led to a situation where these two words are considered to be identical. People who do not consider themselves to be “believers” are therefore less inclined to recognise important religious traditions, ceremonies that enhance the sense of community e.g. as being a part of religion.

I plan on reading more of Miyamoto's work as it provides not only an up-to-date basis on folkloristics, but also a great variety of concrete information and references to great folklorists from the past (like Yanagida Kunio 柳田国男).

• Ikegami, Yoshimasa (池上良正).『現世利益と世界宗教』(Gense riyaku to sekai shūkyō). Tokyo: Iwanami shoten (岩波書店), 2004.

• Miyato, Kesao  (宮本袈裟雄). 『庶民信仰と現世利益』 (Shomin shinkō to gense riyaku).  Tokyo:  Tōkyō-dō shuppan (東京堂出版), 2003.

Shiinamachi II

Next to the Kongō-in (see previous post) stands a Shintō-shrine called Nagasaki-jinja 長崎神社. It enshrines Kushinadahime no Mikoto 櫛名田比売命 and since the Meiji-period also Susanoo no Mikoto 須佐之男命. The atmosphere around this shrine is very reminiscent of the atmosphere of the Kongō-in and it is not hard to imagine that the two sacred areas used to not as strictly separated as they are today before the Meiji-period.  I visited the site quite early in the morning and even though it is a rather modest building, I saw a dozen of visitors who came to pray in front of the main shrine. Most of them were elderly people, but there were also several middle-aged  people and even a young couple.

This shrine is famous for its Lion-dog dance (Shishi-mai 獅子舞) and therefore several statues of these creatures can be found on the shrine grounds.

To the left of the main shrine was a small hokora 祠 for Inari 稲荷 (it was called 小柳稲荷神社 Koyanagi? Inari-jinja) and to the right a shrine for spirits of war dead from the First Sino-Japanese War up until the Second World War (長崎招魂社 Nagasaki Shōkon-sha?).

Another monument also indicated that special attention was given to the victims of war (this one is for the dead of the Russo-Japanese War.

A tree (probably the sacred sakaki 榊 tree) with ema 絵馬 and senjafuda 千社札 from devotees.

The combination of straw dolls with habotan that I saw at the Kongō-in could be found around the shrine.

Located on the shrine grounds itself is the residence of the priest of this shrine and there is a modest shop selling o-fuda and the like.

Sources:
Shiinamachi Info. “長崎神社” (Nagasaki jinja). shiinamachi.info < http://www.shiinamachi.info/toshimaku-nagasakizinzya.html > (retrieved 2012-2-5).

Shiinamachi

On January 9th I went to Shiinamachi 椎名町 to visit the Kongō-in 金剛院and the adjacent Nagasaki-jinja長崎神社. The Kongō-in, which is dedicated to Amida-nyorai 阿弥陀如来 and his servants Kannon-bosatsu 観音菩薩 and Seishi-bosatsu 勢至菩薩, was founded in the 16th century by the monk Shōben 聖弁 from the Shingon Buzan sect (真言宗豊山派 Shingon-shū Buzan-ha).

In front the temple grounds there was a small shrine that holds a statue of the Nagasaki Fudō-son 長崎不動尊. The bright colours of the curtains and the flowers certainly give this shrine a South-Asian esoteric touch, but other elements, like the Sanbō 三方 on which fruit is presented to the deity or the Shintō style o-mizya お水舎turn it into a typically Japanese sanctuary.

 The Kongō-in used to be known as the Akamon-dera 赤門寺 because of its  distinctive red gate that dates from the late 18th century.

 

 On the temple grounds as well one can find several South-Asian elements that give away the temple’s esoteric affiliation, like the Siddhaṃ writings on the bamboo sticks seen at the graveyard.  The o-mizuya gives proof of the early Japanese Buddhist schools’ (mainly Shingon and Tendai-shū 天台宗) willingness to assimilate with local beliefs.

All over the temple grounds (but also on the shrine grounds of the Nagasaki-jinja) there were dozens of cabbage-like vegetables, which turned out to be habotan 葉牡丹 when I inquired about it to some visitors and maintenance people. Some figures made out of straw were placed next to them, but no one I asked (including teachers at my university) could tell me the meaning of these mysterious dolls. I was told, however, that the straw mats that are tied around the trees are meant to lure the bugs trying to get through winter. When the bugs are about to wake up and leave their winter residence when it starts to get warmer the mats are burned ritually to protect the harvest (虫送り Mushi-okuri?). It seems likely that the dolls made out of straw have a similar meaning.

Over the graveyard watches an impressive Shō Kannon-bosatsu standing on a rather modern looking construction, with even more modern looking vases and a peculiarly shaped incense burner in the middle which is fashioned to prevent rain from getting in. 

Right across the Kannon-statue were some Jizō-bosatu 地蔵菩薩 statues adorned with red bibs. The combination of Kannon with the red-bibbed Jizō may indicate Mizuko kuyō 水子供養.

To be continued.