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Territoriality by Folk Boundaries and Social-Geographical Conditions in Shinto-Buddhist, Catholic, and Hidden Christian Rural Communities on Hirado Island, Western Japan

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Territoriality by Folk Boundaries and Social-Geographical Conditions in Shinto-Buddhist, Catholic, and Hidden Christian Rural Communities on Hirado Island, Western Japan Geographical Review of Japan Series B 92(2): 51–71 (2019) Original Article The Association of Japanese Geographers Territoriality by Folk Boundaries http://www.ajg.or.jp and Social-Geographical Conditions in Shinto-Buddhist, Catholic, and Hidden Christian Rural Communities on Hirado Island, Western Japan IMAZATO Satoshi Faculty of Humanities, Kyushu University; Fukuoka 819–0395, Japan. E-mail: [email protected] Received December 10, 2018; Accepted November 24, 2019 Abstract This article explores how the sense of territoriality and various background conditions of Japanese rural communities affect the emergence of folk boundaries, which are viewed here as the contours of residents’ cognitive territory represented by religion-based symbolic markers. Specifically, I look at how the particular social-geograph- ical conditions of different communities create diverse conceptions of such boundaries, including the presence or absence of the boundaries, within the same region. Here, I focus on three Japanese villages encompassing seven local religious communities of Shinto-Buddhists, Catholics, and former Hidden Christians on Hirado Island in Kyushu. These villages are viewed respectively as examples of contrastive coexistence, degeneration, and expansion in territoriality. Among the seven religious communities, only those believing in Shinto-Buddhism, as well as Hid- den Christianity, have maintained their folk boundaries. These communities satisfy the conditions of an agglomer- ated settlement form, a size generally larger than ten households, a location isolated from other communities within the village, and strong social integration. In contrast, Catholics have not constructed such boundaries based on their historical process of settlement. However, they have influenced the forms of Shinto-Buddhists’ territoriality, although not those of Hidden Christians. Additionally, their settlement form and relative location among the other religious communities have affected the shape of the Shinto-Buddhists’ cognitive territories. Changes in these intertwined background conditions can transform the states of territoriality, which should be viewed as correlated rather than independent and as dynamic rather than static. Key words folk boundary, territoriality, Japanese village, rural religious community, Hirado Island Introduction general characteristics of human territoriality. In geography, human territoriality is defined as “the This paper explores the essence of human territory attempt by an individual or group to affect, influence, or contoured by cognitive boundaries, considering the control people, phenomena, and relationships, by delim- background social-geographical conditions of rural iting and asserting control over a geographic area” (Sack communities. It exclusively focuses on folk bounda- 1986: 19). Theoretically, it has three basic characteristics: ries (mura-zakai) in Japanese villages, which are recog- 1) a form of classification of space and its popular accep- nized by the residents themselves and identified through tance; 2) a form of communication by territorial mark- religion-based symbolic markers such as a straw rope ers or signs around boundary lines; and 3) control over stretched across the road or a stone statue by the roadside access to the area (Sack 1986: 21–22; Agnew 2009: 745). (Yagi 1988: 138–139). These informal boundaries are rec- Folk boundaries of Japanese villages can be regarded as a ognized and represented not as lines but as points beside typical representation of human territoriality (Hamatani main roads, and they do not always correspond to the 1988: 62–63), where these boundaries completely satisfy formal administrative or cadastral boundary (Iijima 2008: the three above-mentioned characteristics: 1) they estab- 143). Such folk boundaries with their symbolic mark- lish spatial and social classifications between the inside ers, which are generally located at interior points rather and the outside of the village; 2) they are represented than the formal village boundary, reflect the existence by symbolic markers around cognitive boundaries; and of rural people’s cognitive territories that originate from 3) they spiritually control access and thus guard against their conception of territoriality. This study shows that an threats from outside of the village. analysis of Japanese folk boundaries can help explain the On the other hand, most theoretical studies on the ter- © 2019 The Association of Japanese Geographers IMAZATO S. ritoriality of rural villages in English-speaking countries regarded as indicators of the strength of village territo- have focused principally on political-economic aspects riality. Accordingly, focusing on the folk boundaries in (Malmberg 1980: 83–115; Sack 1986: 52–91), not reli- Japanese villages is a suitable approach to examining vari- gious-social aspects. In contrast, numerous case studies ous issues of territoriality. in the Japanese social sciences have intensively addressed Nevertheless, regarding the social aspects of Japanese the religious-social aspects of folk boundaries in rural vil- folk boundaries, few studies have focused directly on the lages, proposing certain theoretical considerations from relationship between folk boundaries, as an indicator of cultural anthropological and semiotic perspectives (Yagi territoriality, and background conditions; folk bounda- 1988; Tarumi 1990: 1–52; Imazato 2006: 255–269, 2007: ries must be practically arranged within a society rooted 10–12). in various social and geographical conditions. However, The religious aspect of Japanese folk boundaries, which do all Japanese villages maintain such folk bounda ries? carry various symbolic meanings and functions to guard Which combined conditions induce, or absent ones against misfortune and evil spirits, was exhaustively theo- evade, village territoriality? How do different conditions rized by Yagi (1988). Thus, this study primarily explores in individual communities diversify the characteristics the social aspect, which is grounded on the cognition of folk boundaries, including their presence or absence, of spatial and social distinctions between the inside and within the same region? the outside of a community (Iijima 2008: 143). Such a In response to these questions, this paper proposes distinction between the self (inside) and others (outside) three categories of social-geographical conditions within formed by the folk boundary is underpinned by a strong villages that are basic factors of Japanese rural social mental fusion within the village community (Harada geography (Kurematsu 1951; Hamatani 1988): shared 1983: 389). This mental fusion, or shared sense of liv- religion(s), spatial structures, and social integration of the ing together and unity, is fundamentally based on the village, including multiple smaller communities within community’s social integration, namely, strongly bound the village (Figure 1). relationships in daily life among the member households First, the folk boundaries in Japanese villages are (Iijima 2008: 143–145). always represented by religion-based symbolic markers. Generally, the social integration of Japanese villages Thus, different religions should maintain their own style and the cognitive distinction between inside and out- of boundary symbols. However, previous studies on folk side are more remarkable than those features in the vil- boundaries in rural Japan have limited their scope to lages in East and Southeast Asia (Kitahara 2007: 166–167; ordinary Shinto-Buddhist villages1. Consequently, this Sato 2007: 142–151). In addition, Japanese villagers have study focuses on cases of different religions followed in maintained a strong sense of ‘our own territory,’ cov- single or multiple religious communities and their mem- ering agricultural fields and woodlands, by preparing ber households within the village as a way to overcome religion-based symbols that delineate their cognitive ter- that shortcoming of the previous works. ritory (Hamatani 1988: 56–63; Torigoe 2007: 18–20). Folk Second, in this study, the concept of spatial structures boundaries represented by symbolic markers socially includes settlement form (agglomerated or dispersed), announce the village residents’ territory to outsiders population size (number of households), and the relative (Imazato 2006: 262–263) and spiritually guard the resi- geographical location among other communities. Folk dents themselves and their land. Such boundaries can be boundaries are spatial representations of human cogni- Figure 1. Hypothetical framework for this study considering background social-geographical conditions. — 52 — Territoriality by Folk Boundaries and Social-Geographical Conditions in Shinto-Buddhist, Catholic, and Hidden Christian Rural Communities on Hirado Island, Western Japan tion that divide an area under such specific spatial and the folk boundaries. geographical conditions. Hirado Island villages can be classified into three basic Third, this paper evaluates the degree of social integra- types from the viewpoint of religious geography: Shinto- tion by whether self-government and religious organi- Buddhist, Catholic, and former Hidden Christians, al- zations are tightly linked within the village and by the though the actual situation within each village is more frequency of annual religious rituals. Generally, tradi- complicated (Imazato 2015: 155–158). Shinto-Buddhist tional Japanese villages conduct most religious rituals as and Catholic communities coexist in Houki and
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