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The Goddess Dances Beyond Time

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The Goddess Dances Beyond Time The goddess dances beyond time An exploration of continuity through change in contemporary Japanese ritual, with specific reference to the miko mai shinji by Eri Hirabayashi A dissertation submitted in satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Ph.D. by research University of Limerick Supervisors: Dr. Helen Phelan Dr. Terence A. Lancashire © Copyright by Eri Hirabayashi 2010 For my father and mother, for blessing me with a wonderful life Contents Abstract ⅳ Declaration ⅴ Acknowledgements ⅵ List of Tables and Figures ⅶ List of Appendices ⅶ Introduction 1 Chapter 1 Portrayal of ritual life in contemporary 5 Japan An autoethnographic introduction: how ritual 5 introduced itself to me The ritual landscape and soundscape in the 17 Kantô area Tokyo: Edo tenka matsuri 19 Chiba: Sawara no taisai 26 Ibaraki: Hitachi no kuni Sosa taisai 31 Angû sai 35 Lion dance and miko dance 42 The honouring of tradition 47 Miko mai shinji as a key ritual 49 Chapter 2 Music and ritual: a literature survey 53 on change and continuity Exploring change through music 56 Examples of musical changes 62 Musical change in the miko mai shinji 70 Exploring continuity through ritual 72 studies Practice theory in ritual studies 78 Values of continuity 79 Identity Sense of belonging Tradition 84 i Continuity through change 86 Summary 92 Chapter 3 The miko mai shinji: an ethnographic 94 description Methods used in the fieldwork 95 Introduction to kagura and miko mai 102 Miko mai shinji conducted by the Ôu 107 community Literature on miko mai shinji 111 Recorded data 121 Assumptions and postulations 122 From past to present 124 Miko mai shinji 125 Miko tsuke sai 126 Norikomi sai 127 Nakaiwai sai 130 Zenya sai 132 Hon sai 137 Takaharai sai 142 Changes and Stability in the ritual 143 Chapter 4 Music and dance in the miko mai shinji 152 Nature of the music and dance performed 152 during the miko mai shinji Changes and continuity in the music 157 Kagura-daiko 157 Changes in the kagura-daiko Other drums 166 Ôdaiko 167 ii shimedaiko 168 kotsuzumi or tsuzumi 168 ôtsuzumi 170 Fue: melody instrument 172 The melody of miko mai shinji 173 Ornamentation of the fue melody 175 The miko’s dance 178 Items 178 Dance 178 Teaching dance 183 Musical practices and perceptions shared in 187 the community Summary 191 Chapter 5 Continuity through change 193 Summary of the findings and thesis proposal 195 Stability and dynamism in ritual studies 197 Music in Ritual 211 Summary 220 Conclusion 223 Bibliography 238 Appendices 252 iii Abstract Ritual performance is a characteristic of contemporary Japanese life. Some of rituals originated more than a 1000 years ago, while the origins of others are not known. The theme of this thesis—continuity through change in contemporary Japanese ritual —is explored, particularly focusing on musical behaviour in rituals. The development of this theme is described in chapter one. Chapter two highlights some relevant characteristics of ritual (especially the creation of an appearance of continuity by repetition of formalised actions) and music (dynamic nature and adaptability) through a literature survey. For a more in-depth exploration, an ethnographic description of the miko mai shinji ritual, based on fieldwork conducted by me from 2005 to 2007, is provided in chapters three and four. The appearance of continuity in this ritual was created by conducting it in a fixed manner; however, at the same time, subtle changes occurred in the musical performances. Also, some conscious changes occurred through adaptation to their changing social situation. Such changes have sustained the ritual till the present day. In chapter five, consequences of continuity through change for the wider study of ritual and music is discussed. When we consider rituals as human actions, we realise that continuity and change are not in fact opposites but rather facilitate each other. Rituals have been allowed to survive through change, and musical behaviour supports this process because of its dynamic nature. Moreover, the continuation of ritual practices allows for the honouring of tradition and enhances the value of the ritual. In addition, through adaptation to changing society, it embraces the contemporary world. Therefore, rituals continue to survive in contemporary Japan as a very significant part of Japanese life. iv Declaration I hereby declare that this is my own work and has not been submitted for the award of any Degree in any other University or Third Level Institution. Eri Hirabayashi Signed:__________________________________ Date:______________ Supervisor(s): Dr. Helen Phelan / Dr. Terence A. Lancashire Signed:__________________________________ Date:______________ v Acknowledgements I would like to thank Dr. Helen Phelan and Dr. Terence Lancashire for their ungrudging support. Both of them helped me accomplish the goal of my research and have always been kind enough to share their rich and sound knowledge of ritual, music, and culture with me. I am grateful to the Irish World Academy for providing me with many opportunities to study music, especially musical performance, in various contexts. I also wish to sincerely thank the Ôu community for their warm welcome and passion for handing down their tradition. I woul like to extend a sincere thank you to my friends worldwide for their encouragement during my long PhD academic journey. Finally, I would like to convey a big thank you to Eiichi Hirabayashi and Etsuko Hirabayashi. You always believed in my achievements. vi List of Tables and Figures 1. The festival parades between office buildings 2. The floats parade in the rain 3. Each float displays their musical performance 4. Four miko dance on the ground of the Kashima shrine 5. Dance of the miko on the riual day 6. The scene before the rehears 7. Map of Itako city 8. Photograph extracted from the Asahi newspaper 9. Photograph extracted from the Ibaraki no Bunkazai Dai 8 shû 10. Table of differences in the above literature 11. The schedule of the miko mai shinji 12. Inside of the haiden on the ritual day 13. Position of the members in the rehearsal room 14. The kagura-daiko 15. Comparison of shôga and actual rhythms 16. Rhythm patterns of other drums 17. Ôdaiko 18. Shimedaiko 19. Tsuzumi 20. Ôtsuzumi 21. Fue 22. The melody of miko mai music 23. The miyako bushi scale 24. The finger holes of the bamboo flute 25. The suzu and hei, placed on a table for rehearsals 26. Hands movements of pattern P 27. Starting position of the foot 28. Movement of Pattern A 29. Movement of arms: pattern 1 30. Movement of arms: pattern 2 31. Movement of steps 32. Patterns of the circular movement 33. Table comparing the learning process of the dance List of Appendices 1. Appendix A Questionnaire for musicians 2. Appendix B Questionnaire for sewanin members vii Introduction Rituals are human practices that are evident all over the world. There are various kinds of rituals: religious, secular, sacred, collective, and individual. It is impossible to settle on a universal definition of ritual, which can apply cross-culturally to all the rituals around the world. Various approaches have been employed in the study of rituals, including theological, religious, anthropological, sociological and philosophical. In addition, rituals that incorporate music or dance have been studied in the field of ethnomusicology and ethnochoreology. Rituals as human performances have also been studied in performance studies. Japan, the country in which I was born and brought up, has a history of numerous rituals and festivals. Some of them originated more than 1,000 years ago. For example, the Gion festival in Kyoto, which is one of the major festivals in Japan, originated in the late ninth century. However, although the origins of some festivals are not well known, almost all such rituals and festivals are conducted regularly and honoured as Japanese traditions. For communities which continue holding their rituals or festivals, having them as part of their tradition is viewed as an honour irrespective of community size. Moreover, some rituals and festivals attract masses of people and thus give an impetus to tourism. In this thesis, I explore the 1 survival of rituals and festivals in contemporary Japan. At the heart of this exploration, is the ethnographic work which I conducted over a three year period on miko mai shinji, which is a ritual conducted by the Ôu community in eastern Japan. In particular, I focus on the process of handing down their rituals and their ritual music (and dance) traditions. In the ethnography, I reveal that their traditional ritual, which the community insists on following and continuing without any modification, has in reality undergone adaptation and change. Some of these changes took place in order to adapt to the changing social situation surrounding the community. Other changes have occurred because ritual and musical performance are human activities. However, despite such changes, there has also existed a kind of continuity in the ritual: the people conduct the ritual in the same manner. Thus, continuity and change coexist in rituals and festivals. The continuity which characterises rituals gives an impression of stability in the conduction of these rituals, and human actions that include musical performances undergo changes. It also reinforces a sense of tradition and heritage, which is an important dimension of Japanese culture. It is this paradox between change and continuity that has contributed towards sustaining the various rituals and festivals. Especially through practice, these two characteristics facilitate each other; therefore, continuity is possible through change. This forms the central theme of this thesis. In chapter one, I reflect on my life and show how festivals and rituals are connected with my life in order to clarify the argument raised in this thesis. Moreover, to immerse myself in the ritual soundscape of those people who 2 experienced some events in the Kantô area in Japan, where I am from, I introduce three festivals and two rituals that are observed in the Tokyo, Chiba, and Ibaraki prefectures.
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