The Raging Deity in Japanese Mythology
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Outline Lecture Sixteen—Early Japanese Mythology and Shinto Ethics
Outline Lecture Sixteen—Early Japanese Mythology and Shinto Ethics General Chronology: Jomon: 11th to 3rd century B.C.E. Yayoi: 3rd B.C.E. to 3rd C.E. Tomb: 3rd to 6th C.E. Yamato: 6th to 7th C.E. I) Prehistoric Origins a) Early Japanese history shrouded in obscurity i) No writing system until 6th century C.E. at best ii) No remains of cities or other large scale settlements iii) Only small-scale archeological evidence b) Jomon (Roughly 11th to 3rd century B.C.E.) i) Name refers to the “rope-pattern” pottery ii) Hunter-gathering settlements c) Yayoi (3rd B.C.E. to 3rd C.E.) i) Named after marshy plains near modern day Tokyo (1) Foreign elements trickle in, then blend with indigenous elements ii) Increasing signs of specialization and social stratification d) Tomb or Kofun Period (3rd to 7th) i) Two strains in Japanese religious cosmology (1) Horizontal cosmology—“over the sea motif” (2) Vertical cosmology—earth and heaven ii) Emergence of a powerful mounted warrior class (1) Uji and Be e) Yamato State (6th to 8th C.E.) i) Loose confederation of the dominant aristocratic clans II) Constructions of Mythology and Religion a) Function of Mythologized history i) Political legitimacy required having a “history” ii) Kojiki (Record of Ancient Matters 712) and Nihongi (Chronicles of Japan 720) b) Yamato Clan’s Kami—Amaterasu i) Symbiosis between mythological and political authority ii) Myth of Yamato lineage (1) Symbolism of Izanagi and Izanami (2) Contest between Amaterasu and Susano-o (a) Transgressions of Susano-o (3) Mythical contest reflects -
Kojiki Family Sagas
Chapter 9 Kojiki Family Sagas Whom Do You Love More? Princess Saho became the Empress of Emperor Suinin. e Empress’s elder half-brother, Prince Saho, asked the Empress, “Whom do you love more, the Emperor or me?” She responded, “I adore you more.” Prince Saho then revealed that he was plotting to overthrow Emperor Suinin and handed the Empress a knife to kill the Emperor. Following Prince Saho’s plan, the Empress resolved to kill the Emperor in his sleep. Yet she could not bring herself to stab him. e Empress’s tears fell upon the face of Emperor Suinin, and the Emperor woke up, saying that he just had a frightful dream. e Empress confessed Prince Saho’s sinister plot to kill the Emperor. e Emperor raised an army to attack Prince Saho. Meanwhile, the Empress, who was pregnant, snuck out of the palace to join Prince Saho in his fortress. In the fortress, surrounded by the Emperor’s army, the Empress gave birth to a son. Emperor Suinin still felt strongly for the Empress, despite the treachery of her half-brother. Emperor Suinin tried to get Empress to return to him with their newborn son, but the Empress only handed over the child. e Empress chose to die together with her elder half-brother. Traumatized by this tragedy, their son was never able to speak, even as he grew up to become an adult. Emperor Suinin had a dream in which the Deity of Izumo told him that if he made Izumo Taisha Shrine as splendid as his palace, his son would be able to speak. -
Old Age in Pre-Nara and Nara Periods*
Old Age in Pre-Nara and Nara Periods by Susanne Formanek (Vienna) Demographic meaning of old age and age classes In trying to establish the demographic meaning of old age in the Pre-Nara and Nara Periods we learn from the surviving evidence that it was rare for people to reach an advanced age. It is likely that only 5 % or even less of all fifteen-years- olds in the Jômon Period could expect to live until the age of 50 or more. On the basis of life tables it can be seen that life expectancy, while being very low in all age classes, stayed at either virtually the same level or declined only very slowly after the age of 40 or 50; therefore the chances of living even longer after having attained that age were comparatively good.1 Very much the same structure but with improved overall mortality rates was apparently maintained till the Nara Period, where the koseki show persons of over 60 to account for 3 to 5 % of the population, a still small but by no means insignificant number, since about 40% of the population was made up by children under the age of 15. Thus the number of the aged was of no little importance among the adult popu- lation. Furthermore, having reached the age of 40 or 50, one had very good chances to live for another 20 or 30 years.2 This essay is a slightly improved version of a paper read at the Vth International Conference on Japanese Studies of the European Association for Japanese Studies in Durham, Septem- ber 1988. -
Gaudenz Domenig
Gaudenz DOMENIG * Land of the Gods Beyond the Boundary Ritual Landtaking and the Horizontal World View** 1. Introduction The idea that land to be taken into possession for dwelling or agriculture is already inhabited by beings of another kind may be one the oldest beliefs that in the course of history have conditioned religious attitudes towards space. Where the raising of a building, the founding of a settlement or city, or the clearing of a wilderness for cultivation was accompanied by ritual, one of the ritual acts usually was the exorcising of local beings supposed to have been dwelling there before. It is often assumed that this particular ritual act served the sole purpose of driving the local spirits out of the new human domain. Consequently, the result of the ritual performance is commonly believed to have been a situation where the castaways were thought to carry on beyond the land’s boundary, in an outer space that would surround the occupied land as a kind of “chaos.” Mircea Eliade has expressed this idea as follows: One of the characteristics of traditional societies is the opposition they take for granted between the territory they inhabit and the unknown and indeterminate space that surrounds it. Their territory is the “world” (more precisely, “our world”), the cosmos; the rest is no longer cosmos but a kind of “other world,” a foreign, chaotic space inhabited by ghosts, demons, and “foreigners” (who are assimilated to the demons and the souls of the dead). (Eliade 1987: 29) * MSc ETH (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology), Zürich. -
The Story of IZUMO KAGURA What Is Kagura? Distinguishing Features of Izumo Kagura
The Story of IZUMO KAGURA What is Kagura? Distinguishing Features of Izumo Kagura This ritual dance is performed to purify the kagura site, with the performer carrying a Since ancient times, people in Japan have believed torimono (prop) while remaining unmasked. Various props are carried while the dance is that gods inhabit everything in nature such as rocks and History of Izumo Kagura Shichiza performed without wearing any masks. The name shichiza is said to derive from the seven trees. Human beings embodied spirits that resonated The Shimane Prefecture is a region which boasts performance steps that comprise it, but these steps vary by region. and sympathized with nature, thus treasured its a flourishing, nationally renowned kagura scene, aesthetic beauty. with over 200 kagura groups currently active in the The word kagura is believed to refer to festive prefecture. Within Shimane Prefecture, the regions of rituals carried out at kamikura (the seats of gods), Izumo, Iwami, and Oki have their own unique style of and its meaning suggests a “place for calling out and kagura. calming of the gods.” The theory posits that the word Kagura of the Izumo region, known as Izumo kamikuragoto (activity for the seats of gods) was Kagura, is best characterized by three parts: shichiza, shortened to kankura, which subsequently became shikisanba, and shinno. kagura. Shihoken Salt—signifying cleanliness—is used In the first stage, four dancers hold bells and hei (staffs with Shiokiyome paper streamers), followed by swords in the second stage of Sada Shinno (a UNESCO Intangible Cultural (Salt Purification) to purify the site and the attendees. -
University of Nevada, Reno American Shinto Community of Practice
University of Nevada, Reno American Shinto Community of Practice: Community formation outside original context A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Anthropology By Craig E. Rodrigue Jr. Dr. Erin E. Stiles/Thesis Advisor May, 2017 THE GRADUATE SCHOOL We recommend that the thesis prepared under our supervision by CRAIG E. RODRIGUE JR. Entitled American Shinto Community Of Practice: Community Formation Outside Original Context be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS Erin E. Stiles, Advisor Jenanne K. Ferguson, Committee Member Meredith Oda, Graduate School Representative David W. Zeh, Ph.D., Dean, Graduate School May, 2017 i Abstract Shinto is a native Japanese religion with a history that goes back thousands of years. Because of its close ties to Japanese culture, and Shinto’s strong emphasis on place in its practice, it does not seem to be the kind of religion that would migrate to other areas of the world and convert new practitioners. However, not only are there examples of Shinto being practiced outside of Japan, the people doing the practice are not always of Japanese heritage. The Tsubaki Grand Shrine of America is one of the only fully functional Shinto shrines in the United States and is run by the first non-Japanese Shinto priest. This thesis looks at the community of practice that surrounds this American shrine and examines how membership is negotiated through action. There are three main practices that form the larger community: language use, rituals, and Aikido. Through participation in these activities members engage with an American Shinto community of practice. -
The Myth of the Goddess of the Undersea World and the Tale of Empress Jingu’S Subjugation of Silla
Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 1993 20/2-3 The Myth of the Goddess of the Undersea World and the Tale of Empress Jingu’s Subjugation of Silla Akima Toshio In prewar Japan, the mythical tale of Empress Jingii’s 神功皇后 conquest of the Korean kingdoms comprised an important part of elementary school history education, and was utilized to justify Japan5s coloniza tion of Korea. After the war the same story came to be interpreted by some Japanese historians—most prominently Egami Namio— as proof or the exact opposite, namely, as evidence of a conquest of Japan by a people of nomadic origin who came from Korea. This theory, known as the horse-rider theory, has found more than a few enthusiastic sup porters amone Korean historians and the Japanese reading public, as well as some Western scholars. There are also several Japanese spe cialists in Japanese history and Japan-Korea relations who have been influenced by the theory, although most have not accepted the idea (Egami himself started as a specialist in the history of northeast Asia).1 * The first draft of this essay was written during my fellowship with the International Research Center for Japanese Studies, and was read in a seminar organized by the institu tion on 31 January 199丄. 1 am indebted to all researchers at the center who participated in the seminar for their many valuable suggestions. I would also like to express my gratitude to Umehara Takeshi, the director general of the center, and Nakanism Susumu, also of the center, who made my research there possible. -
Momotaro (The Peach Boy) and the Spirit of Japan: Concerning the Function of a Fairy Tale in Japanese Nationalism of the Early Showa Age*
Klaus Antoni Universitdt Hamburg Momotaro (The Peach Boy) and the Spirit of Japan: Concerning the Function of a Fairy Tale in Japanese Nationalism of the Early Showa Age* Abstract This article is concerned with a famous Japanese fairy tale, Momotaro, which was used during the war years in school readers as a primary part of nationalistic pro paganda. The tale and its central motif are analyzed and traced back through history to its earliest forms. Heroes from legend and history offered perfect identification patterns and images for the propagation of state ideals that were spread through education, the military, and war propaganda. Momotaro subtly- transmitted to young school pupils that which official Japan looked upon as the goal of its ideological education: through a fairy tale the gate to the “ Japanese spirit ” was opened. Key words: Momotaro — Japanese spirit — war propaganda Ryukyu Islands Asian Folklore Studies> Volume 50,1991:155-188. N a t io n a l is m a n d F o l k T r a d it io n in M o d e r n J a p a n F oundations of Japanese N ationalism APAN is a land rich in myths, legends, and fairy tales. It pos sesses a large store of traditional oral and literary folk literature, J which has not been accounted for or even recognized in the West. The very earliest traditional written historical documents contain narratives, themes, and motifs that express this rich tradition. Even though the Kojiki of the year 712, the oldest extant written source, was conceived of as a historical work at the time, it is a collection of pure myths, or at least the beginning portions are. -
Masaki Kobayashi: KWAIDAN (1965, 183M) the Version of This Goldenrod Handout Sent out in Our Monday Mailing, and the One Online, Has Hot Links
March 10, 2020 (XL:10) Masaki Kobayashi: KWAIDAN (1965, 183m) The version of this Goldenrod Handout sent out in our Monday mailing, and the one online, has hot links. Spelling and Style—use of italics, quotation marks or nothing at all for titles, e.g.—follows the form of the sources. Directed by Masaki Kobayashi Writing Credits Yôko Mizuki (screenplay), Lafcadio Hearn (novel) (as Yakumo Koizumi) Produced by Takeshi Aikawa, Shigeru Wakatsuki Music by Tôru Takemitsu Cinematography by Yoshio Miyajima Film Editing by Hisashi Sagara The film won the Jury Special Prize and was nominated for the Palme d’Or at the 1965 Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film at the 1966 Academy Awards. CAST for the Palme d'Or at Cannes, and Samurai Rebellion “The Black Hair” (1967), and Kwaidan (1964), for which he, once again, Michiyo Aratama…First wife both won the Jury Special Prize and was nominated for the Misako Watanabe…Second Wife Palme d’Or. He was also nominated for the Palm d’Or for Rentarō Mikuni…Husband Nihon no seishun (1968). He also directed: Youth of the Son (1952), Sincerity (1953), Three Loves* (1954), “The Woman of the Snow” Somewhere Under the Broad Sky (1954), Beautiful Days Tatsuya Nakadai…Minokichi (1955), Fountainhead (1956), The Thick-Walled Room Jun Hamamura…Minokichi’s friend (1956), I Will Buy You (1956), Black River (1957), The *Keiko Kishi…the Yuki-Onna Inheritance (1962), Inn of Evil (1971), The Fossil (1974), Moeru aki (1979), Tokyo Trial* (Documentary) (1983), “Hoichi” and Shokutaku no nai ie* (1985). -
Of Mice and Maidens: Ideologies of Interspecies Romance in Late Medieval and Early Modern Japan
University of Pennsylvania ScholarlyCommons Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations 2014 Of Mice and Maidens: Ideologies of Interspecies Romance in Late Medieval and Early Modern Japan Laura Nuffer University of Pennsylvania, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations Part of the Asian Studies Commons, and the Medieval Studies Commons Recommended Citation Nuffer, Laura, "Of Mice and Maidens: Ideologies of Interspecies Romance in Late Medieval and Early Modern Japan" (2014). Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations. 1389. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/1389 This paper is posted at ScholarlyCommons. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/1389 For more information, please contact [email protected]. Of Mice and Maidens: Ideologies of Interspecies Romance in Late Medieval and Early Modern Japan Abstract Interspecies marriage (irui kon'in) has long been a central theme in Japanese literature and folklore. Frequently dismissed as fairytales, stories of interspecies marriage illuminate contemporaneous conceptions of the animal-human boundary and the anxieties surrounding it. This dissertation contributes to the emerging field of animal studies yb examining otogizoshi (Muromachi/early Edo illustrated narrative fiction) concerning elationshipsr between human women and male mice. The earliest of these is Nezumi no soshi ("The Tale of the Mouse"), a fifteenth century ko-e ("small scroll") attributed to court painter Tosa Mitsunobu. Nezumi no soshi was followed roughly a century later by a group of tales collectively named after their protagonist, the mouse Gon no Kami. Unlike Nezumi no soshi, which focuses on the grief of the woman who has unwittingly married a mouse, the Gon no Kami tales contain pronounced comic elements and devote attention to the mouse-groom's perspective. -
The Symbol of the Dragon and Ways to Shape Cultural Identities in Institute Working Vietnam and Japan Paper Series
2015 - HARVARD-YENCHING THE SYMBOL OF THE DRAGON AND WAYS TO SHAPE CULTURAL IDENTITIES IN INSTITUTE WORKING VIETNAM AND JAPAN PAPER SERIES Nguyen Ngoc Tho | University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University – Ho Chi Minh City THE SYMBOL OF THE DRAGON AND WAYS TO SHAPE 1 CULTURAL IDENTITIES IN VIETNAM AND JAPAN Nguyen Ngoc Tho University of Social Sciences and Humanities Vietnam National University – Ho Chi Minh City Abstract Vietnam, a member of the ASEAN community, and Japan have been sharing Han- Chinese cultural ideology (Confucianism, Mahayana Buddhism etc.) and pre-modern history; therefore, a great number of common values could be found among the diverse differences. As a paddy-rice agricultural state of Southeast Asia, Vietnam has localized Confucianism and absorbed it into Southeast Asian culture. Therefore, Vietnamese Confucianism has been decentralized and horizontalized after being introduced and accepted. Beside the local uniqueness of Shintoism, Japan has shared Confucianism, the Indian-originated Mahayana Buddhism and other East Asian philosophies; therefore, both Confucian and Buddhist philosophies should be wisely laid as a common channel for cultural exchange between Japan and Vietnam. This semiotic research aims to investigate and generalize the symbol of dragons in Vietnam and Japan, looking at their Confucian and Buddhist absorption and separate impacts in each culture, from which the common and different values through the symbolic significances of the dragons are obviously generalized. The comparative study of Vietnamese and Japanese dragons can be enlarged as a study of East Asian dragons and the Southeast Asian legendary naga snake/dragon in a broader sense. The current and future political, economic and cultural exchanges between Japan and Vietnam could be sped up by applying a starting point at these commonalities. -
Myths & Legends of Japan
Myths & Legends Of Japan By F. Hadland Davis Myths & Legends of Japan CHAPTER I: THE PERIOD OF THE GODS In the Beginning We are told that in the very beginning "Heaven and Earth were not yet separated, and the In and Yo not yet divided." This reminds us of other cosmogony stories. The In and Yo, corresponding to the Chinese Yang and Yin, were the male and female principles. It was more convenient for the old Japanese writers to imagine the coming into being of creation in terms not very remote from their own manner of birth. In Polynesian mythology we find pretty much the same conception, where Rangi and Papa represented Heaven and Earth, and further parallels may be found in Egyptian and other cosmogony stories. In nearly all we find the male and female principles taking a prominent, and after all very rational, place. We are told in theNihongi that these male and female principles "formed a chaotic mass like an egg which was of obscurely defined limits and contained germs." Eventually this egg was quickened into life, and the purer and clearer part was drawn out and formed Heaven, while the heavier element settled down and became Earth, which was "compared to the floating of a fish sporting on the surface of the water." A mysterious form resembling a reed-shoot suddenly appeared between Heaven and Earth, and as suddenly became transformed into a God called Kuni-toko- tachi, ("Land-eternal-stand-of-august-thing"). We may pass over the other divine births until we come to the important deities known as Izanagi and Izanami ("Male-who-invites" and "Female-who-invites").