“And the zasu Changed his Shoes”: The Resurgence of Combinatory Rituals in Contemporary Japan.

Dolce, Lucia

Abstract

It is often assumed that the combinatory practices that have characterised Japanese religious history were wiped away by the separation of Buddhism and Shinto imposed by the Meiji restoration. Yet field evidence attests that shinbutsu rituals are still performed today in major Shinto institutions. This paper offers a reflection on the nature of contemporary combinatory rituals through three study cases: rituals that continue premodern traditions at Kasuga and Hiyoshi Taisha; new rituals created to emphasise the combinatory as the proper dimension of religion in Japan; exorcistic rituals recovered as a contribution to the current health emergency

Citation

Dolce, L. (2021). “And the zasu Changed his Shoes”: The Resurgence of Combinatory Rituals in Contemporary Japan. In G. Bulian, & S. Rivadossi (Eds.), Itineraries of an Anthropologist (151-180). Edizioni Ca’ Foscari. https://doi.org/10.30687/978-88-6969-527-8/008

• Publication Date: Oct 1, 2021
• Deposit Date: Feb 18, 2022
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 18, 2022
• Pages: 151-180
• Book Title: Itineraries of an Anthropologist
• ISBN: 9788869695285
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.30687/978-88-6969-527-8/008
• Keywords: Combinatory rituals, Shinbutsu, Hiyoshi Taisha, Iwashimizu Hachimangū, Pilgrimage. Goryōe.
• Publisher URL: https://edizionicafoscari.unive.it/media/pdf/books/978-88-6969-528-5/978-88-6969-528-5.pdf