TY - JOUR
T1 - The demonic countryside
T2 - beckoning early modern visitors through oni legend and ritual
AU - Carter, Caleb
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was supported by a Japan Foundation postdoctoral fellowship conducted in the East Asian Studies Program of Johns Hopkins University and through Kyushu University under a QR Program grant. I am grateful to the participants of the workshop ?Place, Space, and Time in Japanese History? at the University of Chicago in 2016, especially to organizer Nobuko Toyosawa, as well as the DC/Baltimore-Area Japanese and Korean Humanities group, Katherine Saltzman-Li, and two anonymous reviewers for valuable feedback at various stages in the development and revision of this article.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019, Copyright © 2019 BAJS.
PY - 2019/10/2
Y1 - 2019/10/2
N2 - This article explores the role of legends and rituals centered on oni (demons) as a mode of place-making in early modern Japan. Focusing on evidence from Shinano (present-day Nagano prefecture), it begins with medieval oni narratives centered on Mount Togakushi and then turns toward Edo period adaptations that ushered in a host of new sites. I argue that this type of engagement with popular narratives played a vital role in place-making strategies by fostering new modes of ritual, economy, and identity as well as connections with the rest of the country. My analysis focuses on a twofold process by which these developments took place: first, the creation of local legends inspired from well-known oni tales; and second, the implementation of Buddhist rituals that promoted the legends while simultaneously placating the malignant spirits they resurrected.
AB - This article explores the role of legends and rituals centered on oni (demons) as a mode of place-making in early modern Japan. Focusing on evidence from Shinano (present-day Nagano prefecture), it begins with medieval oni narratives centered on Mount Togakushi and then turns toward Edo period adaptations that ushered in a host of new sites. I argue that this type of engagement with popular narratives played a vital role in place-making strategies by fostering new modes of ritual, economy, and identity as well as connections with the rest of the country. My analysis focuses on a twofold process by which these developments took place: first, the creation of local legends inspired from well-known oni tales; and second, the implementation of Buddhist rituals that promoted the legends while simultaneously placating the malignant spirits they resurrected.
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U2 - 10.1080/09555803.2019.1594336
DO - 10.1080/09555803.2019.1594336
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85077155609
VL - 31
SP - 467
EP - 486
JO - Japan Forum
JF - Japan Forum
SN - 0955-5803
IS - 4
ER -