Power Spots and the Charged Landscape of Shinto

This article explores religious practices and institutional tensions related to the contemporary phenomenon of power spots (pawāsupotto) in Japan. The concept, which holds that certain places emanate special energies from the earth, emerged in the global New Age movement before its transmission to J...

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Détails bibliographiques
Auteur principal: Carter, Caleb Swift (Auteur)
Type de support: Électronique Article
Langue:Anglais
Vérifier la disponibilité: HBZ Gateway
Interlibrary Loan:Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany)
Publié: 2018
Dans: Japanese journal of religious studies
Année: 2018, Volume: 45, Numéro: 1, Pages: 145-174
Sujets / Chaînes de mots-clés standardisés:B Japan / Lieu de force / Spiritualité / Sanctuaire (Shintō) / Controverse / Jinja Honchō
RelBib Classification:AG Vie religieuse
AX Dialogue interreligieux
AZ Nouveau mouvement religieux
BN Shintoïsme
KBM Asie
Sujets non-standardisés:B Religious Practices
B Shrine Shinto
B Buddhism
B New age culture
B Religious Studies
B Priests
B Religious places
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Description
Résumé:This article explores religious practices and institutional tensions related to the contemporary phenomenon of power spots (pawāsupotto) in Japan. The concept, which holds that certain places emanate special energies from the earth, emerged in the global New Age movement before its transmission to Japan in the 1980s. It has since been shaped by discourse on spirituality and nature, mass media, commercial interests and, more recently, associations with Shinto. This latter development has exposed fissures in the broader Shinto community that concern practice, economics, national symbolism, and issues of authority. Based on field results from a variety of sites between 2015 and 2017, this article provides an overview of the phenomenon before examining the conflicting interests it has exposed among regional shrines, Jinja Honcho (Association of Shinto Shrines), and the Ise Shrines. Ultimately, power spots strike at two fundamental questions facing the Shinto community: how should the religion be defined and whose interests should it serve? The current phenomenon and resulting debate portend a charged landscape for Shinto in the years ahead.
Contient:Enthalten in: Japanese journal of religious studies
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.18874/jjrs.45.1.2018.145-173