Author: Amy ChavezPublisher:
ISBN: 9781884244353
Category : Buddhist pilgrims and pilgrimages
Languages : en
Pages : 219
Book Description
Making Pilgrimages
Author: Ian ReaderPublisher: University of Hawaii Press
ISBN: 9780824828769
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 378
Book Description
This study involves a fourteen-hundred-kilometer-long pilgrimage around Japan's fourth largest island, Shikoku. In traveling the circuit of the eighty-eight Buddhist temples that make up the route, pilgrims make their journey together with Kobo Daishi (774-835), the holy miracle-working figure who is at the heart of the pilgrimage. Once seen as a marginal practice, recent media portrayal of the pilgrimage as a symbol of Japanese cultural heritage has greatly increased the number of participants, both Japanese and foreign. In this absorbing look at the nature of the pilgrimage, Ian Reader examines contemporary practices and beliefs in the context of historical development, taking into account theoretical considerations of pilgrimage as a mode of activity and revealing how pilgrimages such as Shikoku may change in nature over the centuries. This rich ethnographic work covers a wide range of pilgrimage activity and behavior, drawing on accounts of pilgrims traveling by traditional means on foot as well as those taking advantage of the new package bus tours, and exploring the pilgrimage's role in the everyday lives of participants and the people of Shikoku alike. that have shaped it in the past and in the present, including history and legend; the island's landscape and residents; the narratives and actions of the pilgrims and the priests who run the temples; regional authorities; and commercial tour operators and bus companies.
The Shikoku Pilgrimage
Author: John LanderPublisher:
ISBN: 9786164510517
Category : Self-Help
Languages : en
Pages : 240
Book Description
- Evocative photographs of one of the world's most famous pilgimages - All 88 temples illustrated and discussed - Includes accounts by former pilgrims The Shikoku Pilgrimage on the island of the same name is one of the few circular pilgrimages in the world. At 1,200 kilometers in length, the trail includes 88 temples and passes through diverse countryside such as idyllic bamboo groves, deserted beaches and ordinary Japanese neighborhoods. There is a long tradition of pilgrimage in Japan, dating back at least to the time of the renowned monk, poet and philosopher Kobo Daishi (774-825) who is particularly associated with this trail. John Lander, long-time resident of Japan, author and photographer, has visited and recorded every temple in evocative images, as well as providing fascinating details about the origin of the trail and what the pilgrimage means to the thousands who undertake it every year. The pilgrimage is undertaken for many reasons - to have a time of reflection away from everyday life, as a spiritual journey or as a healing period after a traumatic life experience. Along the way, pilgrims will encounter ordinary Japanese people and learn to understand the custom of o-settai, or charitable giving.
Author: Oliver StatlerShikoku Pilgrimage, Japan
Author: Roman ReynoldsPublisher:
ISBN: 9781671524903
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 192
Book Description
Shikoku Pilgrimage, Japan. Travel Guide. This is a Buddhist pilgrimage around the circumference of the Japanese island of Shikoku. Of the several hundred thousand people who do it each year, only a few thousand walk; the vast majority travel in organized bus tours. If you only walk to the main 88 temples, the trail is about 1,100 km ( 670 mi.). If you also walk to the 20 bangai temples (of secondary importance, but still visited by some), the distance increases to about 1,400 km ( 860 mi.). Visiting all 108 temples takes about 50-55 days. Visiting only the main 88 temples takes about 40-45 days. How long it takes for each henro (pilgrim) depends on their fitness level and their seeming need to hurry. There are several legends related to the beginnings of the pilgrimage on Shikoku Island. The most popular legend, of course, is that Kūkai walked to all of the sacred places on the island, founded many of the temples, and established the pilgrimage itself. While we don't know everything about his early life, we do know enough about what he did, where he lived, and where he traveled, that it is fairly easy to refute this and say that it can't be true. Documents do show that Kūkai did travel to several of the mountains where temples are currently located. He did not, however walk around the island or perform the first pilgrimage. As will be described below, those first pilgrims were the hijiri, or wandering ascetics, that came from Mt. Kōya to visit the religious centers on the island.
Pilgrims Until We Die
Author: Ian ReaderPublisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0197573584
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 265
Book Description
The Shikoku pilgrimage : history, legends, ascetics, and the structure of repetition -- Modern stimulations : money, health, time and commemoration -- Living on the pilgrimage : perpetual itinerancy and 'professional pilgrims' -- Attitudes, practices, schedules and triggers : addictive patterns and the intensity of performance -- Pilgrims and their cars : sociability, scenery, faith and enjoyment -- Walkers on the way : multiplicity, motivations, health and retirement -- Concluding comments and new challenges.
Author: Tatsuro MuroNeon Pilgrim
Author: Lisa DempsterPublisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1925183882
Category : Travel
Languages : en
Pages : 247
Book Description
During a culture-shocked exchange year in Japan, fifteen-year-old Lisa Dempster’s imagination is ignited by the story of the henro michi, an arduous 1200 kilometre Buddhist pilgrimage through the mountains of Japan. Perfectly suiting the romantic view of herself as a dusty, travel-worn explorer (well, one day), she promises to return to Japan and walk the henro michi, one way or another, as soon as humanely possible. Fast-forward thirteen years, and Lisa’s life is vastly different to what she pictured it would be. Severely depressed, socially withdrawn, overweight, on the dole and living with her mum, she is 28 and miserable. And then, completely by chance, the henro michi comes back into her life, through a book at her local library. It’s a sign. She decides then and there to go back to Japan almost immediately: to walk the henro michi, and walk herself back to health. Brushing aside the barriers that other people might find daunting – the 1200km of mountainous terrain, the sweltering Japanese summer, the fact she has no money and has never done a multi-day hike before – Lisa is determined to walk the pilgrimage, or die trying.
Sacred Heritage in Japan
Author: Aike P. RotsPublisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000045633
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 296
Book Description
Sacred Heritage in Japan is the first volume to explicitly address the topics of Japanese religion and heritage preservation in connection with each other. The book examines what happens when places of worship and ritual practices are rebranded as national culture. It also considers the impact of being designated tangible or intangible cultural properties and, more recently, as UNESCO World or Intangible Heritage. Drawing on primary ethnographic and historical research, the contributions to this volume show the variety of ways in which different actors have contributed to, negotiated, and at times resisted the transformation of religious traditions into heritage. They analyse the conflicts that emerge about questions of signification and authority during these processes of transformation. The book provides important new perspectives on the local implications of UNESCO listings in the Japanese context and showcases the diversity of "sacred heritage" in present-day Japan. Combining perspectives from heritage studies, Japanese studies, religious studies, history, and social anthropology, the volume will be of interest to scholars and students who want to learn more about the diversity of local responses to heritage conservation in non-Western societies. It will also be of interest to scholars and students engaged in the study of Japanese religion, society, or cultural policies.
Fighting Monks and Burning Mountains
Author: Paul BarachPublisher:
ISBN: 9780990930402
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 358
Book Description
Age twenty-eight and fed up with the office job he settled for, Paul Barach decided to travel to Japan to follow a vision he had in college: to walk the ancient 750-mile Shikoku pilgrimage trail. Here are some things he did not decide to do: learn Japanese, do any research, road test his hiking shoes, or check if it's the hottest summer in history. And he went anyway, hoping to change his life. Fighting Monks and Burning Mountains is the absurd and dramatic journey of one impulsive American's search for answers on a holy path in an exotic land. Along the pathway connecting 88 Buddhist temples, he'll face arduous mountain climbs, hide from guards in a toilet stall, challenge a priest to a mountaintop karate battle, and other misadventures. He'll also delve into the fascinating legends of this ancient land, including a dragon-fighting holy man, a berserker warrior-priest, haunted temples, and a vendetta-driven ghost that overthrew a dynasty. Told with humor and humility, Fighting Monks and Burning Mountains is a funny, engaging memoir about the consequences of impulsive decisions, and the things you can discover while you're looking for something else. Also that boars are terrifying in person.
