The author is Assistant Professor of Japanese religions in the Faculty of Humanities at Kyushu University.
關鍵詞
Buddhist mountain pilgrimage; temple economics; women’s exclusion; nyonin kekkai; nyonin kinsei; Mount Togakushi
摘要
This article examines competing interests over pilgrimage and women’s exclusion at numinous mountains in early modern Japan. Developing new forms of ritual and practice, Buddhist clerics encouraged pilgrimage to mountain temples as a source of revenue. Many of these temples, however, simultaneously increased the exclusion of women from certain areas of their premises. What explains this seeming contradiction? Through the case of Mount Togakushi (Nagano prefecture), this article explores the historical coincidence of pilgrimage growth with discriminatory policies targeting women in early modern Japan. It builds from research in the fields of pilgrimage and women’s studies, offering insight into how pilgrimage and women’s exclusion often intersected among competing interests within regional mountain communities.
目次
State Support and Oversight 6 Pilgrimage and Travel to Togakushi 9 The Introduction of Mountain Climbing 12 Purity versus the Purse 15
