本稿は二〇〇六年九月一六日に東北大学川内南キャンパスで開催された日本宗教学会第六五回学術大会公開シンポジウムの記録である。標題「死者と生者の接点」を宗教学的に解釈すると、聖地・霊場論となる。はじめに代表的な聖地・霊場論として、M・エリアーデ、E・デュルケムからE・リーチに至る構造主義の理論を日本文化の事例に合わせて考察し、緒論のように、betwixt and betweenの領域にこそ、宗教・タブーの発生がみられることを示唆する。続いて日本文化の事例を空間論、時間論に特化し、時間論として葬祭問題を論ずる。
This paper is the record of a presentation given at the Open Symposium of the 65th Congress of the Japanese Association for Religious Studies held at Tohoku University on 16 September. First I introduced some theories on sacred place, for instance, those by M. Eliade, E. Durkheim, and E. Leach. Secondly I referred to Japanese Culture, for example the yttura carried out in the dark. In terms of the time dimension, we can say that the time was between day and night. The second example was about the Toribeno, Rendaino, and Adashino districts in Kyoto, which were areas containing cemetaries. Tombs were built in such areas that lay between mountains and towns. This was the space dimension. Lastly, I referred to Japanese Buddhism, especially with regard to customs of funerals and tombs. These dimensions-time and space-were the situation of betwixt and between. Because these situations were the result of the amalgamation of Buddhism and folk beliefs and practices, Buddhism provided meaning to folk beliefs and practices. This is what I call the "Buddhafication of the folk." At the same time, Buddhism was losing some of itself in its inclination towards folk beliefs and practices, which can be called the "folkification of Buddhism." Death was the situation of betwixt and between. I analyze why the deceased slept in bed as if alive. During makuragyo, the priest reads sutras beside the corpse on the day of death. On the next day after death, during the wake (tsuya), he or she is still treated as if alive, despite the fact that the person is dead. I also refer to the view and the history of life and death in Japanese Buddhism, and I want to refer to the ordinary Japanese people's funeral customs as a sacred meeting place.
