佛壇=Butsudan; 位牌=Ihai; 神棚=Kamidana; 神聖的陳述=Representations of the sacred; 佛教聖物=Buddhist sacred objects
摘要
One of the most peculiar objects that characterize Japanese religiosity is the Buddhist family altar (butsudan). This paper discusses some of the ways in which the butsudan and its ritual uses serve to represent ideas about the sacred in Japan. I analyze the structure of the butsudan and some of the most representative practices in which this object is employed. Next, I present a history of the development of this object by referring to historical and anthropological evidence dating further back than the actual diffusion of this specific object in the seventeenth century. I also discuss important objects related to (and often used in conjunction with) the butsudan, such as ancestors’ tablets (ihai) and the kami altar (kamidana). Finally, I argue that, lacking a shared normative discourse on butsudan, the Buddhist family altar mainly functions, within many contemporary Japanese households, to present a vague but complex “atmosphere”—one that is not explicitly “religious” but is related primarily to ideas of “tradition” and family memory.
目次
Introduction 63 Styles and Structure of Butsudan 64 Religious Practices Centered on the Butsudan 67 History of the Butsudan 70 Funerary Tablets(Ihai) 75 The Kamidana and its Connections with the Butsudan 77 "Somehow... Religion": Butsudan and Religious "Atmosphere" in Contemporary Japan 79 Conclusion 81
