In recent years, scholars in the fields of pre-modern Japanese religions and literature have become increasingly aware of both the ubiquity and bewildering variety of spirits that populated the interpenetrating spheres of “this world” (kono yo), “alien worlds” (ikai, including heavens, hells, and imagined countries), and the world of the afterlife (ano yo)—all of which constituted the pre-modern Japanese imaginaire. Although it was long assumed that ritualists at Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines served as the primary intermediaries and border guards between these worlds, it is now clear that such religious professionals worked closely with—and served as models for—a wide range of performers (poets, singers, dancers, epic singers, storytellers, actors, musicians) that regularly interacted with the kami, Buddhist deities, demons and vengeful spirits in the quotidian spaces of ancient and medieval Japan. This conference examines the emergence of new genres, ritual and performance at the borders, and interstices between these worlds, with special attention to the role of body, voice, and sound in attracting and dispelling spirits across multiple realms. The conference also draws attention to the different kinds of “border-crossing” and trespassing of both social and gender borders (such as Buddhist prohibitions against women and interaction with outcasts).
Presenters/Discussants: Abe Mika, Abe Yasuro, Araki Hiroshi,Chikamoto Kensuke, Miriam Chusid, Michael Como,Lucia Dolce,Bernard Faure, Hank Glassman, Kobayashi Kenji, Koida Tomoko,Bryan Lowe,Andrew Macomber, Matsuyama Yuko,Max Moerman, Samuel Morse, Elizabeth Oyler, Alessandro Poletto, Brian Ruppert, Jackie Stone, Hirano Tae, Yoshino Tomomi, Haruo Shirane, Yamamoto Satomi
Sponsored by Center for Cultural Heritage and Texts at Nagoya University and Department of Religion, Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures, Donald Keene Center of Japanese Culture, Center for Buddhism and East Asian Religions, and Institute for Religion, Culture, and Public Life at Columbia University, NYC.
