The Religious Practices and Mummified Bodies of the Mount Yudono Ascetics
| Project/Area Number |
22K13202
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
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| Allocation Type | Multi-year Fund |
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| Review Section |
Basic Section 03020:Japanese history-related
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| Research Institution | Nagoya City University |
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Principal Investigator |
カスティリョーニ アンドレア 名古屋市立大学, 大学院人間文化研究科, 准教授 (70853547)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2022-04-01 – 2024-03-31
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| Project Status |
Granted (Fiscal Year 2022)
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| Budget Amount *help |
¥3,510,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,700,000、Indirect Cost: ¥810,000)
Fiscal Year 2023: ¥1,690,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,300,000、Indirect Cost: ¥390,000)
Fiscal Year 2022: ¥1,820,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,400,000、Indirect Cost: ¥420,000)
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| Keywords | Mount Yudono / Issei gyonin / Sokushinbutsu / Confraternities / Shugendo |
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| Outline of Research at the Start |
The present research sheds light on the institutional, religious, and ritual background associated with the cult of Mt. Yudono in the Edo period, focusing on the religious practices of Yudono ascetics, and underling the modalities through which their mummified bodies were venerated by lay devotees.
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| Outline of Annual Research Achievements |
During the first year of the research project I conducted philological analysis on a group of document known as the “Four Petitions of the Keicho Era”, which show the religious and economic ties between early seventeenth century Yudono ascetics (issei gyonin) and their lay patrons. In this first year of research I also studied the Tooku kiko by Nagakubo Sekisui (1717-1801), which is a fundamental text for understanding the ritual modalities chosen by Yudono lay devotees to worshiping the mummified bodies of the Yudono ascetics such the sokushinbutsu of Junkai Shonin. This year I as well focused on the ritual meaning and circulation of painted hanging scrolls and healing talismans, which were made by eminent Yudono ascetics after completing ascetic retreats at Senninzawa.
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| Current Status of Research Progress |
Current Status of Research Progress
3: Progress in research has been slightly delayed.
Reason
The Edo period primary sources (travel diaries, legal documents, ritual texts), which I am engaging for elucidating the economic and religious interactions between Yudono ascetics and lay patrons, show a multiplicity of ceremonial, talismanic, and even legal activities performed by Yudono ascetics on behalf of their lay devotees. The analysis of this religious material culture such as painting scrolls, paper talismans, carved stelae, and sacred tumuli built by the Yudono ascetics requires more time than expected given the complexity and pervasiveness of the phenomenon. The study of the primary sources concerning Junkai Shonin indicates a possible connection between this famous Yudono ascetic and Mount Koya. This crucial aspect needs extra time to be adequately investigated.
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| Strategy for Future Research Activity |
By the end the 2023 I plan to publish two articles. One article focuses on the material culture of the Yudono ascetics will be published on a special issue of the Cahiers d'Extreme-Asie. A second article, which analyzes the circulation paper talismans performed by Edo period Shugendo practitioners and other itinerant religious professionals, will be published on the Journal of Religion in Japan in the following months. For what concerns fieldwork I am planning a field-trip to Nagano prefecture, Usuda-machi, and to Chiba prefecture, Katori-shi, to study sacred stelae and tumuli made by Yudono ascetics for local Yudono confraternities. In August 2023 I will present some of the preliminary results of my research to the annual conference of the European Association of Japanese Studies (EAJS).
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Report
(1 results)
Research Products
(6 results)
