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A Socio-Anthropological Research on Human-Nature Relationships and Health in Japanese-Brazilian Umbanda

Research Project

Project/Area Number 23KF0249
Research Category

Grant-in-Aid for JSPS Fellows

Allocation TypeMulti-year Fund
Section外国
Review Section Basic Section 04030:Cultural anthropology and folklore-related
Research InstitutionKyoto University

Principal Investigator

De・Antoni Andrea  京都大学, 人間・環境学研究科, 特定准教授 (10706865)

Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) CALVO DANIELA  京都大学, 人間・環境学研究科, 外国人特別研究員
Project Period (FY) 2023-11-15 – 2026-03-31
Project Status Granted (Fiscal Year 2023)
Budget Amount *help
¥2,300,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,300,000)
Fiscal Year 2025: ¥600,000 (Direct Cost: ¥600,000)
Fiscal Year 2024: ¥1,000,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,000,000)
Fiscal Year 2023: ¥700,000 (Direct Cost: ¥700,000)
KeywordsUmbanda / Transnational Religions / Afro-Brazilian Religions / Brazilian Migration / Healing Rituals / Religion and Health / More-than-human / Japan
Outline of Research at the Start

The researcher is an expert in Brazilian religions, but she is new to Japan, thus long periods of fieldwork will be necessary in order to gather data and develop an understanding of the context. Travel to International Conferences has also been budgeted for dissemination.

Outline of Annual Research Achievements

Fieldwork on Umbanda in Japan at CURO included participant observation of ceremonies, healing rituals, meetings, and 38 interviews. Additionally, participation in ceremonies of other religious communities in Shizuoka and Kanagawa Prefectures was undertaken. Social media related to Brazilian migration and Umbanda in Japan was analyzed, alongside mapping Umbanda temples in Japan. Data collection encompassed: 1) CURO's history and its members' relationships with each other and the religion; 2) Umbanda's response to existential quests for meaning, healing, and affect; 3) the intersection of Umbanda and Brazilian migration in Japan (on which a first article has been submitted as book chapter); and 4) exploration of health beliefs and connections with nature and spirits.

Current Status of Research Progress
Current Status of Research Progress

1: Research has progressed more than it was originally planned.

Reason

The fieldwork has proven highly productive, yielding a substantial amount of data and fostering the emergence of original ideas aligned with the research plan.
I have already authored one paper and have gathered material for another, both focusing on the relationship between Umbanda and migration. The latter paper has commenced its elaboration phase.

Strategy for Future Research Activity

The plan involves continuing fieldwork at CURO while expanding to other Umbanda temples in Japan. Two papers will be written: one exploring how Umbanda addresses the search for meaning, healing, and affect, providing solutions to practical, adaptation, and spiritual problems in Japan. Another will examine practitioners' relationships with haunted places and spirits, focusing on the experiences of workers who clean or tidy up houses of deceased individuals (katazuke or kaitai). Further research will delve into the forms of conceiving, living, and treating health and illness in Umbanda, exploring their interplay with more-than-human beings, religious supply stores, and nature. The aim is to publish and present findings at international conferences.

Report

(1 results)
  • 2023 Research-status Report
  • Research Products

    (3 results)

All 2023 Other

All Presentation (2 results) (of which Int'l Joint Research: 2 results) Remarks (1 results)

  • [Presentation] Responses to the Covid-19 syndemic in Afro-Brazilian religions2023

    • Author(s)
      Calvo, Daniela
    • Organizer
      Seminario Internacional Referentes y construcciones de lo politico, socieconomico y de la salud del antes, durante y la vision a future de la pandemia
    • Related Report
      2023 Research-status Report
    • Int'l Joint Research
  • [Presentation] Blurring the borders between family-of-blood and family-of-the-saint in Candomble: Making kinship through relations and flows of materials and forces2023

    • Author(s)
      Calvo, Daniela
    • Organizer
      IUAES-WAU World Anthropology Congress
    • Related Report
      2023 Research-status Report
    • Int'l Joint Research
  • [Remarks] Academia.edu

    • URL

      https://kyoto-u.academia.edu/DanielaCalvo

    • Related Report
      2023 Research-status Report

URL: 

Published: 2023-11-17   Modified: 2024-12-25  

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