The Ise Shrines: A Modern Trajectory

2018 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15K02882
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Japanese history
• Research Institution: International Research Center for Japanese Studies
• Principal Investigator: Breen John 国際日本文化研究センター, 総合情報発信室, 教授 (90531062)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-10-21 – 2019-03-31
• Keywords: 伊勢 / 神宮 / 大麻 / 古市 / 遊郭 / 御師 / 奇跡 / 天皇制

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The results of this research are two-fold. They concern 1) a new understanding of pre-modern Ise that draws on a spatial approach; and 2) new light on the connectivity between the Ise shrines and the modern Japanese populace through a study of Ise amulets.
1) Ise comprises two sacred sites, the Outer and Inner shrines. My research shows 1) that for pre-modern pilgrims (the majority of whom were men) it was rather the Furuichi pleasure quarters that constituted Ise's center, and 2) that the two shrines were in constant conflict over the nature of the sacred in Ise.
2) Ise amulets first appeared in medieval Japan, but this research shows that they were transformed in the modern period acquiring new sacred, political and commercial qualities, and that, distributed annually in their millions throughout Japan, they served as a vital link between the Ise Shrines and the Japanese people.

Free Research Field

日本史

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

伊勢神宮は今日でも最大級の聖地だが、研究は少ない。明治前までの伊勢は、参拝者が外宮内宮よりも古市遊郭を目指して旅だった、さらにおかげ参りの年に伊勢が奇跡の場に変身してしまった、そして伊勢の聖性そのものがせめぎ合いの対象であった、などの史実はこれまでにない伊勢像を語る内容である。
神社本庁が今日頒布する神宮大麻は伊勢神宮の欠かせない収入源で、誰もが馴染みあるものだが、歴史的研究はこれまでなかった。その神宮大麻が昭和初年には全く新しい（そして今日では考えられない）政治性、聖性、商品性を付与され、伊勢神宮と国民をつなぐ最重要な装置となった事実は、昭和初年の社会の末端に新たな光をあてる。