1988 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
Social Anthropological studies of Religion in North Okinawa
| Project/Area Number |
61301039
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Co-operative Research (A)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Research Field |
文化人類学(含民族学・民俗学)
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| Research Institution | University of the Sacred Heart |
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Principal Investigator |
YOSHIDA Teigo University of the Sacred Heart, 文学部, 教授 (60037025)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
KIMURA Hideo Asian University, 経済学部, 助教授 (10153206)
ITABASHI Sakumi Tokyo University of Medicine and Dentistry, 教養部, 助教授 (70107415)
SUENARI Michio University of the Sacred Heart, 文学部, 教授 (20054570)
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| Project Period (FY) |
1986 – 1988
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| Keywords | 儀礼 / 祭祀 / 祖先祭祀 / コスモロジー / 方位観 / 伝統文化 / シャーマン / ケガレ / 儀礼シンボル / 門中 / 神女(カミンチュー) |
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| Research Abstract |
Social anthropological investigations have been carried out with respect to the three areas of interest on the traditional religion in North Okinawa through analyses of social structure, rituals and cosmology.
First, shinugu and other rituals, washing of human bones practiced as part of ancestral cults in such hamlets as Yasuda, Oku in north Okinawa Mainland, and Izena hamlet in the Island of Izena were investigated in connection with differential social structures in those hamlets. Apart from differences, similarities have been discovered between shinugu rituals in Okinawa and hunting rituals performed by Okinawan aborigines. This will stimulate further comparative studies.
Second, various rituals including unjami (rituals centering around the sea goddess), rituals of abundance, tug-of-wra festivals, etc, have been investigated in Naho hamlet in Iheya Island, Bise hamlet in Motobu-cho, Hiji and other hamlets in Kunigami Village. As a result of these studies the notions of Nirai Kanai, visiting gods, ancestral spirits, mountain and sea deities, and of cardinal directions have been disclosed. Also, a variety of ritual symbols such as susuki (pampas leaves)and a dead rat placed in a papaya fruit were studied. The former is used for exorcising evils and the latter is a symbol of a wild boar sacrificing to the sea goddess to secure good catches of fish.
Third, women shamans called yuta were intensively interviewed and investigated. It was discovered that yuta had been playing an important role in clarifying her clients' ambiguities related to their ancestral cults caused by the last war. Also, yuta repeatedly criticised the traditional rituals performed by priestesses in their hamlets, and reinterpreted and theorized Okinawan cosmology.
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Research Products
(3 results)
