2018 Fiscal Year Research-status Report
Perpetual Pilgrims and Religious Authority with the Contemporary Shikoku Henro
| Project/Area Number |
17K02237
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| Research Institution | Kansai Gaidai University |
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Principal Investigator |
SHULTZ John・A 関西外国語大学, 外国語学部, 准教授 (90722728)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2017-04-01 – 2020-03-31
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| Keywords | pilgrimage / Shikoku henro / perpetual pilgrims / time variability / pilgrims / religious authority / asceticism |
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| Outline of Annual Research Achievements |
FY year 2018 was a very busy time for the project with regard to several key areas. In general, it was decided that a continuing concentration on data collection would take priority over analysis. Three research trips were taken for the procurement of primary data in the form of interviews with dozens of pilgrims, priests, and henro scholars. The first was a trip with a pilgrimage guide association (先達会)on June 8th and 9th to Mt. Koya. The second was a trip to Ehime prefecture in Shikoku from Sept. 20-23, which included numerous individual and a group interview. The third was a collaborative session and research trip together with this project’s international collaborative researcher (Prof. Ian Reader) from Oct. 19th to Nov. 6th. In addition, an extensive survey of principal informants was conducted by mail. Preliminary research results were disseminated in an invited talk titled “Perpetual Pilgrims of the Shikoku Henro” given on Nov. 11th at the Anthropological Research Institute of Nanzan University. Likewise, several publications regarding this work have been submitted and approved and will be published in 2019. Overall, data collection efforts have yielded excellent information and such efforts are nearly completed. The project is roughly on track with regard to the slightly rearranged schedule.
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| Current Status of Research Progress |
Current Status of Research Progress
2: Research has progressed on the whole more than it was originally planned.
Reason
The research is progressing according to schedule with no major unexpected difficulties.
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| Strategy for Future Research Activity |
With our data collection nearly complete and extensive notes and book outline having been produced, our work is approaching its final stages for presentation as a monograph. Prof. Reader will return to Japan for a third time this fall for one final consultation session and data collection trip. After this, we will concentrate completely on disseminating our findings in writing. FY 2018 has reinforced the originality of the study and results will be shared at international pilgrimage conferences in Dublin, Ireland in July (Prof. Shultz) and in Zadar, Croatia in September (Prof. Reader).
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| Causes of Carryover |
Spending has generally been lower than anticipated, so we have increased the overall number of trips to Japan by our international collaborative researcher, Prof. Ian Reader.
Next year, we will follow fairly closely to the proposed budget. We do not anticipate any huge deviations.
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