How Like A God. Deification In Japanese Religion

Name: How Like A God. Deification In Japanese Religion
Brand: International House of Japan Inc.
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By Sato Hiroo , David Noble + more - less

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Description

Visits of Japanese leaders to Yasukuni Shrine to honor the spirits of the war dead enshrined there are now the cause of friction with Asian neighbors holding bitter wartime memories. But what are the origins of belief in deified humans, both living (ikigami) and dead (hitogami)? In this comprehensive survey, Satö Hiroo tells the story of the origins and transformations of the gods in Japan from prehistory to modern times. Employing a broad range of primary sources from archaeological evidence to chronicles, legends, literary works and other written records, he links evolving concepts of the gods to social and political change, including the sacred mystique built up around the emperor legitimatizing the new central state and the revival, centuries later, of veneration of the emperor for political purposes after the overthrow of the Tokugawa shogunate. He also explores the connection to shifts in the prevailing religious cosmology, such as the rise in the medieval period of Pure Land Buddhism with hitogami as avatars guiding individuals to salvation on the Other Shore. Satö also argues against claims of Japanese uniqueness, as exemplified in the thought of the influential folklorist Yanagita Kunio, pointing out the universal human quest for the divine and calling for a new appreciation of the spiritual wisdom accumulated by the human race over millennia.

Product details

Number of Pages:

263

Publication Date:

2016

Publisher:

International House of Japan Inc.

Languages:

Published: English

ISBN10:

492497143X

Weight:

544 g

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