Collaborative Research
A.Historical Study of Japanese Shrines and Shinto Beliefs
| Type of Research | Basic Research |
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| Project Title | Transhistorical Studies of Ideas of Life and Death; Japanese Deities and Shrines |
| Supervising Head of the Research Team | SHINTANI Takanori |
| Research Title | A.Historical Study of Japanese Shrines and Shinto Beliefs |
| Head of the Research Team | MIURA Masayuki |
| Research Period | 2004–2008 |
| Research Team |
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| Purpose | This research focuses first on historical studies of shrines and faith while maintaining an awareness of the syncretic nature of Shintoism and Buddhism. In this research, we not only consider shrines as religious facilities, but we also view them as organized cultural constructions having many parallel functions, such as politico–religious authorities, symbolic artistic and architectural functions, scenic resources, functioning for environmental conservation, and functioning as repositories for documents, art, and crafts. In course of this research, with the interdisciplinary cooperation of researchers from various special fields, and in the context of Japanese Cultural Theory, concrete historical research on shrines and faith will be conducted. We will focus on the question why and by whom the existence of Shinto gods and Buddha was promoted, while also looking at the formation of beliefs, rites and arts, both from a theoretical standpoint and while considering concrete historical information. |
2006
Progress
Workshop
Workshops were held 3 times: in April, August and November.
| First Workshop Schedule: April 22 (Saturday) and 23 (Sunday), 2006 Venue: The First Conference Room of the National Museum of Japanese History |
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Theme: Ancient History Workshop: Various problems regarding the establishment of shrines
Discussion: "Issues on Establishment of Shrines" |
Theme: Modern and Contemporary History Workshop, Separation of Shintoism and Buddhism, and Local Shrines in the Meiji Restoration
Discussion: "Separation of Shintoism and Buddhism and Local Shrines in the Meiji Restoration" |
| Second Workshop Schedule: August 5 (Saturday) and 6 (Sunday), 2006 Venue: The First Conference Room of the National Museum of Japanese History |
Theme:10th Century Workshop, The Changes in the 10th century
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Theme: Discussion"Changes in the 10th Century" Medieval Workshop: "Centering on the Single Shrine Policy in Every County in the Medieval Era"
Discussion: "Focusing on the Understanding of the Single Shrine Policy in Every County in the Medieval Era" |
| Third Workshop Schedule: November 23 (Thursday) and 24 (Friday), 2006 Venue: The First Conference Room of the National Museum of Japanese History |
Theme: Modern History Workshop, Epochs in Modern Shinto History
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Theme: Modern History Workshop, Issues in Modern Shinto History –Centering on Shinto Priest Organization–
Discussion: "Epochs and Issues in Modern Shinto History" |
Theme: Ancient History Workshop, Issues Centering on the Establishment of Shrines
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Publications
As a bibliography of research papers and articles, we created and edited "Research Trends 1, Bibliography 1" (published in April, 2006), and "Bibliography 2 (supplement)" (published in March, 2007).
Result
Research on shrines and faith is an important subject in Japanese Cultural Theory. Although it is by nature a very wide interdisciplinary research field, it has been individually studied in each field, such as in Japanese history, the history of Shinto, Architectural history, Art History, Archeology, Ethnology and Natural History. As a result, even regarding basic concepts such as "Shrine" and "Shinto", there are still no agreed upon common academic definitions. This has been a great obstacle toward interdisciplinary discussions on the origins of, changes in, or even the true nature of, Shinto and its current status. In this workshop, researchers from wide ranging fields such as Japanese History, the history of Shinto, Architectural History, Art History, Archeology, Ethnology and Natural History, as it relates to research on shrines and faith, have assembled and conducted interdisciplinary research presentations and discussions, which was without a doubt, a first. To summarize our biggest achievement, we have been able to compile a history of shrines and faith from the ancient to the modern period according to the latest research. In addition, regarding related issues, we reached consensus on the following subjects in the workshops and agreed to the necessity of further cooperative research: Can "Temples" and "Mortuary temples" before the Kofun period, which are presented as such by some archeologists and architectural historians, be regarded as the establishment of the main halls of shrines? Can the establishment of the official hall system in Tenmu period be regarded as the establishment of a shrine? Was the main hall of a shrine established from a temporary main hall? How much influence did the 22 shrines system or the single shrine system for each county have on political history? What were the religious policies and the organization of Shinto priests in the modern period? How real was the separation of Shintoism and Buddhism in the Meiji period? How should the meaning of votive objects be understood? Is the grove of a village shrine a wildwood? How are shrines and Shinto thought of from the perspective of foreign countries, especially Germany?
The biggest result of our first interdisciplinary workshop, combining numerous fields of research on shrines was to have reached a certain consensus on the issues which have been neglected or only individually recognized in each field, and to make a step forward in describing a complete history of shrines and faith. The research report summarizing the results describes the history of shrines and faith based on the discussions in the workshop and collects all the latest research results on the above issues by the attendees of the workshop. Also, I want to add that the history and research reports included in this report provide a foundation which deepens and expands the foundations for future research, and thus the continuation of workshops like these is necessary.
Also, in conjunction with this principal research, and serving as both a preliminary research project, and a separate cooperative research project entitled "Evidence Based Research on the Multiple Aspects of Shrines" (2001–2002), and the exhibition project "Japanese Gods and Festivals, and What Is a Shrine?" (Exhibition project committee 2003–2005) have also been held (March – May, 2006). The exhibition project is also positioned as one of the major pillars among the publications of the principal research results.2005
Progress
Workshop
Workshops were held 4 times: in June, September, December, and February. Focusing on the ancient, medieval, modern and contemporary periods, we also carried out data entry for the bibliography of papers and articles on shrine research.
| First Workshop Schedule: June 4 (Saturday) and 5 (Sunday), 2005 Venue: The First Conference Room of the National Museum of Japanese History |
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| Second Workshop Schedule: September 16 (Friday) Venue: The First Conference Room of the National Museum of Japanese History |
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| Third Workshop Schedule: December 3 (Saturday) and 4 (Sunday), 2005 Venue:The First Conference Room of the National Museum of Japanese History Junichi Ogura |
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| Fourth Workshop Schedule: February 10 (Friday) and 11 (Saturday), 2006 Venue: The First Conference Room of the National Museum of Japanese History |
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Result
The first result: In the past workshops, regarding the epoch–making periods in the history of shrines and faith, four periods of revolutionary change, the 10th century, the 14th century, the later half of the 16th century – 17th century, and the 19th century had been considered, however, this year, based on the research presentations in architectural history, medieval history, art history, medieval formal wear and etiquette, the change in the 10th century has been concretely confirmed.
The second result: Continuing the work on the compilation of a bibliography of papers and articles on shrine research since last year, focusing on the ancient, medieval, modern and contemporary periods, we edited "Research Trends 1, Bibliography 1" (to be published in April of 2006).2004
Progress
Workshop
Workshops were held 4 times: in June, September, November, and March. Focusing on the ancient, medieval, modern and contemporary periods, we also carried out data entry for the bibliography of papers and articles on shrine research.
| First Workshop Date: June 26 (Saturday) and 27 (Sunday), 2004 Venue: The First Conference Room of the National Museum of Japanese History |
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| Second Workshop Schedule: September 18 (Saturday) and 19 (Sunday), 2004 Venue: The Second Training Room of the National Museum of Japanese History |
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| Third Workshop Schedule: November 20 (Saturday) and 21 (Sunday), 2004 Venue:The First Conference Room of the National Museum of Japanese History |
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| Fourth Workshop Schedule: March 1 (Tuesday) and 2 (Wednesday), 2005 Venue: The First Conference Room and others of the National Museum of Japanese History |
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Result
Focusing on the ancient, medieval, modern and contemporary periods, we have compiled a bibliography of papers and articles concerning research on shrines, and analyzed the research trends in each field. A part of this will be published in June of 2005. And, in the research presentations in the workshop of 2004, we have reached a certain consensus regarding issues concerning the definition of shrines and the establishment period of shrines.
