Living in Pilgrimage: An Ethnographic Study of Permanent Pilgrims in Shikoku, Japan

Abstract This article aims to explore how people make pilgrimages not as a temporary journey but as a persistent way of life, using case studies I collected from fieldwork in Shikoku Island, Japan. The Shikoku pilgrimage is one of the most popular Buddhist pilgrimages, involving a 1,400-kilometre jo...

Ausführliche Beschreibung

Gespeichert in:  
Bibliographische Detailangaben
1. VerfasserIn: Hamaya, Mariko (VerfasserIn)
Medienart: Elektronisch Aufsatz
Sprache:Englisch
Verfügbarkeit prüfen: HBZ Gateway
Journals Online & Print:
Lade...
Fernleihe:Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste
Veröffentlicht: 2021
In: Journal of Religion in Japan
Jahr: 2021, Band: 10, Heft: 1, Seiten: 64-87
normierte Schlagwort(-folgen):B Shikoku / Wallfahrt / Almosen / Pilger / Bettler / Religiöse Identität
IxTheo Notationen:AD Religionssoziologie; Religionspolitik
AG Religiöses Leben; materielle Religion
BL Buddhismus
BN Schintoismus
KBM Asien
weitere Schlagwörter:B Everyday Practice
B begging
B Shikoku pilgrimage
B the classificatory gaze
B self-cultivation
Online-Zugang: Volltext (Resolving-System)
Volltext (Verlag)
Beschreibung
Zusammenfassung:Abstract This article aims to explore how people make pilgrimages not as a temporary journey but as a persistent way of life, using case studies I collected from fieldwork in Shikoku Island, Japan. The Shikoku pilgrimage is one of the most popular Buddhist pilgrimages, involving a 1,400-kilometre journey, where pilgrims visit 88 temples spread across the island. While previous studies have argued that the tradition of almsgiving helps marginal people such as the poor and those with Hansen’s disease to survive, it is not yet clear how those people, in reality, make a living on alms alone. In recent years, the pilgrimage authority and some of the local people have attempted to regulate begging and exclude “beggars” from the pilgrimage sites, differentiating them from the “true” pilgrims. This article will clarify how pilgrims, nevertheless, struggle to reconstruct their lives and then cultivate the self through their everyday practice of begging.
ISSN:2211-8349
Enthält:Enthalten in: Journal of Religion in Japan
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1163/22118349-20200002