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...
| Published in: | Journal of Religion in Japan |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Brill
2021
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| In: |
Journal of Religion in Japan
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| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Shikoku
/ Pilgrimage
/ Alms
/ Pilgrim
/ Beggar
/ Religious identity
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| IxTheo Classification: | AD Sociology of religion; religious policy AG Religious life; material religion BL Buddhism BN Shinto KBM Asia |
| Further subjects: | B
Everyday Practice
B begging B Shikoku pilgrimage B the classificatory gaze B self-cultivation |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (Resolving-System) Volltext (Verlag) |
| Summary: | 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. |
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| ISSN: | 2211-8349 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal of Religion in Japan
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1163/22118349-20200002 |