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...

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Auteur principal: Hamaya, Mariko (Auteur)
Type de support: Électronique Article
Langue:Anglais
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Publié: Brill 2021
Dans: Journal of Religion in Japan
Année: 2021, Volume: 10, Numéro: 1, Pages: 64-87
Sujets / Chaînes de mots-clés standardisés:B Shikoku / Pèlerinage / Aumônes / Pèlerin / Mendiant / Identité religieuse
RelBib Classification:AD Sociologie des religions
AG Vie religieuse
BL Bouddhisme
BN Shintoïsme
KBM Asie
Sujets non-standardisés:B Everyday Practice
B begging
B Shikoku pilgrimage
B the classificatory gaze
B self-cultivation
Accès en ligne: Volltext (Resolving-System)
Volltext (Verlag)
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Résumé: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
Contient:Enthalten in: Journal of Religion in Japan
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1163/22118349-20200002