The Sacred Disguised: An Instance of the Double Use of Space by Japan’s Hidden Christians

Christianity arrived on the island of Shikoku, Japan, from the neighboring island of Kyushu in the mid-sixteenth century, an event commemorated by a signboard and gravesite where some of the early converts to the faith were buried. The sancti"ed area exhibits what might be expected of Hidden Ch...

Full description

Saved in:  
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Review of ecumenical studies, Sibiu
Main Author: Oberg, Andrew (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Check availability: HBZ Gateway
Journals Online & Print:
Drawer...
Fernleihe:Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste
Published: [publisher not identified] 2021
In: Review of ecumenical studies, Sibiu
RelBib Classification:AB Philosophy of religion; criticism of religion; atheism
BL Buddhism
BN Shinto
CC Christianity and Non-Christian religion; Inter-religious relations
CE Christian art
KBM Asia
Further subjects:B artifact / object
B Shinto / Buddhist
B Shikoku
B Japan
B Iconography
B phenomenology of religious experience
B Hidden Christianity
B Philosophy of religion
Online Access: Volltext (kostenfrei)
Description
Summary:Christianity arrived on the island of Shikoku, Japan, from the neighboring island of Kyushu in the mid-sixteenth century, an event commemorated by a signboard and gravesite where some of the early converts to the faith were buried. The sancti"ed area exhibits what might be expected of Hidden Christian spatiality: a quasi-Buddhist nature, syncretistic Shinto elements, and o#ertory tools; each of which would be quite out of place in any other "Christian" context. What may the sacrality of this ground have entailed? What signi"cance did its objects contain for those who created them and visited them? Moreover, how "ecumenical" could worship there have been if one half (the Christian) was for political reasons forcibly kept hidden while the other half (Buddhist/Shinto) was open? These are the questions we pursue, although our conclusions can perhaps do no more than indicate a direction.
ISSN:2359-8107
Contains:Enthalten in: Review of ecumenical studies, Sibiu
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.2478/ress-2021-0022