The Global Asia Research Center holds a special online workshop by Jordan Sand, Professor of Japanese History at Georgetown University.

Title: State Ritual (Matsurigoto) and Popular Carnival (Matsuri-sawagi): The Changing Role of the Masses in the Shikinen Sengū Rites at Ise

国家の＜まつりごと＞と民衆の＜祭り騒ぎ＞ー 伊勢神宮式年遷宮における観衆参加の歴史的変遷

Lecturer: Jordan Sand (Professor of Japanese History, Georgetown University)

Date & time: July 27(Wed) 2022, 13:00-15:00(Japan Time)

Place: 14-401(Waseda Campus) & ZOOM

Language: English

Eligible participant: students, faculty members and public.

Contact: globalasia-office [at] list.waseda.jp

Abstract

Every twenty years, the shrines at Ise are rebuilt and their sacred objects transferred from the old to the new shrine site, in the most elaborate and expensive of all Shinto rituals, called Shikinen Sengū (式年遷宮). Today, this a solemn affair, attended only by a privileged elite. In the past, however, far greater numbers of people participated, making it a very different kind of event. Focusing particularly on transformations during the Meiji Period, this seminar will explore how the role of the masses has changed in the history of Shikinen Sengū and what the changes tell us about the relationship between the masses and emperor-Shinto in the Tokugawa period and in modern Japan.

二〇年ごとの式年遷宮は限られた観客の前で粛々と厳かな空気の中で行われる儀式のイメージがある。しかし、明治以前は現在を遥かに超える人数の参加で異なる様子だった。本セミナーでは、近世から近代を通じて、式年遷宮参加の歴史的変化をたどり、そこに見える民衆と天皇制国家の関係を考察する。