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Books > Humanities > Religion & beliefs > Non-Christian religions > Religions of Indic & Oriental origin > Oriental religions
The Ise shrine complex is among Japan's most enduring national
symbols, and A Social History of the Ise Shrines: Divine Capital is
the first book to trace the history of the shrines from their
beginnings in the seventh century until the present day. Ise
enshrines the Sun Goddess Amaterasu, the imperial ancestress and
the most prominent among kami deities, and has played a vital role
in Japan's social, political and religious history. The most
popular pilgrims' attraction in the land from the sixteenth century
onwards, in 2013 the Ise complex once again captured the nation's
attention as it underwent its periodic rebuilding, performed once
every twenty years. Mark Teeuwen and John Breen demonstrate that
the Ise Shrines underwent drastic re-inventions as a result of
on-going contestation between different groups of people in
different historical periods. They focus on the agents responsible
for these re-inventions, the nature of the economic, political and
ideological measures they took, and the specific techniques they
deployed to ensure that Ise survived one crisis after another in
the course of its long history. This book questions major
assumptions about Ise, notably the idea that Ise has always been
defined by its imperial connections, and that it has always been a
site of Shinto. Written by leading authorities in the field of
Shinto studies, this is the essential history of Japan's most
significant sacred site.
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