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Books > Humanities > Religion & beliefs > Non-Christian religions > Religions of Indic & Oriental origin > Buddhism
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The Fox and the Jewel - Shared and Private Meanings in Contemporary Japanese Inari Worship (Paperback)
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The Fox and the Jewel - Shared and Private Meanings in Contemporary Japanese Inari Worship (Paperback)
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The deity Inari has been worshipped in Japan since at least the
early eighth century and today is a revered presence in such varied
venues as Shinto shrines, Buddhist temples, factories, theaters,
private households, restaurants, beauty shops, and rice fields.
Although at first glance and to its many devotees Inari worship may
seem to be a unified phenomenon, it is in fact exceedingly
multiple, noncodified, and noncentralized. No single regulating
institution, dogma, scripture, or myth centers the practice. In
this exceptionally insightful study, the author explores the
worship of Inari in the context of homogeneity and diversity in
Japan. The shape-shifting fox and the wish-fulfilling jewel, the
main symbols of Inari, serve as interpretive metaphors to describe
the simultaneously shared yet infinitely diverse meanings that
cluster around the deity. That such diversity exists without the
apparent knowledge of Inari worshippers is explained by the use of
several communicative strategies that minimize the exchange of
substantive information. Shared generalized meanings (tatemae) are
articulated while private meanings and complexities (honne) are
left unspoken. The appearance of unity is reinforced by a set of
symbols representing fertility, change, and growth in ways that can
be interpreted and understood by many individuals of various ages
and occupations. The Fox and the Jewel describes the rich
complexity of Inari worship in contemporary Japan. It explores
questions of institutional and popular power in religion,
demonstrates the ways people make religious figures personally
meaningful, and documents the kinds of communicative styles that
preserve the appearance of homogeneity in the face of astonishing
factionalism.
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