New Books from Japan #7: "Destruction and Renewal at the Ise Shrines "

Presenter: Jordan Sand (Georgetown University)

Discussant: 高木博志 (Hiroshi Takagi, Institute for Research in Humanities, Kyoto University)

Ise Grand Shrine has often drawn praise in recent years for the elegant simplicity of its buildings, but in fact was a much more extravagant monument in earlier eras, and the austere reenshrinement ceremonies we see today are an invention of the modern period. Spanning an unprecedented timeframe from the ancient Yamato period to the present day, this wide-ranging historical study reconsiders the fundamental nature of the reenshrinement and reconstruction ceremonies of the Ise Shrine(s) in the context of Japan's shifting political and material cultures.

※Discussion will also include Hiroshi Takagi's Modern Imperial System and Traditional Culture (Iwanami Shoten, 2024).

伊勢神宮は、近年では建物の簡素さを讃えられることも多いが、その実は古代より贅を尽くした神廟であり、また、今見る厳かな遷宮のあり方は実は近代の産物でもあった。ヤマト政権から現代に至るまで、伊勢神宮の式年造替と遷宮の本質を、文化をめぐる政治的な文脈でとらえなおした、類を見ない気鋭の歴史的考察。

※当日の議論は、高木博志『近代天皇制と伝統文化：その再構築と創造』（岩波書店、2024年）を含みます。