I had the honor of reviewing Imai Nobuharu’s 今井信治 book titled “Otaku bunka to shūkyō no rinkai: Jōhō, shōhi, basho o meguru shūkyō shakaigakuteki kenkyū” 『オタク文化と宗教の臨界—情報・消費・場所をめぐる宗教社会学的研究』(“The Threshold between Otaku Culture and Religion: Information, Consumption, and Place,” 2018. Kyoto: Kōyōshobō) for the Journal of Religion in Japan.
Review: Journal of Religion in Japan 8 (2019), 179-224. Journal link
I presented at the 61th Annual Meeting of the Association for Indology and the Study of Religion on June 9, 2019 at Tenri University. The translated title of my presentation is as follows: “The People Searching for Happiness: A Case Study of the ‘Natsume Yujincho’ Anime Pilgrimage.
私は2019年6月9日に第61回印度学宗教学会学術大会（於 天理大学）にて「幸せを求める人たちー『夏目友人帳』の聖地巡礼を事例にー」というタイトルで発表しました。
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The highly successful anime “Your Name” (Highest worldwide grossing anime film) has given birth to a new anime pilgrimage. Fans astutely discerned the real-world places that were drawn into this anime production. They then quickly embarked on a journey to some of the sites. Thus inaugurating what fans term as a seichi “holy/sacred site”. One such place that gained the attention of fans is Suga Shrine (須賀神社) in Tokyo’s Shinjuku ward.
An article (in Japanese) titled “Examining the Modern Pilgrimage: Anime and Games Give Birth to Sacred Places” has been earlier published in the Folklore Society of Japan’s journal “Nihon Minzokugaku (Japanese Folklore)” Vol. 51.
「現代巡礼考―アニメ・ゲームから生まれた聖地―」 という論文を日本民俗学会の『日本民俗学』 第 283号に載せることが出来ました。ここで、改めて紹介します。
Anime Cars, known as itasha 痛車 (compound of the word itai 痛い meaning “pain” coupled with the sha 車 meaning, in this case, “auto”). Itasha are automobiles decorated with manga and anime logos, characters, and so forth. The meaning of the name itasha then is in effect expressing the idea that the cars being so unabashedly adorned actually hurt the sensibilities (of even the otaku, fan). Continue reading
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