Localizing Paradise: Kumano Pilgrimage and the Religious Landscape of Premodern Japan

335 Pages·2006·27.295 MB·English

by  D. Max Moerman

localizing paradise
Kumano Pilgrimage and the Religious
Landscape of Premodern Japan
p
Harvard East Asian Monographs 235

localizing paradise
Kumano Pilgrimage and the Religious
Landscape of Premodern Japan
p
D. Max Moerman

Published by the Harvard University Asia Center
Distributed by Harvard University Press
Cambridge (Massachusetts) and London 2005
© 2005 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College

Printed in the United States of America

The Harvard University Asia Center publishes a monograph series and, in coordination
with the Fairbank Center for East Asian Research, the Korea Institute, the Reischauer Insti-
tute of Japanese Studies, and other faculties and institutes, administers research projects de-
signed to further scholarly understanding of China, Japan, Vietnam, Korea, and other Asian
countries. The Center also sponsors projects addressing multidisciplinary and regional issues
in Asia.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Moerman, D. Max (David Max)
Localizing paradise : Kumano pilgrimage and the religious landscape of premodern Japan
/ D. Max Moerman.
p. cm. -- (Harvard East Asian monographs ; 235)
Includes bibliographic references and index.
isbn 0-674-01395-6 (cloth : alk. paper)
1. Kumano Region (Japan)--Religion 2. Kumano Hayatama Jinja (Shingū-shi, Japan). 3.
Kumano Nachi Jinja (Nachikatsuura-chō, Japan). 4. Kumano Hongūsha (Natori-shi, Japan)..
I. Title: Kumano pilgrimage and the religious landscape of premodern Japan. II. Series.
bl2215.k84m64 2005
299.5'6135'0952184--dc22
2005004387

Index by Anne Holmes of EdIndex

Printed on acid-free paper

Last figure below indicates year of this printing
14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05
For Carin and Thea

Acknowledgments
p
All pilgrims rely on guides and I would have lost my way countless
times, indeed would not have even been able to begin this journey,
without the guidance of many. More individuals have inspired, in-
structed, encouraged, and supported me along this path than can be
acknowledged here. I would, however, like to express my deep
gratitude to those without whom this book would not have been
possible. At Stanford I was fortunate to have had such exemplary
teachers as Carl Bielefeldt, Bernard Faure, Jeffrey Mass, Susan
Matisoff, Melinda Takeuchi, and Jan Nattier. My debt to each of
them is immense. I began my studies as an undergraduate at Co-
lumbia and Barnard, and even though I occupy a different place in
those same halls today, my tutelage continues. I am pleased to be
able to count a few of my past professors among my present men-
tors and to have found a rich intellectual community of new col-
leagues as well. I have benefited greatly from the critical advice of
Ryūichi Abé, Paul Anderer, Irene Bloom, Jack Hawley, Bob
Hymes, Rachel McDermott, Haruo Shirane, and Henry Smith. I
must also extend my gratitude to Allan Grapard, Edward Kamens,
Ian Reader, Fabio Rambelli, Jacqueline Stone, Paul Swanson, and
especially Mimi Yiengpruksawan. Their scholarship has illumined
my path and their comments and suggestions guided me through-
viii (cid:120) Acknowledgments
out the journey. What value the reader might find in these pages is
due to the influence of these many teachers; its many shortcomings
are mine alone.
In Japan I am particularly indebted to Imai Masaharu of Tsu-
kuba University, Sueki Fumihiko of Tokyo University, Matsuo
Kenji of Yamagata University, and Ogawa Nobuhiko of Nara
Joshi University. Minoru and Motoko Okuda first took me under
their wing and into their home twenty years ago and have been a
constant source of kindness and generosity ever since. Risaku Su-
zuki, ujiko and fellow Kumano pilgrim, and Takako Matsuda led
me through the mountains and allowed for visions and experiences
of Kumano I would never otherwise have known.
The initial research of this work was made possible by the gen-
erous support of the Center for East Asian Studies and the Institute
for International Studies at Stanford University, the Social Science
Research Council, the American Council of Learned Societies, and
the Mabelle McLeod Lewis Memorial Fund. I am grateful as well
for the assistance and expertise of the librarians and staff at Co-
lumbia’s Starr East Asian Library, at Bukkyō University Library
in Kyoto, at Kokugakuin University Library in Tokyo, at the
Shingū Municipal Library, and at the Kyoto National Museum.
My greatest thanks, however, is reserved for my parents,
Marianne and Michael Moerman.
D.M.M.
Contents
p
Illustrations xi
Chronology xv

1 Situating Kumano 1
The Place and Path of Kumano Pilgrimage 5/ Institutional and
Economic Structures 18/ Picturing Kumano 24/ Structure and
Agenda 36

2 Emplacements 42
The Land of Origins 43/ Sites of Asceticism 47/ Translocated
Genealogies 57/ Multiple Paradises 62/ Esoteric Cartographies
75/ Institutional Portraits 84

3 Mortuary Practices 92
Suicide and Salvation 93/ Funereal Pilgrimage 117/ Return Pas-
sage 128/ Memorial Rites 134

4 The Theater of State 139
The Political Landscape 150/ Imperial Progress and Institutional
Growth 160/ Religious Politics and Buddhist Kingship 171/
Paradises Future and Past 177
x (cid:120) Contents

5 A Woman’s Place 181
Gender and the Ambiguities of Enlightenment 186/ Female
Trouble 194/ Exclusion and Transgression 199/ Buddhist
Matriarchies 208/ A Second Genesis 216/ A Hell of One’s
Own 221

Conclusion: An Ambivalent Utopia 233

Reference Matter
Works Cited 245
Character List 269
Index 279