Vision or Creation? Kojima Usui and the Literary Landscape of the Japanese Alps

This article underscores the importance of folk religious concepts in understanding the way in which people interact with the environment that envelops and sustains them. Images of rural Japan have drawn almost exclusively on the tradition of irrigated rice cultivation combined with ancestor worship. Alternative concepts have been overlooked or ignored, fostering the sense of a uniform heritage. The author highlights one such alternative, which derives from the tradition of hunting, gathering, and slash‐and‐burn cultivation within a spirit‐imbued landscape. The contrast between perspectives is illustrated by a historical encounter between a British mountaineer and the residents of two communities located at different elevations within the same watershed. Résumé L'auteur souligne l'importance des concepts religieux populaires dans la compréhension des interactions entre les gens et l'environnement qui les entoure et assure leur subsistance. Les images du Japon rural ont tourné presque exclusivement autour de la tradition de la culture irriguée du riz et du culte des ancêtres. Les concepts alternatifs ont été méconnus ou ignorés, favorisant ainsi la perception d'un patrimoine culturel uniforme. L'auteur met en évidence une de ces alternatives, issue de la tradition de la chasse, de la cueillette et de la culture sur brûlis, dans un paysage habité par les esprits. Le contraste entre les points de vue est illustré par une rencontre historique entre un alpiniste britannique et les habitants de deux villages situés à des altitudes différentes dans un même bassin versant.

show abstract

Vision or Creation? Kojima Usui and the Literary Landscape of the Japanese Alps

Cited by 4 publications

References 4 publications

Troubling the Silences of Adventure Legacies: Junko Tabei and the Intersectional Politics of Mountaineering

Troubling the Silences of Adventure Legacies: Junko Tabei and the Intersectional Politics of Mountaineering

Japan’s Mountain Tourism at a Crossroads: Insights from the North Japan Alps

Are mountain gods vindictive? Competing images of the Japanese alpine landscape

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About