Discourses of the reappearing: The reenactment of the "cloth-bridge consecration rite" at Mt. Tateyama

Abstract

This article discusses the modern reenactments of the Nunohashi kanjōe (the "Cloth-Bridge Consecration [Initiation] rite") in Tateyama-chō, Toyama prefecture, and the religious and political issues they raised. Originally a popular Edo-period rite for women's salvation, the Nunohashi kanjōe was obsolete for one hundred and thirty years, until it was reconstructed and performed as the main "spectacle" of the Culture Festival ibento ("event") in Tateyama in 1996. A decade later, in 2005, 2006, and 2009, its reenactments were resumed as "ceremonies of traditional healing." This paper follows the progression of these attempts at transforming a Buddhist ritual into a modern-day "cultural ibento." It looks at the gap between the politics and purposes behind the reenactments of the rites, and the reactions of the women who participated in them. It further considers general issues illuminated by these reenactments, such as the nature and status of religious experiences, and the relations of religion and state in contemporary Japan.