A Social History of the Ise Shrines - (Bloomsbury Shinto Studies) by Mark Teeuwen & John Breen (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

The Ise shrine complex is among Japan's most enduring national symbols, and A Social History of the Ise Shrines: Divine Capital is the first book to trace the history of the shrines from their beginnings in the seventh century until the present day. Ise enshrines the Sun Goddess Amaterasu, the imperial ancestress and the most prominent among kami deities, and has played a vital role in Japan's social, political and religious history. The most popular pilgrims' attraction in the land from the sixteenth century onwards, in 2013 the Ise complex once again captured the nation's attention as it underwent its periodic rebuilding, performed once every twenty years.

Mark Teeuwen and John Breen demonstrate that the Ise Shrines underwent drastic re-inventions as a result of on-going contestation between different groups of people in different historical periods. They focus on the agents responsible for these re-inventions, the nature of the economic, political and ideological measures they took, and the specific techniques they deployed to ensure that Ise survived one crisis after another in the course of its long history.

This book questions major assumptions about Ise, notably the idea that Ise has always been defined by its imperial connections, and that it has always been a site of Shinto. Written by leading authorities in the field of Shinto studies, this is the essential history of Japan's most significant sacred site.

Review Quotes

In this engaging social history of the Ise Shrines, Mark Teeuwen and John Breen challenge cherished notions holding that Ise is the primal locus of Shinto, unifying and providing the standard for all other Shinto shrines since ancient times. By contrast, the authors show that Ise only acquired an unambiguously Shinto identity quite late in its history. They also show that the relations between Ise and the imperial house have changed greatly over time, and that the shrines' present-day austere appearance was achieved only by removing much of the carnival atmosphere that had made it so popular in the Edo period. In these and many other ways, this study corrects a host of mistaken ideas about the Ise Shrines. But though Teeuwen and Breen write against the grain of the cultural essentialism and religious nationalism that has colored so many previous writings on Ise, their work is not a polemic. Instead, their book is a balanced and authoritative study of a central subject in the history of Japanese religions that will be warmly welcomed and widely appreciated.

This book takes us on a journey into the multilayered history of the Ise Shrines. As John Breen and Mark Teeuwen brilliantly demonstrate, this is not an everlasting history, but one of continuous reshaping, spatial reconfigurations, shifting power struggles, and economic influences, which acquire meaning in relation to their social contexts. The book is very well documented and sharp and is a must read study for scholars and students interested in Shinto, religion, and Japan.

About the Author

Mark Teeuwen is Professor of Japanese Studies at the University of Oslo, Norway. He has published widely on the history of Japanese religions, with a special focus on Shinto. His books include Watarai Shinto: An Intellectual History of the Outer Shrine in Ise (1996) and A New History of Shinto (2010), co-authored by John Breen.

John Breen is Professor at the International Research Center for Japanese Studies, Japan. He has published widely on the imperial institution and religion and state in modern Japan. His books include A New History of Shinto (2010), co-authored with Mark Teeuwen, Girei to kenryoku: Tenno no Meiji ishin (2011) and Shinto monogatari: Ise no kingendaishi (2015).