The Fox and the Jewel - by Karen A Smyers (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

This book describes the rich complexity of Inari worship in contemporary Japan. It explores questions of institutional and popular power in religion, demonstrates the ways people make religious figures personally meaningful, and documents the kinds of communicative styles that preserve the appearance of homogeneity in the face of astonishing factionalism.

Review Quotes

The Fox and the Jewel is not only a study of Japanese religion but of Japanese society in general, doing away with the simple prejudice that the Japanese are less individualistic and more group oriented than other people. This book also shows how interdisciplinary work by anthropologists can give a more complete picture of a society than the more highly specialized studies of some Japanologists limiting their view, for example, to literature, sociology, or a single religious tradition of Japan.-- "Asian Folklore"

Präsentiert faszinierendes ethnographisches Material und bietet Einblick in die Abläufe an bedeutenden Kultstätten Japans.-- "NOAG"

Richement documentée-- "Archives de Sciences Sociales des Religions"

A highly focused anthropological study that has all the academic virtues ... combined with the best qualities of good journalism ... that bring a subject to life.-- "Japan Times"

A sustained reflection, supported by keen and sympathetic observation ... rich in hints about the way Japan really works. It is well worth reading.-- "Japanese Studies"

A well written and detailed report on a religious phenomenon that can be found throughout Japan, and even in Japanese diasporas.-- "Journal of Japanese Studies"

An excellent overview of not only Inari worship, but of how one element of religion functions in Japanese society. And the author also has a very readable style.-- "H-Net Reviews"

Not only closes the gap [in critical scholarship on Shinto] but offers a new model of scholarship by encouraging the rest of us to examine the textual with the experiential, the institutional with the personal. The book is also accessible for the general public.-- "Journal of Asian Studies"

Smyers presents a very individualized form of Japanese religion ... challeng[ing] the perception of cultural uniformity.-- "Japanese Journal of Religious Studies"