Takashi Miura - Agents of World Renewal: The Rise of Yonaoshi Gods in Japan

2019 University of Hawaii Press
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Miura, Takashi, author.

Title: Agents of world renewal: the rise of yonaoshi gods in Japan / Takashi Miura.

Description: Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, [2019] | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2019019302 | ISBN 9780824880378 (cloth; alk. paper), Amazon Kindle 9780824880446, EPUB 9780824880439, PDF 9780824880422

Subjects: LCSH: Gods, Japanese. | JapanReligious life and customs.

Classification: LCC BL2211.G6 M58 2019 | DDC 299.5/61211dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019019302

Cover art: Yo wa Ansei tami no nigwai (National Diet Library)

University of Hawaii Press books are printed on acid-free paper and meet the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Council on Library Resources.

i was able to write this book due to the many acts of kindness and generosity offered to me by teachers, colleagues, and friends. First and foremost, I would like to thank Jacqueline Stone, my advisor at Princeton University. She patiently listened to many of my inchoate ideas and encouraged me to think bigger. Her insightful guidance and steadfast support carried me through my doctoral studies. I will always strive to emulate her example in my own teaching career.

My gratitude also goes to Buzzy Teiser and Federico Marcon, both of whom served on my committee and offered numerous helpful suggestions on the project. I also benefited from working with other scholars at Princeton, particularly Jonathan Gold, Leora Batnitzky, Sheldon Garon, Steven Chung, and Keiko Ono. I would also like to thank my graduate advisors at the University of Hawaii at Mnoa, especially Helen Baroni, Michel Mohr, and Christine Yano.

I have been blessed with supportive colleagues and friends. Special thanks to Jolyon Thomas and April Hughes for helping me to settle in and navigate Princeton. I also learned immensely from my conversations with Bryan Lowe, Doug Gildow, Wei Wu, Kwi Jeong Lee, Tim Benedict, Jessica Zu, and Kyle Bond. Other friends from Princetontoo many to thank individuallyhelped me to expand my horizons and have given me many fond memories.

I have been a beneficiary of kind suggestions and guidance from Mark Rowe, Asuka Sango, and Levi McLaughlin. I am also grateful for thoughtful input from Janine Sawada and Barbara Ambros on early drafts of individual chapters. Furthermore, I am indebted to Ono Sho for hosting me at the University of Tokyos Historiographical Institute as a visiting researcher in 2013 and 2017 and Orion Klautau for providing me with opportunities to present my work to scholars in Japan.

Thanks are due to Stephanie Chun and Emma Ching at the University of Hawaii Press for guiding me through the publication process. I also viii thank the two anonymous reviewers for promptly reading my manuscript and offering suggestions for improvement. My research would not have been possible without the support of librarians and staff at various institutions, mainly Princeton University, the University of Arizona, the Historiographical Institute, and the National Diet Library. The International Research Center for Japanese Studies and Egawa Bunko kindly granted permissions to use their images to enhance this book. I would also like to acknowledge the Mrs. Giles Whiting Foundation for providing financial support for my research.

My colleagues in the Department of East Asian Studies at the University of Arizona provided me with a supportive and collegial environment in which to work on this book. My thinking on the subject of yonaoshi deepened as a result of numerous conversations with faculty in and outside of East Asian Studies and with my students, both graduate and undergraduate. The writing of this book was stimulated by Tucsons vibrant academic and local communities and blessed with lots of sunshine.

Finally, I would like to thank my family. My parents, Keizo and Miwa, supported my decision to pursue an academic career and encouraged me throughout the process of writing this book. My brothers, Naohito and Tomoyuki, are my closest friends and constant sources of inspiration. Thank you all for always being there for me and for believing in me.