Date of Graduation
5-2024
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology
Degree Level
Undergraduate
Department
Anthropology
Advisor/Mentor
Erickson, Kirstin
Committee Member/Reader
Hammond, Kelly
Committee Member/Second Reader
D’Alisera, JoAnn
Committee Member/Third Reader
Dominguez, Freddy
Abstract
Amidst the urban landscape of Kyoto, Japan, there are thousands of hokora, small neighborhood shrines. This study uses social theories of pilgrimage and space to examine the articulation of hokora, community, and personal desire. As sites of local pilgrimage, hokora form networks of communal, but also individual, aspirations across the urban spiritual landscape of the city. This thesis argues that communities are connected to the larger social structures of Kyoto through hokora. As such, neighborhoods are reproduced and displayed through their hokora’s entanglements with the urban, social, and religious landscapes of Kyoto. Therefore, this study deploys an ethnographic approach to explore how residents of Kyoto may navigate the socially charged urban landscape they dwell in.
Keywords
Japanese Religion, Kyoto, Pilgrimage, Shinto, Japanese Buddhism, Movement
Citation
Engelmann, S. (2024). Houses Built for Gods: Articulations of Urban Hokora in Kyoto. Anthropology Undergraduate Honors Theses Retrieved from https://scholarworks.uark.edu/anthuht/12
Included in
Asian History Commons, Asian Studies Commons, Buddhist Studies Commons, Community-Based Research Commons, History of Religion Commons, History of Religions of Eastern Origins Commons, Japanese Studies Commons, Place and Environment Commons, Social and Cultural Anthropology Commons, Social History Commons