Япония: цивилизация, культура, язык 2022

«ISSUES OF JAPANOLOGY, vol. 9» St-Petersburg State Univ 2022 519 red uncleanness’ 6 .” One informant told me that after the purification ceremony held on July 24, he does not even allow his daughters (the eldest being ten at the time of the interview) to touch him, and I did observe that he dresses himself on July 25, without the use of the experts hired especially for the occasion—three women. A central presence on the Tenjin Matsuri stage is the 神童 shindô — a “divine child” performing a role similar to that of the 稚児 chigo from Gion Matsuri, namely to serve as a vessel for the descending spirit of the deity. The shindô is always a ten to twelve-year-old boy from the local elementary school who must undergo special purification rites two weeks before the ceremonies begin, which stipulate that during this period he cannot eat food cooked by a woman. Such “practices of exclusion based on ideas of pollution” are analyzed in more detail by Yumi Murayama and Erica Baffelli 7 , and I shall not insist on the theoretical aspects here. Nevertheless, regarding the place of women within religious practices in Japan in terms of pollution and purification, I asked Mr. Taneharu Terai, 宮司 gûji (head priest) at Osaka Tenmangu, about his opinion on a specific kind of women touching the mikoshi. I was referring to Shinto priestesses, women who are as qualified as men to conduct Shinto rituals, and do so on many occasions, Tenjin Matsuri included. My question was, if they can perform purification rites, wouldn’t that place them above the usual level of purity expected of a human being, so can they touch the mikoshi? Mr. Terai’s answer was yes, he believed they could, but permission to do so was up to the men in charge. 6 Emiko Namihira. 1987. “Pollution in the Folk Belief System” in Current Anthropology , Vol. 28, No. 4, Supplement: An Anthropological Profile of Japan (Aug. - Oct., 1987), pp. S65-S74 7 “Religion and Gender in Japan” in The Routledge Companion to Gender and Japanese Culture (Routledge Companions to Gender) (p. 146). Taylor and Francis. Kindle Edition