The Varieties of “<i>Segaki</i>” in Modern Japan: Focusing on the Meiji Period

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  • TAKEI Kengo
    駒澤大学大学院人文科学研究科博士後期課程

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Other Title
  • 近代日本における「施餓鬼」の諸相―明治期を中心に―
  • キンダイ ニホン ニ オケル 「 セガキ 」 ノ ショソウ : メイジキ オ チュウシン ニ

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Abstract

<p>Segaki is a Buddhist service carried out for the benefit of suffering ghosts. In Japan, it has been held from the middle ages to the present day. This paper describes segaki in modern Japan by analyzing newspapers and Buddhist magazines, and reexamines the meanings of Buddhist rituals in the modern period. In particular, this study focuses on various types of segaki, presented chronologically, and introduces their diverse development: (1) “Newspaper segaki” were related to anti-government movements promoting freedom of speech; (2) Segaki were adopted by Fukudenkai, a Buddhist social organization for orphans, and spread to a public Tokyo facility, Youikuin; (3) Segaki were held after two natural disasters—the Noubi earthquake and Sanriku Tsunami—as the media spread disaster information and broadcast segaki throughout Japan; (4) Segaki in the war: during the First Sino–Japanese War, Buddhist monks combined segaki with their war-related speeches, while during the Russo–Japanese War, friends and foe equally were mourned through segaki; and (5) Segaki were related to railways and animals, demonstrating how segaki’s locations and subjects broadened. Thus, this paper shows how the segaki service—which maintained its rich potential from the medieval to the early modern period—was employed diversely in the modern period, even while in decline.</p>

Journal

  • Religion and Society

    Religion and Society 24 (0), 17-31, 2018-06-09

    The Japanese Association for the Study of Religion and Society

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