The Spirit of Kuyō in the Current Japanese Sericulture Industry

In recent years, criticism of meat, fur, and other industries that involve the killing of animals has emerged internationally, leading to a reconsideration of the human-animal relationship. Cultural anthropology has been drawing attention to "multispecies ethnography," which captures not only the relationships between humans and animals, but also those among other species. Moreover, as an analytical framework that transcends anthropocentrism, a new trend in cultural anthropology aims to determine mutual relationships among various species, rather than just dichotomous relationships. On the other hand, since there has also been criticism of anthropocentrism itself, which was developed based on the existence of humans, cultural anthropology should investigate in detail through fieldwork how humans view other species.<br> This research focuses on sericulture, which for thousands of years has raised silkworms and their cocoons for producing raw silk, and the mourning spirits called Kuyō of sericulture farmers. In addition, it investigates the relationship between humans and silkworms, and how humans perceive them. Specifically, this paper describes in detail the sericulture process, its history, and the Kuyō beliefs among sericulture farmers in Japan. Then, it analyzes the current state of the spirit of Kuyō and the relationship between humans and silkworms based on the results of interviews with sericulture farmers. Finally, in the conclusion, the research is summarized, including prospects for future research.