Thursday 20 July, 2017
6:00pm BST
Carmen Blacker Lecture Series
Weston Room, Norwich Cathedral Hostry, Norwich NR1 4DH
Speaker
Professor Sasou Mamoru (Director, Kokugakuin University Museum)
About the Talk
Shinto shrines are places of worship for many in Japan. Considered sacred, pilgrims visit shrines to commune with the tutelary spirits. Rituals and festivals are held regularly to maintain harmony between people and nature.
This talk will focus on Ōmiwa Shrine, the oldest surviving shrine in Japan, and Munakata Grand Shrine and the associated ritual sites on the island of Okinoshima. Through images of landscapes and excavated artefacts, the formation of ritual sites during the 4th and 5th centuries and the relationship between the environment and the kami spirits nurtured through festivals will be discussed. Ritual practices played an important part in state formation and the development of Japanese mythology, themes explored further in the talk.
About the Speaker
Professor Sasō received his PhD in Religious Studies from Kokugakuin University in 2006. Since 1985, he assumed various roles for the Board of Education at Chiba Prefectural Government, including Senior Researcher for Awa Museum and Head of Cultural Education and Properties Division, Department of Educational Promotion. In 2009 he became Associate Professor at Kokugakuin University and then Professor in 2010. In 2015, he was appointed Director of Kokugakuin University Museum. His recent publications include Nihon Kodai no Saishi Kōkogaku (Archaeology of Ritual and Religion in Ancient Japan, Yoshikawakōbunkan, 2012) and Kami to Shisha no Kōkogaku (Archaeology of Kami and the Dead, ed., Yoshikawakōbunkan, 2016). He won the Society of Shinto Studies Award in 2004.
The Carmen Blacker Lecture Series is generously supported through a bequest from Carmen Blacker and executors of her estate. Co-organised by the Sainsbury Institute and the Japan Society.
The same lecture will be delivered in London on Monday 17 July at 6.45pm. To book your seat, please contact Japan Society 020 3075 199 or email events@japansociety.org.uk
Carmen Blacker Lecture Series is generously supported through a bequest from Carmen Blacker and executors of her estate. Co-organised by the Sainsbury Institute and the Japan Society.
The lecture in Norwich coincides with the Third Thursday Lecture for the month of July. The Third Thursday Lectures hosted by the Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures are on a range of topics related to the art and culture of Japan. Talks begin at 6pm (50-minute lecture followed by refreshments). Speakers are all specialists in their field and the talks are intended to be accessible to those with no prior knowledge of Japanese history.
The Third Thursday Lecture series is funded by the Gatsby Charitable Foundation, the Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation and Yakult UK.