The 'Otherworld' Culture as an Academic Discipline

Recently, my left thumb has been hurting.

It is constantly wrinkled, and
occasionally, it becomes difficult to put strength into it.

The cause is probably reading too many books. lol
Because I use my left thumb to turn the pages.

I should probably exercise some restraint in my reading. lol

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I am Ryoyan from the Kyoiku Library, a former teacher.

Reincarnation into another world.

In recent years,
such themes have become popular
in manga and anime as well.

However,
when you look at the content,

the reality is that there are few works that express
the 'otherworld' inherent to Japan such as Western worlds or game worlds.

This might be because
Japanese people have forgotten

the 'otherworld' as part of Japanese culture
that they originally possessed.

That is how
essential the existence of the 'otherworld'
has been to Japanese culture.

At first glance,
the word 'otherworld'
tends to feel like urban legends or occult, but

originally, it should have been the core of Japanese culture and something
that was truly important.

I hope to compile this into an article to help us remember such an important otherworld culture.

I hope you enjoy it.

The Purpose of Rites of Passage

As a basis for claiming that the culture of the 'Otherworld' is the core of Japanese culture,
we can first cite the Japanese myth of the Kojiki.

First,
the Japanese myth of the Kojiki can be cited.

The episode where Izanami becomes
a resident of the underworld is one such example.

Every ethnic group
invariably possesses a myth that serves as its identity and origin.

The fact that the Kojiki, a myth governing the creation of Japan known as 'nation-building,' contains descriptions of the Otherworld
means that

there was a culture that valued the Otherworld
as part of Japan's identity
as well.

Such Otherworld culture
exists naturally in our daily lives.

In our lives, there are numerous rites of passage such as
ceremonial occasions.

To begin with, why do we perform rites of passage?

The essence of rites of passage is, through the form of
the previous existence being lost and being reborn as a new existence
to

incorporate the rhythm of mock death and rebirth into daily life.

In 'birth',
a baby has a maternity belt tied on the Day of the Dog in the fifth month of pregnancy.

This is a custom based on the belief that during the period leading up to that,
the child could be pulled back to the other world at any time.

'Marriage' was a ritual representing the bride
dying once as a daughter of her birth family and

being reborn as a new daughterof her husband's family
.

Funerals go without saying.

In this way,
since ancient times, the Japanese people have had a history of

the tug-of-war between the other world and this world incorporated into their occasional rituals.

Rites of passage were likely one of those rituals that periodically reminded people of the existence of the Otherworld.

Is there an 'otherworld' even in 'omusubi' (rice balls)!?

Rice shaped into a triangle and
made easy to carry omusubi.

Why is the character
unrelated to rice, 'musubi' (knot/connection) used?

This 'musubi' culture exists
in abundance all around us.

Hair tying, betrothal gifts, marriage.

What are these things 'tying' together?

The sound 'hi' in 'musubi'
originally represents 'spirit' (rei).

That is precisely why the
traditionally revered 'fire' (hi) also
came to be assigned the sound 'hi'.

By combining that 'hi' with
the sound 'musu', which means 'to give birth'
,

'musubi' becomes 'birth-spirit' or 'living-spirit', and it is said to indicate
manifesting a spirit into a real form or shape as
a reality.

Shimenawa ropes indicate a barrier connecting the afterlife and this world.
'Musubi' decorates festival portable shrines and floats.

The 'musubi no ichiban' (final bout) in sumo is also a culture that represents such a symbol of power.

'A man born through 'musubi' = hiko' becomes
'musuko' (son), and
'woman = hime' becomes 'musume' (daughter).

Also, omusubi is said to stem from the harshness of travel in the old days.

Because it was difficult, they would tie their straw sandals,


bring rice balls representing 'musubi', and set off on their journey with that borrowed strength
.

Japanese culture is replete with culture that shows a philosophy of naturally borrowing power from the otherworld
that is scattered throughout.

Festivals that open the door to the otherworld

What clearly represents Japanese otherworld culture is
the festival.

Festivals are a culture of 'Hare and Ke' (sacred and profane), serving the role of
gaining vitality from the extraordinary to remove the 'kegare' (impurity) of daily life.

In that 'extraordinary,'
along with the gods we usually worship

it is clear when watching festivals that
the doors to the otherworld are opened.

As proof, there are various
festivals that evoke grotesque beings throughout Japan.

The Tokuyama Bon Dance, 'Shikan-mai' (Deer Dance).

'Shika' is read as 'shishi,'
meaning a four-legged beast.

Reminiscent of the Great Forest Spirit from Princess Mononoke, it leaves an impression that combines awe and fantasy.

The following photos are from
a sacred site of Shugendo in Nara Prefecture,

the
Renge-e Frog-jumping Ceremony, where a frog is enshrined on a portable shrine.

The
Kanko Dance in Mie Prefecture, where grotesque dancers perform.

The
Kebesu Festival, held in a remote, isolated region of Oita.

The
Paantu of Miyakojima, who transform into gods by covering themselves in mud.

Through festivals,
we can see that people felt gods and otherworld beings
were close to them.

The true meaning of 'hide-and-seek'

Even in the games we play casually,
doors to the otherworld are hidden.

One of them is 'hide-and-seek'.

Hide-and-seek is a game where
the seeker counts for a certain amount of time while others hide,

and with the signal of 'ready or not,'
the seeker catches the children who have hidden.

And,
the child caught first by the seeker becomes the new seeker.

Looking at it this way,
it is an implicit, ritualistic game.

In fact, it has long been said that
while playing this hide-and-seek,one is prone to being spirited away.

Hide-and-seek is also written as
'Kakurenbo' (hiding monk/spirit),

and there is a theory that it also suggests
a child being 'hidden' while running away from the seeker as well.

Especially at dusk.

This is because,
dusk is

called 'Oumagatoki' (the time of meeting demons)

or,

written as 'Tasogaredoki' (who is that time?)

as it is written,
the silhouette caused by dusk makes it impossible to tell who someone is
.

Therefore,
it is considered a time
when one is prone to encountering 'evil spirits' such as through culling or kidnapping.

It is said that being spirited away is most likely to happen in places
considered to be boundaries of areas,
such as bridges and tunnels.

The movie Spirited Away was like that, too.

Dusk is
a time zone that corresponds to the boundary between day and night.

Just as it is said that mountain ascetics who lived on boundaries became Tengu,
it is believed that 'evil spirits' lurk at boundaries,

Perhaps the Japanese people have thought of it
as a form of wisdom to protect themselves.

Why have the Japanese forgotten the otherworld?

Sankai (Mountain Mysteries)There is a photographer named Yasuhiro Tanaka who compiled a book called
.

He has spent many years working alongside people who make their living in the mountains,
such as the Matagi,
and has listened to many of their stories.

He then realized that every region

has mysterious stories and experiences related to the mountains,anddecided to compile these stories from all over the country into a book.

Sudden, strange sounds. Eerie lights.

People who live with the mountains
have passed such things down to later generations by saying,

'I was tricked by a fox' or 'I was bewitched by a raccoon dog.'

The reason they bring up foxes and raccoon dogs is that
leaving the unknown as it is only increases the fear,
so

replacing it with a familiar existenceis apparently
a piece of human wisdom.

In this way,
for those to whom the 'mountain' was a familiar presence,

sensing the otherworld and strange beingswas
a daily occurrence.

Living in nature also means
accepting things.

The 'life' of humans, who are part of nature
following the throes of the Earth,

sometimes requires following the laws of nature, so
one could not think of 'life' as something perfect.

In other words,'death' is always nearby.

'The Otherworld in the Mountains'As the term suggests,
an unknown, mysterious existence formed by forces other than one's own
,

Perceiving it as an 'Otherworld',
worshipping nature with solemnity,
people have lived their lives.

It is precisely because they lived in harmony with the breath of nature
that is the mountain,

that festivals and annual events were nurtured
in accordance with the rhythms of nature.

However, what about the modern age?

Having moved away from nature,
the concrete buildings erected in cities

seem,
as if by human power alone
we are controlling the world,to have a sense of
arrogance, do they not?

Because we have moved away from the 'mountain',
we have forgotten how to live with
the unknown and the uncontrollable.

The rhythms of nature that cycle with the four seasons,
and the festivals and folk culture associated with them,
in other words, the culture of the Otherworld, may have been lost.

Japan's precious 'Otherworld culture'
might be something that reminds us
of something important as Japanese people.

Summary

In the modern age, science has developed,
and even when there are inexplicable phenomena,

we have come to place value
on proving them scientifically.

That is precisely why,
we have stopped letting gods intervene in various things,

and perhaps we have lost the Otherworld,
the realm where gods dwell.

While valuing being scientific,
I would also like to cherish
the part of our soul that is Japanese.

Japanese culture is truly fascinating!

▼ References

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