Recent Trends in the Geography of Religion in Japan - Geography of Religion in Japan: Religious Space, Landscape, and Behavior - page 8

thunder faiths and found that the details of each faith differ and are affected by the
topographical conditions. The distribution of the Hikawa shrines in the Edo Era is
related to topography of rivers, lakes, and marshes (Unagami 1996 ). The wind festival
in Toyama Prefecture is connected with the natural environment (Tagami 2000 , 2001 ).
Nagano ( 1995 ) described mountain faiths as the traditional spiritual culture in
Japan and showed how this faith conserves nature. Kanasaka ( 2001 ) found land-
scapes of the tutelary forest (Chinju) were drawn in some paintings and maps. The
tutelary forest was thought to be an important landscape of archetype religion.
However, there are fewer geographical contributions than ethnological and histori-
cal studies. On a macro scale, Kayane ( 2002 ) tried to demonstrate religious charac-
teristics of Hinduism in the light of fudo . He thought the Asian fudo had a deep
relation to sacred waters. As a natural scientist, he used rich fi eldwork data to shed
light on the interrelation between natural environment and religious acculturation.
Taira ( 2002 ), who is a historian of religion, interpreted Okinawan religious tradi-
tion, and described the landscape and natural environment of sacred places in
Okinawa. The ojima, which is one of the sacred landforms in Okinawa, is located in
the center of a pole, which connects heaven, Earth, and the underworld. Research
into different interpretations of religious worlds will add to our consideration of
environmental problems.

1.1.5 Studies on Pilgrimage, Tourism, and Sacred Places

Although pilgrimage and tourism are not necessarily in the same category, the two
activities are closely related. Pilgrimage can be defi ned as a departure to a different/
meaningful place with an important motive, and Oda and Tanaka have published
many pieces of research since 1980. Although Oda ( 1995 ) reported his experience
of a Catholic pilgrimage in southern Germany, and Yokota ( 2007 ) described a con-
temporary pilgrimage in Santiago de Compostela, Japanese geographers tend to
overlook overseas pilgrimages.
Oda ( 2007 ) described the modern pilgrimage routes in the Omine Mountains
( Omine nyubu shugyo ), which are parts of Kumano-Kodo pilgrimage route, with
special reference to the prewar pilgrimage organized by Shogoin Temple. In a sub-
sequent paper, he described how modern transportation facilities affected mountain-
eering pilgrimage routes. Tanaka ( 2004 ) outlined the foundation of the Saikoku
pilgrimage route in the pre-modern era, and he has also developed a precious
research resource, a pilgrimage-related database.
Many religious mountain villages have been changed by tourism (Iwahana
1999 ). The numbers of restaurants and souvenir shops have increased and trans-
formed communities such as the Chusha settlement in Mt. Togakushi. Matsui ( 1996 )
examined the functional change of a religious mountain following tourism develop-
ment. The cultural landscape of Shinobu Mountain became a tourist attraction, and
was affected by more tourists. The religious behavior of shrines/temple visiting has
been greatly affected by mass tourism. I expect the analysis of religious phenome-
non from the viewpoint of tourism to become more important.