著者

朴 炳道

出版者

東京大学文学部宗教学研究室

雑誌

東京大学宗教学年報 = Annual review of religious studies (ISSN:02896400)

巻号頁・発行日

no.33, pp.47-64, 2015

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論文/ArticlesIn this paper, I analyze the relationship between disaster and religion by studying how people understand and react when they are struck by disaster. The most widely studied cases of this relationship have been the Ansei Edo Earthquake(安政江戸地震) in 1855 and the related Namazu-e(鯰絵). Building on these prior studies with a new theoretical approach, I propose a new focus on saigai kenbunki (災害見聞記), the records of personal experiences and observations of disaster. Influenced by Kamo no Chōmei's classic text Hōjōki (『方丈記』), I examine the work Kanameishi (『かなめいし』), a record of an earthquake in Kyoto in 1662. It was written by Asai Ryōi (浅井了意, ?-1691), a Buddhist priest and well-known writer of kanazōshi (仮名草子). Analyzing Kanameishi, I focus on the two points: magic and the eschatology of disaster. First, there were four kinds of magic regarding earthquakes, reciting a spell called yonaoshi (世なおし), attaching or hanging talismans on the walls in the house, consulting oracles at temples, and engaging in Kashima-belief (鹿島信仰). Second, the earthquake in 1662 helped make eschatological images popular among the people. For example, Doro no Umi (泥の海), a muddy sea, was an imaginative illustration of the end of world. There is a possibility that this apocalyptic image might have originated from the image of soil-liquefaction, the process of transformation of soil from a solid state to a liquefied state because of the earthquake. This process is well described in Kanameishi and its illustrations. Also, images of rains of fire (火の雨) or balls of fire (火の玉) envisioned a great fire that would burn the whole world and all human beings. The words 'Yonaoshi' and 'Doro no Umi' can be observed frequently in the texts of Japanese new religions such as Fujikō(富士講), Nyoraikyo(如来教), Tenrikyo(天理教), and Oomotokyo(大本教). Considering the fact that these two phrases were first found in Kanameishi, Kanameishi can provide a new approach to the interpretation of these words with the context of disaster experience.