Animism in Contemporary Japan: Voices for the Anthropocene from post-Fukushima Japan (Routledge Contemporary Japan Series)

'Postmodern animism' first emerged in grassroots Japan in the aftermath of mercury poisoning in Minamata and the nuclear meltdown in Fukushima. Fusing critiques of modernity with intangible cultural heritages, it represents a philosophy of the life-world, where nature is a manifestation of a dynamic life force where all life is interconnected. This new animism, it is argued, could inspire a fundamental rethink of the human-nature relationship. The book explores this notion of animism through the lens of four prominent figures in Japan: animation film director Miyazaki Hayao, sociologist Tsurumi Kazuko, writer Ishimure Michiko, and Minamata fisherman-philosopher Ogata Masato. Taking a biographical approach, it illustrates how these individuals moved towards the conclusion that animism can help humanity survive modernity. It contributes to the Anthropocene discourse from a transcultural and transdisciplinary perspective, thus addressing themes of nature and spirituality, whilst also engaging with arguments from mainstream social sciences. Presenting a new perspective for a post-anthropocentric paradigm, Animism in Contemporary Japan will be useful to students and scholars of sociology, anthropology, philosophy and Japanese Studies. 'Postmodern animism' first emerged in grassroots Japan in the aftermath of mercury poisoning in Minamata and the nuclear meltdown in Fukushima. Fusing critiques of modernity with intangible cultural heritages, it represents a philosophy of the life-world, where nature is a manifestation of a dynamic life force where all life is interconnected. This new animism, it is argued, could inspire a fundamental rethink of the human-nature relationship.The book explores this notion of animism through the lens of four prominent figures in Japan: animation film director Miyazaki Hayao, sociologist Tsurumi Kazuko, writer Ishimure Michiko, and Minamata fisherman-philosopher Ogata Masato. Taking a biographical approach, it illustrates how these individuals moved towards the conclusion that animism can help humanity survive modernity. It contributes to the Anthropocene discourse from a transcultural and transdisciplinary perspective,thusaddressing themes of nature and spirituality, whilst also engaging with arguments from mainstream social sciences.Presenting a new perspective for a post-anthropocentric paradigm, __Animism in Contemporary Japan__ will be useful to students and scholars of sociology, anthropology, philosophy and Japanese Studies. Series page 3 Title page 4 Copyright 5 Dedication 6 Contents 8 List of illustrations 9 Acknowledgements 10 Notes on style 13 Introduction: A theoretical map: reflections from post-Fukushima Japan 14 Part I: Animism as a grassroots response to a socio-ecological disaster 54 1 Life-world: a critique of modernity by Minamata fisherman Ogata Masato 56 2 Stories of soul: animistic cosmology by Ishimure Michiko 92 Part II: Inspiring modernity with animism 122 3 Animism for the sociological imagination: the theory of endogenous development by Tsurumi Kazuko 124 4 Animating the life-world: animism by film director Miyazaki Hayao 172 Conclusion: Postmodern animism for a new modernity 218 Epilogue: The re-enchanted world of post-Fukushima Japan 244 Index 251 The book explores animism through the lens of four prominent figures in Japan: film director Miyazaki Hayao, sociologist Tsurumi Kazuko, writer Ishimure Michiko, and Minamata fisherman-philosopher Ogata Masato. Taking a biographical approach, it illustrates how they came to the conclusion that animism can help humanity survive modernity.