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Encyclopaedia of Ancient, Obscure and Esoteric East Asian Religious Practices

Ishizuchi Nyonin Kinsei

Overview

Section titled “Overview”

Canonical entry drawn from a single source layer in 14_DEEP_TABOO_SAMAYA_BOUNDARIES_v2_2.md.

Research layers

Section titled “Research layers”

Layer 1: Ishizuchi Nyonin Kinsei

Section titled “Layer 1: Ishizuchi Nyonin Kinsei”

Source file: 14_DEEP_TABOO_SAMAYA_BOUNDARIES_v2_2.md

Tradition: Shugendō / mountain-kami pilgrimage
Class: HISTORICAL GENDERED SACRED-SPACE EXCLUSION
Site: Mt. Ishizuchi, Shikoku

Kokugakuin documents:

  • pilgrimage confraternities led by sendatsu;
  • rigorous kessai purification;
  • historical exclusion of women;
  • a nyonin-gaeshi, a former boundary of female access;
  • sacred ascent through ritual sites toward the summit;
  • survival of exclusion on the first day of the summer festival in the source’s modern description.

Research fields

Section titled “Research fields”

The eventual illustrated entry should map:

  1. trailhead;
  2. former nyonin-gaeshi;
  3. Jōju;
  4. chain ascents;
  5. summit shrine;
  6. rear practice site;
  7. Tengudake.

This is exactly why “women were banned from sacred mountains” is too crude: the boundary, duration and modern survival differ by site.