The Last Shamans of Tōhoku: an Inventive Tradition

• Stefania Palmisano ^[1] ; Marianna Zanetta ^[1]
  1. [1] Università di Torino
• Localización: Religioni e società, ISSN 0394-9397, Vol. 34, Nº. 95, 2019 (Ejemplar dedicado a: Religioni e sviluppo in Africa: verso un futuro sostenibile), págs. 75-84
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • Itako are blind female shamans of North-East Japan whose activity has witnessed significant changes starting from the postwar period. In this paper, we aim to analyse how this practice has been (re-)invented in recent years as well as the reasons which foster these transformations. Moving on from our distinction between invented and inventive tradition, we shall demonstrate how the historically demonstrable (therefore not invented) tradition of itako has been transformed according to new interpretations and contemporary demands.