Female Shamanism in Japan

This is a paper I wrote in university many moons ago. It would be interesting to research whether there are updated sources. Enjoy! Comments and critiques welcome!

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The role of women in Japanese society has been subordinated to that of men throughout the millennia. This makes the idea of a shamaness or female shaman quite curious. The question arises: has the religious institution of female shamans occurred as an answer to women’s quest for a small measure of power and authority in a patriarchal society? In order to answer this question, the background of Japanese feminine shamanism will be examined. A description of their vocation and their entrance to it will follow, looking at both the northern and southern variations. The rite of initiation will also be examined, and its role as both a spiritual marriage and rite of passage into personhood considered. A brief overview on how shamanism is changing will follow, by looking at the new religion of Shinmeiaishinkai. In the conclusion, an answer should be fully realized that yes, women move beyond their marginal position in society when entering the shamanic profession.

 

Introduction to Shamanism in Japan

A shaman is a special human being who “may acquire a power which enables them to transcend the barrier between the two worlds,” and who “receives a supernatural gift from the spirit world.” This can be achieved through trance and meditation, and spirit possession. Their role is to act as a go-between for humans and spirits, providing information about ancestors, auspicious days, and to perform oracles and divinations. A person who will become a shaman usually experiences a kind of sickness, marking her as favoured by the gods. It is upon this point of shamanic sickness which differentiates the two types of shamanism found in Japan. The southern region, including the Ryukyu and Miyako lslands, is home to the kamkakarya, a shamaness called to her vocation through the experience of shamanic sickness. In contrast, the northeastern region of Japan is home to the ogamisama, a blind woman who through her disability becomes a medium for spirit possession, and thus a shaman, without the experience of the sickness. There is considerable debate as to whether the latter is a form of true shamanism. Scholars feel that the ogamisama lack the experience of the shamanic sickness, and do no enter a proper trance during the initiation rite, and thus are not real shamans. To investigate this point, further analysis is of both types is needed.

The Kamkakarya:

The shamans of the Ryukyu lslands are mostly women, “but regardless of their gender they are commonly called yuta, monosu, or kamkakarya.” A woman who experiences peculiar symptoms such as nervousness, epileptic seizures, dreams and visions, singing, and loss of appetite, is usually diagnosed in our society as being mentally ill. However, in Japan, this woman might well be asked to accept these symptoms as a sign that she is destined to lead a spiritual life, walking between the human and spirit worlds. After officially recognizing this as a shamanic calling, the woman would ask another shamaness to act as her “mother shaman”, and then perform two ceremonies. The first is called maugam utum bun, where she identifies specific gods or spirits as her guardians; this ceremony is open to any person wishing to do such. The second ceremony is the official rite of initiation, called the kamsausu uki; this ceremony is open only to women. This has been characterized essentially as a wedding ceremony, between the initiate and her most exalted god. She will serve as his spiritual bride from that point on.

The rite of initiation involves two stages, one of purification and then an invocation of the gods and spirits in the universe, which also becomes the wedding ceremony. The purification involves dousing salt-water over her shoulder, and abstaining from things considered to be polluting. The length of time given to these ablutions varies from three days, to a week, or more. Once this period of purification is completed, the ceremony begins.

The invocation of the gods is the first part of the ceremony for the initiation rite. The initiate and her mother shaman are dressed in white robes, and after dusk begin inviting the gods and spirits to witness the rite. After midnight, the mother shaman “begins to invoke the candidate’s own gods and spirits,” and through this chanting, enters a trance and receives the name of the intended groom for the initiate. The initiate has followed her mother shaman through the singing and chanting, entered a trance of her own, and through the experience of this trance, becomes married to her husband-god. lt has been suggested that during her trance, the initiate undergoes a type of baptism into her god; she is “united with him, and [will] start the new life that she will share with her husband god….it is a ceremony for opening the way of the god.” This forms the basis of the wedding ceremony characterization. The new kamkakarya is now ready to accept her professional status, and can assist people with spiritual issues.

The Ogamisama:

The shamans in northeastern Japan fall into two groups, “the blind women who act as mediums, and normally sighted women who do not act as mediums.” The blind shamanesses are known by a variety of names as well; itako, ogamisama, miko, and onakama. It is the blind women who are of interest here,due to their ability to overcome a disability, and also because their numbers are steadily decreasing. The ogamisama now constitute only one third of the total shamaness population in northeast Japan, and the ogamisama themselves agree with the prediction that their tradition will disappear.

Kunimitsu Kawamura identifies four stages common to the process of becoming a shaman and medium. The first involves the loss of eyesight. For some women this has occurred at birth; for others, disease struck and their sight was lost during early childhood or even adolescence. Some kind of useful chore was usually found for the girl to perform, in order to help out her family and be a dutiful daughter. However, for those girls whose sight had deteriorated completely, or were physically unable to do heavy labour, an aunt or neighbour would recommend a nearby ogamisama and suggest an apprenticeship. This marks the second stage as one of a period of training.

The apprenticeship with the mother shaman would have a varying length, according to the amount and frequency of payment agreed upon in a binding contract. Then the apprentice would take up a study of the Heart Sutra and the Kannon Sutra, various Shinto songs, and an ascetic practice. It was preferred that the apprentices complete this training and initiation before reaching puberty, but this was only a small stipulation and not always followed. Following this instruction period, the apprentice would next petition for a rite of initiation.

For the new shamaness, the rite of initiation is called the kamitsuke, and often cost a lot of money to host. This third stage includes the initiation rite, a celebration ceremony, and also a period of repayment. In preparation for the initiation, the gyooja, who is no longer in training but not yet a full shaman, must fast for a period and perform cold-water ablutions. The length of this time again varies, but it is usually between twenty-one and thirty-five days. The timing of the gyooja’s monthly menstruation would affect the length, due to its polluting nature. The cold-water ablutions had to be done in a darkened room, secluded from the rest of the society. “‘You couldn’t expose yourself to the sun, and you couldn’t meet people…Normally, you would do the cold-water ablutions only about three times [a day] if you weren’t seen by other people.” On the last day of fasting, the kamitsuke would be held. Other ogamisama were invited to attend, witness, and help carry out the ceremony. All deities would be invited as well. Then two “cousin disciples” would begin intoning the sutras while plaiting the gyooja’s hair into seven braids. This chanting would continue, for hours if needed, until the gyooja herself revealed the name of the spirit who had possessed her body during trance. In a different region, the gyooja would pass her bonden wand over slips of paper inscribed with deities’ names. Whichever slip “jumped” onto the wand during the chanting would then reveal the gyooja’s possessing spirit. In both cases, the gyooja would then receive a new rosary, and a new name, which signifies her passage into a new status as shamaness.

The next day a celebration would be held, and the new ogamisama would appear dressed as a bride: in white robes, and with her hair done in the style commonly worn by brides. This celebration serves as a wedding ceremony,”even though no visible groom is present. [lt becomes clear that the groom's role] is played by the initiate’s familiar spirit” or possessing deity. Thus the gyooja becomes both ogamisama and new bride. The next one hundred days are spent in abstinence and discipline, as the medium learns further techniques in exorcisms, faith healing, and divination. Upon completion, the new ogamisama then enters a period of free labour, as a way of repaying her mistress for instruction.

The fourth and last stage which Kawamura identifies is that of independence. The apprenticeship has been fully completed, all debts paid off, and the new ogamisama can set up her own practice. Through this last step of beginning an independent business, the ogamisama completes a rite of passage into personhood. She is transformed through religious ritual from a blind girl into an indispensable member of the local society. Kawamura further states that the sequence of events from purification to independence can be considered as dual rites of passage, in death and rebirth. Upon closer examination, this can be seen clearly. During her apprenticeship and purification, she experiences a period of separation; this could be interpreted as the death of the girl she used tobe. Due to her blindness and the seclusion restrictions during the initiation, she experiences a period of marginality. After the kamitsuke celebration and her later independence, the new ogamisama is reborn into society, and accepted as an important individual. It is in this manner “whereby a visually handicapped young woman becomes a medium within the local society and thus achieves the status of personhood.”

Between the kamkakarya of the south, and the ogamisama of the northeast, there are a number of similarities. Both must conform to the ritual restrictions surrounding purification, prior to the initiation rite. Both experience possession by a spirit or deity, to whom they are later married. Another similarity is the combination of religious influences used by both shamans; a mixture of Buddhist practices can be seen alongside Shinto and folk religious practices. One last similarity could arguably be found in the one outstanding difference, that kamkakarya experience the shamanic sickness, and the ogamisama are blind. Lt can be proposed that both experience this physical debilitation as a mark of their spiritual destiny. While the kamkakarya’s sickness is only mild and temporary in comparison to blindness, both types of shamans have been marginalized in their local society because of it. The kamkakarya is initially viewed as mentally ill, and the ogamisama as incapable of contributing to society. lt could be further argued that the institution of shamanic initiation comprises an overall process which transforms these marginal members into full-fledged and accepted members of society. It is in this way that women have been able to grasp a portion of spiritual power and authority, whether by unconscious choice or disease. By attaining the position of shaman, certainly a level or two above ordinary female, these women have continued the tradition of quiet defiance against a patriarchal society.

Shinmeiaishinkai: Changing Shamanism

In looking at the rise of new religions in Japan, something of interest to note is the increased presence of shamans in the urban areas. “One has only to read the Yellow Pages [to find ads for shamanic services such as] consolation for aborted foetuses, remedies for disappointments in love, assistance in attracting good luck, or general increase of good fortune.” However, what becomes increasingly clear is that few of these shamans have participated in any formal training in the shamanic traditions, nor experienced any sort of formal initiation and ordination. For the founder of Shinmeiaishinkai, this is true as well.

Komatsu Shinyo first received a revelation from the Kannon Bodhisattva in 1976. The bodhisattva was acting as an agent of the Sun Goddess, Amaterasu Omikami, and their message was that Komatsu “must act as their mouth piece and human messenger” to save the Japanese from an apocalypse. The fact that Komatsu had not received previous spiritual training was deemed irrelevant by the deities. Thereafter, Komatsu developed the new religion of Shinmeiaishinkai, “in which the key element is shamanic activity practiced in combination with geomancy, directed principally to people in the small business sector. Komatsu offers spiritual management seminars, and provides legitimacy for her religion with her secular experience in small business consulting, combined with divine inspiration and the application of geomancy.

What Hardacre has pointed out in her discussion of new shamans is their tendency to now report events in this world, particularly in secular affairs. Furthermore, the new shamans seem to be altering their services to conform to the wishes of their clients. Instead of concentrating on spirit possession and contact with the other world, more emphasis is placed on guidance in the material world through astrology and divination. The uncertainties of economic success play heavily upon the minds of the Japanese, and have reshaped culture to such an extent that religious institutions are struggling to adapt. As in most other areas of Japanese life, the entrepreneurial approach is moving into religion. Hardacre posits that the future may introduce more women like Komatsu, who practice “shamanism as independent religious entrepreneurs.”

 

Conclusion

The nature of shamanism in Japan is certainly undergoing some dramatic changes, much like those experienced by the Western world in the shifting tides of traditional religion. The idea has existed in our society that shamanism is an archaic form of religious practice, and will slowly disappear. However, it would seem that in the case of Japanese shamanism, a transformation is occurring instead. The institution is rising to the challenge and adapting to the needs of society. In the case of female shamans, the act of changing status from woman to religious leader seems to involve a change in power as well. As proposed above, it would seem likely that this change has been institutionalized in the process of becoming a shamaness, and is one of the many strategies in the power struggle between the sexes.

 

Biblioqraphv of Works Consulted:

Blacker, Carmen. The Catalpa Bow: A Study of Shamanic Practices in Japan. London: George Allen and Unwin, 1975.

Hardacre, Helen. “Shinmeiaishinkai and the study of shamanism in contemporary Japanese life,” in Reliqion in Japan: Arrows to Heaven and Earth, edited by P.F. Kornicki, and l.J. McMullen. Cambridge: University Press, 1996.

lida, Takafumi. “Folk Religion Among the Koreans in Japan The Shamanism of the ‘Korean Temples’,” Japanese Journal of Reliqious Studies 1 5 (2-311988): 1 55-1 82.

Kawamura, Kunimitsu. “The Life of a Shamaness: Scenes From the Shamanism of Northeastern Japan,” in Folk Beliefs in Modern Japan, edited by Nobutaka lnoue, trans. Norman Havens. Tokyo: Kokugakuin University, 1994, pg.92-124.

Miller, Alan L. “Myth and Gender in Japanese Shamanism: The ltako of Tohoku,” History of Religions 32 (May 1993): 343-367.

Waida, Manabu. “The Patterns of lnitiation in Japanese Shamanism,” Anthropos 89 (4-611994): 461-469.