The Japanese word refers to the
spirits of ancestors: Specifically it refers to the spirits of those ancestors that have been the target of special memorial services that have been held for them at certain fixed times after their death. The dates and the frequencies of these services vary widely depending on the region of Japan.
[Hendry, 1995, p. 30][Bernier, 1985, pp. 68-69] Suitable occasions may for example be 33 and 50 years after death.
A special belief connected with ''sorei'' is the notion that the memorial services result in the ancestral spirit successively losing its individuality, eventually becoming an entirely deindividualized part of the collective of ''sorei''.
[Hendry, 1995, p. 30] However, depending on the region people may think that these services are merely aimed at properly disposing or pacifying the ancestral spirit.
[Bernier, 1985, pp. 68-69]
The folklorist
Yanagita Kunio
Kunio Yanagita (柳田 國男, Yanagita Kunio, July 31, 1875 – August 8, 1962) was a Japanese author, scholar, and folklorist. He began his career as a bureaucrat, but developed an interest in rural Japan and its folk traditions. This led to a ...
has asserted that the rituals and ideas around ''sorei'' could be fitted into a general scheme whereby ancestors become not only protectors, but ''
kami
are the deities, divinities, spirits, phenomena or "holy powers", that are venerated in the Shinto religion. They can be elements of the landscape, forces of nature, or beings and the qualities that these beings express; they can also be the sp ...
'' or ''
ujigami
An is a guardian god or spirit of a particular place in the Shinto religion of Japan. The ''ujigami'' was prayed to for a number of reasons, including protection from sickness, success in endeavors, and good harvests.
History
The ''ujigami' ...
''. However, while it is possible that in the distant past such a development with regard to certain ancestors has occurred, according to other scholars that cannot be proven.
[Bernier, 1985, pp. 68-69] Contemporary Japanese may, in relation to their recently dead, not think about the ancient notion of ''ujigami'' at all, but they do have a notion about the spirits of the dead becoming some sort of enlightened being. Indeed, another word for the departed soul is
in Japanese ''
hotoke The Japanese noun is a word of Buddhist origin and uncertain etymology. It has several meanings, all but a few directly linked to Buddhism. It can refer to:
*A person who has achieved ''satori'' (state of enlightenment) and has therefore become a ...
'', which also means Buddha.
[Reader, 1991, p. 41]
See also
*
Glossary of Shinto
This is the glossary of Shinto, including major terms on the subject. Words followed by an asterisk (*) are illustrated by an image in one of the photo galleries.
__NOTOC__
A
* – A red papier-mâché cow bobblehead toy; a kind of ''engimo ...
*
Ujigami
An is a guardian god or spirit of a particular place in the Shinto religion of Japan. The ''ujigami'' was prayed to for a number of reasons, including protection from sickness, success in endeavors, and good harvests.
History
The ''ujigami' ...
Notes
References
* BERNIER, Bernard, ‘Yanagita Kunio’s ‘‘About our ancestors’’: is it a model for an indigenous social science?’, in Koschman ''et al.'', 1985.
* HENDRY, Joy, ''Understanding Japanese society'' (2nd ed). Routledge, 1995.
* KOSCHMAN, J. Victor, ŌIWA Keibō & YAMASHITA Shinji (eds.) ''International perspectives on Yanagita Kunio and Japanese folklore studies''. Cornell University East Asia Papers, No. 37, 1985.
* READER, Ian, ''Religion in contemporary Japan''. Macmillan Press, 1991.
Religious rituals
Japanese mythology
Goryō faith
{{Japan-myth-stub