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Heritage out of Control : Buddhist Material Excess in Contemporary Japan

Kolata, Paulina LU (2022) In Allegra Lab
Abstract
This article investigates how things given to local temples generate material, karmic, and emotional excess in contemporary Japan. What, how, and why people “store” at local Buddhist temple tell a story of a community and how people’s individual material histories become matters of communal concern and local heritage-making practices. While walking a fine line between memory and decommissioning of care, the stories of burdensome inherited materiality map out the material and affective networks of community preservation in Japan’s depopulating regions. By stepping into the shoes of a local Buddhist priest at a True Pure Land Buddhist temple in Hiroshima Prefecture, I focus on the tensions between decommissioning of care and the moral and... (More)
This article investigates how things given to local temples generate material, karmic, and emotional excess in contemporary Japan. What, how, and why people “store” at local Buddhist temple tell a story of a community and how people’s individual material histories become matters of communal concern and local heritage-making practices. While walking a fine line between memory and decommissioning of care, the stories of burdensome inherited materiality map out the material and affective networks of community preservation in Japan’s depopulating regions. By stepping into the shoes of a local Buddhist priest at a True Pure Land Buddhist temple in Hiroshima Prefecture, I focus on the tensions between decommissioning of care and the moral and practical conundrum faced by rural Buddhist temples entrusted with the responsibility of meaningful disposal and safe keeping of inherited things. I thus argue that decommissioning of karmically volatile materiality helps us understand better the fragility of Buddhist care structures and how people strive to maintain and, in turn, make sense of the anticipated decline in their depopulating regional communities. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Japan, Japanese Buddhism, Materiality, kinship care, Emotions, Rural Japan, Buddhist temples, care economies, material excess, Heritage
in
Allegra Lab
pages
5 pages
ISSN
2343-0168
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
03089262-0727-4a30-a9b8-d9f2193d27e6
alternative location
https://allegralaboratory.net/heritage-out-of-control-buddhist-material-excess-in-depopulating-japan/
date added to LUP
2022-02-10 10:42:44
date last changed
2022-02-10 15:24:42
@article{03089262-0727-4a30-a9b8-d9f2193d27e6,
  abstract     = {{This article investigates how things given to local temples generate material, karmic, and emotional excess in contemporary Japan. What, how, and why people “store” at local Buddhist temple tell a story of a community and how people’s individual material histories become matters of communal concern and local heritage-making practices. While walking a fine line between memory and decommissioning of care, the stories of burdensome inherited materiality map out the material and affective networks of community preservation in Japan’s depopulating regions. By stepping into the shoes of a local Buddhist priest at a True Pure Land Buddhist temple in Hiroshima Prefecture, I focus on the tensions between decommissioning of care and the moral and practical conundrum faced by rural Buddhist temples entrusted with the responsibility of meaningful disposal and safe keeping of inherited things. I thus argue that decommissioning of karmically volatile materiality helps us understand better the fragility of Buddhist care structures and how people strive to maintain and, in turn, make sense of the anticipated decline in their depopulating regional communities.}},
  author       = {{Kolata, Paulina}},
  issn         = {{2343-0168}},
  keywords     = {{Japan; Japanese Buddhism; Materiality; kinship care; Emotions; Rural Japan; Buddhist temples; care economies; material excess; Heritage}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{02}},
  series       = {{Allegra Lab}},
  title        = {{Heritage out of Control : Buddhist Material Excess in Contemporary Japan}},
  url          = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/113933902/heritage_out_of_control_buddhist_material_excess_in_depopulating_japan_1_.pdf}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}