The Change in Sacred Space under the Pressure of Land Markets in Central Tokyo

Natacha Aveline-Dubach (1)

1 IAO - Institut d'Asie Orientale

This paper examines the change the contrasted strategies of Buddhist and Shinto communities regarding the redevelopment of their landed properties in Tokyo. The first section deals with the distinctive Buddhist tradition of death management in Japan, and the subsequent involvement of Buddhist communities in cemetery redevelopment and funeral services. The second section examines how the separation of state and religion, after 1947, has driven Shinto communities to build non-religious facilities in the precincts of the shrines. The third section focuses on the effects of the so-called "land bubble" (1985-1991) on the extra-religious diversification pattern of both Shinto and Buddhist properties; it provides an approximate assessment of the magnitude of "secular" construction in the shrines and temples of Tokyo's four central wards, based on the use of housing maps (jûtaku chizu).

Mots clés: funeral; Buddhist; Shinto; temple; shrine; Tokyo; cemetery; nokotsudo; crematorium; grave; landed property; land bubble.; land bubble

Domaines: Géographie; Architecture, aménagement de l'espace; Anthropologie sociale et ethnologie

Natacha Aveline-Dubach. The Change in Sacred Space under the Pressure of Land Markets in Central Tokyo. Annual conference of the Association of Asian Studies, Apr 2006, San Francisco, United States. ⟨halshs-00821610⟩