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UID:376@harvard-yenching.org
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20241112T113000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20241112T130000
DTSTAMP:20241028T132137Z
URL:https://www.harvard-yenching.org/events/numinous-topographies-mountain
 eering-spirituality-and-nature-in-modern-japan/
SUMMARY:Numinous Topographies: Mountaineering\, Spirituality\, and Nature i
 n Modern Japan
DESCRIPTION:Co-sponsored with the Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies 
 and the Harvard Buddhist Studies Forum\n\nWe tend to think of mountain cli
 mbing as either a form of religious faith or recreation. That one (mountai
 n worship) embodies tradition\, piety\, and cultural identity\, while the 
 other (mountaineering) belongs to modernity\, secularism\, and transnation
 alism. Yet this grouping rests on a shaky foundation of binaries—traditi
 onal/modern\, religion/sport\, sacred/secular—that oversimplify our rela
 tionship to the mountains and broader natural world. Taking the case of Ja
 pan\, this talk explores the subtle role religious thought and practice pl
 ayed in the formation of modern mountaineering. This process occurred in t
 he Meiji and Taisho periods—an era when foreign residents\, especially B
 ritish\, began climbing mountains in Japan as a form of leisure. A few of 
 them eventually partnered with an ambitious cohort of Japanese mountain cl
 imbers\, the latter of whom pioneered their own routes\, established the J
 apanese Alpine Club (1905)\, and launched a triannual journal (Sangaku) th
 at published among other things ruminations on the meaning and value of th
 e sport. While commonly thought of as a secular endeavor\, this talk sketc
 hes out that formative period of mountaineering through the lens of critic
 al religious studies. It will introduce writings and alpine practices by B
 ritish and Japanese from this time\, while exploring a larger question: wh
 y do we continue to seek out mountains and other settings of nature in our
  own lives?
CATEGORIES:Visiting Scholar Talks
LOCATION:Common Room (#136)\, 2 Divinity Avenue\, Cambridge\, MA\, United S
 tates
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