The Secret World of Shugendō: Sacred Mountains and the Search for Meaning in Post-Disaster Japan

In this compelling narrative of discovery set in Japan’s remote Dewa Sanzan mountain range, Shayne A. P. Dahl describes Shugendō, a secretive religious tradition that combines aspects of Shinto, Buddhism, and mountain worship. As a participant-observer, Dahl invites readers into the practices of contemporary ascetics who see the sacred mountains as wombs within which cycles of life, death, and rebirth can be harnessed for the sake of personal transformation and existential realization. As Dahl argues, immersion in Shugendō provides ascetics and pilgrims with an escape from capitalist modernity and an avenue for self-reflection in the wake of the earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disaster near Fukushima in March 2011.

Immersing readers in the intimate and hidden dimensions of Shugendō, Dahl sheds light on how practitioners sustain their traditions in the face of modern temptations and tensions within their religious communities. Filled with insight into Shugendō’s contribution to Japanese cultural identity, this book offers groundbreaking perspective on the intersections of ecology, disaster, religion, the human condition, and death.

Shayne A. P. Dahl is an anthropologist who earned his doctorate at the University of Toronto and has held postdoctoral fellowships at Harvard University, McMaster University, and the University of Lethbridge.