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A Religious Pilgrimage for Retired Women: a Translation and Analysis of Jippensha Ikku's Togakushi Zenkō-ji Ōrai

This thesis will consider the question of the intended audience of Jippensha Ikku’s十返舎一九, ōraimono (educational book) Togakushi Zenkō-ji ōrai 戸隠善光寺往来(1822) as preface to an annotated translation completed using free online xylographic editions. Published in the midst of rising literacy rates and a boom in religious pilgrimages, this work would have been popular among women of the late Edo era. Analysis of the ōraimono genre will reveal that this work, was intended as a practical guidebook for Zenkō-ji pilgrimages rather than for use as a classroom textbook. An experienced traveler guides a dutiful son and mother from Edo (Tōkyō) along the Nakasendō and Hokkoku Kaidō roads to Zenkō-ji Temple and Togakushi Shrine in Shinano Province (Nagano). The mother character in Togakushi Zenkō-ji ōrai, though not the direct recipient of the expert traveler’s knowlege, will be revealed as a sort of hidden protagonist central to the entire narrative. Lastly, I will attempt to settle disputed publishing information, arguing that Nishimiya Shinroku 西宮新六was the first publisher and Moriya Jihei 森屋治兵衛printed subsequent editions. Serious in tone, this work demonstrates Ikku’s versatility as a departure from his famous slapstick travelogue, Tōkaidōchū Hizakurige (Shank’s Mare).

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:UMASS/oai:scholarworks.umass.edu:masters_theses_2-1708
Date09 July 2018
CreatorsMcGlory, Johnathan
PublisherScholarWorks@UMass Amherst
Source SetsUniversity of Massachusetts, Amherst
Detected LanguageEnglish
Typetext
Formatapplication/pdf
SourceMasters Theses

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