Abstract
This is part of a series reporting “Travelling the old roads” by Ryotaro Shiba. In each report, one key word is selected to analyze the appeal of the travel itself through Shiba's eyes.
The key word selected in this report is “kiyoraka”, or purity and spirituality.
This report analyzes the word in terms of its usage to describe temples and shrines. In more than one third of instances, the word “kiyoraka” is used in association with temples and shrines. Results indicate that Shiba used the word “kiyoraka” to protest against today's Japanese society and its singleminded aim of economic growth based on land development, thus closing our eyes to culture and scenery created by people in the past.
