In geography, boundaries have been a very important subject of reseach. The aim of this paper is to consider the multivocality of boundaries with particular emphasis on their religious symbolism. Generally, the word boundary is defined in 2 ways: natural boundaries, without the intervention of man, such as mountains and rivers, and the man-made boundaries, such as administrative districts.
However a new approach to such definitions has developed whereby the boundary is considered as having symbolic meaning in human life; particularly as a liminal space where the profane meets with the sacred.
The Fudoki, written in the eighth century, contains folkores relating, how gods and men decided their own territories and built shrines on or near mountains which formed topographical boundaries.
Mountains and Rivers exist around the living space of the people. They enclose the people but at the same time, constitute a link to the outside world. So the road passing a mountain and the bridge crossing a river are the boundary of the sacred and the proface world.
In ancient palace cities, chimata (crossroads) were very important places, where many people and things came and went. In the same way gods and souls came and went. For example a religious service was performed to ward off unhappiness and disease at the four corners of the palace city. The concept of the religious service is like a concentric circle, with the palace as the core, surrounded by the palace city, and land outside the city limits.
Particularly, oharae has the character of liminality. Because it was done in June and December, during extremes of hot and cold, not only in the capital, but also, in provinces, and along mountain rivers which flowed into the sea.
In archaeology, hitogata (Human-shaped substitution object) are regarded as tools of oharae. They were used as substitutes for people and appeared from the latter kofun and Nara Periods. Many hitogatas have been excavated from waterways in the palace and on its perimeter, the ditches by the streets, and crossroads in the palace city. These places constitute liminal spaces between the sacred and the profane.
Moreover hitogatas have also been dug up from ditches or rivers in the outskirts of some provincial capitals. Thus the same spacial symbolism can be seen in the palace cities and the provincial capitals.
In conclusion, studying boundaries and their symbolism provides an important insight into the cosmology of living space in 7-8 C Japan.
