空間構成論 : 修験集落八菅山を中心として

抄録

When we discuss the problem of how to recognize the world around us, regional differences have a definite significance. On understanding of this problem is also of value in the case of reconstructing the spacial order by using the data of a small village. the purpose of this paper is to take up the case of a religious village. Hasuge of Kanagawa prefecture, Japan, and clarify the space construction formed by Hasuge villagers. In Edo era, Hasuge has been the village of shugenja, the practitioners of shugendo. Shugendo is a Japanese mountanious religion which took the form of a sect near the end of Heian era when Japan's ancient religious practices in the mountains had come under the influence of various foreign religions. Shugenja, the practitioners of shugendo, who retreat into the mountains where they practise various ascetic rites for a number of days, then they go back to the place where ordinary people are living, where they exhibit supernatural powers by making devinations, exorcisms and so on. The role of shugenja is to act as a mediating bridge between "this world" and "the other" through which their supernatural power may be transmitted. As the character of shugenja would implicate, they are supposed to be a group which live in liminal places ; the border of mountanious district and level land, the land at the edge of the water, the boundary with sacred taboo quality, etc. Hasuge, near Nakatsu river, is located on the edge of Tanzawa mountains and Nakatsu level land. This space construction helped make them the mediator between "sacred" and "profane". The present villagers in Hasuge are not shugenja, because sects of shugendo was prohibited by Meiji government in 1872. But, it seems to me that a continuity of their function still exists from the view point of the space construction. In order to make it clear, it is neccessary to classify the space in Hasuge village through the analysis of ethnographical data and historical documents. On the operational level, we divide the space construction in Hasuge village into two parts ; inner world and outer world, and, first, we'll illustrate the character of the inner world. The space of the inner world in old Hasuge village consisted of three areas. They are the following. 1) a religious area, tax free land 2) a reclaimed rice-field where villagers are responsible for the payment of taxes 3) a rice-field where commander-in-chiefs in Edo era made an offering toward shugenja Of the three areas, let us consider the "religious area" as being looked upon as the central part by villagers, and classify it into two areas ; a holy place and a settlement. Historical geographical documents writes that the holy place is located in a mountanious district, the western part, and the settlement is located in a valley, the eastern part. These locations and their designations retain their original connotations to the present-day. It may be noted that the implication of this orientation is important to the space construction. Villagers who live in Hasuge, have the idea that the western part is "sacred", but that the eastern part is "profane". By giving a detailed account of the space construction, we can discover a fundamental axis from southeast to northwest. Since the path that villagers climb up to worship the Hasuge shrine in a holy place, goes from southeast to northwest, and Mt. Hasuge is represented by a sacred snake that coiled up from the southeast to the northwest, villagers seem to believe that a point in the nothwest is superior to one in the southeast.