Abstract
The aim of this paper is to present the idea of "Body as unrelated to modernity" and to reconsider the arguments concerning the body in Japan, using the example of home birth/delivery and Ito-Thermie, a modern folk medicine in Japan. Using the ideas of property, self-ownership, and monopolizing modernity, the essay reviews the aspects of gazing at the body and the representation of the body in the context of modern Japan. The body as unrelated to modernity will be described in the context of cases of death during home birth/delivery, and of the use of words during the clinical practice of Ito-Thermie, both of which are acquired from the author's own experiences. I will present my argument with attention to words heard during clinical practice, and try to clarify the possibility of a new theory of the body. I will also refer to the problem of narrative-based medicine (NBM) in Japan and the possibility of "religious" words at the bedside of the dying.
