Abstract
The spread of the Coronavirus has severely impacted the practice of all mass religious rituals, and in Japan many of them are currently carried out without any visitors. To make up for this situation, religious rituals in Japan are often broadcast over the internet. The author of this article also participated in such a broadcast as
a Gagaku performer in April 2021, but felt a certain apprehension. Can the religious consciousness of the individual experience a significant change only through observing the ritual on a monitor? Many religious organizations that partake in online broadcasts attach great importance to direct participation on the actual site of the ritual, but at the same time do not deem the internet broadcasts of their rituals as ineffective for the religious consciousness of the viewers. They seem to assume that an individual can somehow experience the sacred even through the monitor. Can the sacred appear on a monitor over the internet?
This article tries to explore any possible theoretical grounds for this assumption and summarize the points of discussion. The study explores St. John of Damascus’ theory of divine image, Rudolf Otto’s concept of “Divination,” Emile Durkheim’s concept of “collective effervescence,” and Talal Asad’s notes on the concept of ritual before the modern age.
