Paper short abstract:

The paper traces a shift in otherworld conceptions in medieval Izumo. It argues that the superimposition of the Buddhist notion of the "three countries" onto the ancient Japanese myths resulted in a reconceptualization of space by linking mythical otherworlds with geographic sites outside Japan.

Paper long abstract:

Focussing on myths connected to the Izumo region, this paper traces a shift in otherworld conceptions between the ancient and medieval periods. While the mythical narratives contained in the Kojiki, the Nihon shoki, and the provincial gazetteers called Fudoki tended to situate the entrances to mythical otherworlds in peripheral regions of Japan such as Izumo, medieval reinterpretations of these myths tend to associate these otherworldly realms with geographic sites outside Japan such as the Korean peninsula or India. These associations can only be understood in the context of the combinatory paradigm that characterizes medieval and early modern Japanese religiosity. Within this paradigm, the Buddhist notion of the "three countries" (sangoku), comprising "this country" (honchō, i.e. Japan), "China" (shintan or kara; including Korea), and "India" (tenjiku), was superimposed onto the cosmos depicted in the ancient Japanese myths.

Using medieval reinterpretations and reformulations of myths centred on Izumo and its deities, the paper will show how this translocation of otherworlds was connected to the institutional fusion of the Izumo Shrine and Gakuenji, the principal Tendai temple in medieval Izumo province. Gakuenji is situated on a mountain range just north of Izumo Shrine. The paper will show how this spatial proximity was utilized to fuse the two institutions into one religious site: The mountain was identified as a broken-off corner of Vulture Peak that had floated to Japan and came to play a central role in mythical narratives that explained the essential unity of the two religious institutions and thus the inseparability of Shintō and Buddhism.

Finally, the paper will point out some ideological implications of the mythical linking of otherworlds with geographic sites, which led among other things to a transfer of the ambiguity of the mythical otherworlds - as sites of death, but also as abodes of the gods and sources of supernatural power - to "India" or "China". In this way, the paper provides an example of how the medieval combinatory paradigm led to a reconceptualization of space by superimposing Buddhist and Confucian notions as well as new geographic knowledge onto the cosmos depicted in the ancient Japanese myths.