Lindsey DeWitt Prat, PhD

Mt. Fuji as Window to Japan

University of Tokyo · Spring 2016 & 2017

Snow-capped Mt. Fuji under a clear sky.

For the inaugural thematic course “Global Praxis” of the exchange program between the University of Tokyo and Australia National University, I designed a series of lectures discussing various aspects of Japan through the window of Mt. Fuji.

My lectures in 2016 and 2017 focused on sacred space, pilgrimage, and gender.

You can find more information on the 2016 course here and the slides from my animated 2017 Prezi below:

Poster for the UTokyo/ANU Exchange in Tokyo, January 7–17, 2016.

2017 Prezi

Prezi title frame: Mt. Fuji—Window to Japan; pilgrimage and gender.

Prezi frame: Kumano kodō stone paths.

Prezi frame: mountain valley vista.

Prezi frame: fire rite and pilgrims.

Prezi frame: mountain photographs.

Prezi frame: animals on a rocky trail.

Prezi frame: Yukio Ohyama’s Mt. Fuji photography.

Prezi frame: mountains, women and men, and the metaphor of difference.

Prezi frame: why are mountains sacred?

Prezi frame: exploring pilgrimage—what, when, who, where, how.

Prezi frame: what is pilgrimage?

Prezi frame: circular diagram of the pilgrimage cycle.

Prezi frame: beginnings of pilgrimage in Japan.

Prezi frame: major figures—En no Gyōja statue.

Prezi frame: ascetic on a cliff edge.

Prezi frame: statue amid summer grasses.

Prezi frame: satellite view of the Ōmine range.

Prezi frame: labeled mountain ridge panorama.

Prezi frame: painting of En no Gyōja with attendant demons.

Prezi frame: gilt Zaō Gongen statues.

Prezi frame: shrine interior with priests.

Prezi frame: excavated sutra containers and ritual objects.

Prezi frame: where—sites and routes.

Prezi frame: pilgrimage route maps.

Prezi frame: white-clad pilgrims on the road.

Prezi frame: pilgrim gear laid out.

Prezi frame: temples and a pilgrim’s stamp book.

Prezi frame: torii gates.

Prezi frame: Kumano kodō forest paths.

Prezi frame: offerings and pilgrim slips.

Prezi frame: votive tablets and offerings.

Prezi frame: stone figures and pagoda.

Prezi frame: Kumano kodō and fire festival.

Prezi frame: pilgrimage in modern Japan—fujizuka.

Prezi frame: replica pilgrimage map.

Prezi frame: pilgrims among cedar trees.

Prezi frame: preservation and profit.

Prezi title frame repeated.

Prezi frame: gender—the “other side” of Japanese history.

Prezi frame: gender cycle diagram.

Prezi frame: prehistory—Jōmon figurines.

Prezi frame: prehistory—Kojiki, Nihon shoki, Izanagi and Izanami.

Prezi frame: Konohana Sakuyahime.

Prezi frame: miko and festival women.

Prezi frame: Mikumari Shrine, Yoshino—Komori Myōjin.

Prezi frame: Himiko and Yamataikoku.

Prezi frame: map of Buddhism’s arrival.

Prezi frame: introduction of Buddhism.

Prezi frame: medieval Japan.

Prezi frame: Edo period.

Prezi frame: forest trail with banners.

Prezi frame: trailhead gate with women’s boundary signs.

Prezi frame: women’s boundary stones (nyonin kekkai).

Prezi frame: why—rationales offered for women’s exclusion.

Prezi frame: map of the Ōminesan exclusion zone.

Prezi frame: festival and ritual photographs.

Prezi frame: cedar-lined stone path.

Prezi frame: contesting tradition.

Prezi frame: “the ongoing construction of an ‘ancient religious tradition.’”

Prezi frame: photo collage of festivals and protests.

Prezi closing title frame.

Prezi credits frame.

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