야스쿠니신사 봉납스모(奉納相撲)의 제의적 고찰

Abstract

This research study is an inspection with a focus on the relationship between the ritual characteristics of the Yasukuni Shrine Dedication Sumoand the Shōkon Ceremony, and examines how the symbolism of the Yasukuni Shrine Japanese cherry blossom is related. Through this, this research study attempted to show what type of cultural characteristics the fancy Dedication Sumo that was celebrated together with the ‘Sakura Matsuri Festival’ in the current spring time festivals has in relation to the period and continuity where the prewar Yasukuni Shrine served its “true”. This aims to reexamine the Dedication Sumo in the context in which the Yasukuni Shrine showed the original function prior to the war, instead of the present perspective. The special festival at the Yasukuni Shrine is a ritual for the souls of the war dead from individuals’ souls to the deities of the national ritual. This study focused on the ceremony of entrance procession of Sumo wrestlers into the ring (Dohyo-iri) in the main Shrine as part of the ceremony of enshrinement for an analysis of the ritual of the Dedication Sumo. In addition, there is the same ritual in the actual Sumo Arena in the Yasukuni Shrine, too. To interpret this ritually, through the Dohyo-iri ceremony in front of the main Shrine before a Sumo game, the Sumo wrestlers who have become the gods of war hold the same ceremony at the Sumo Arena where intense Sumo games are held. Therefore, it is noted that the Sumo Arena of the Yasukuni Shrine where wild Sumo games are held by the gods of war symbolizes an intense ‘battlefield.’