Morning drama series, asadora, attract one of the highest number of viewers watching programmes on Japanese television. These serialised drama series broadcasted by state broadcaster NHK over the...Show moreMorning drama series, asadora, attract one of the highest number of viewers watching programmes on Japanese television. These serialised drama series broadcasted by state broadcaster NHK over the course of half a year, have induced large-scale tourism to sites related to the film locations in the series. The success of such “contents tourism” has a significant economic effect, inspiring producers to choose rural areas coping with depopulation and economic loss. This thesis takes the series Hiyokko, broadcasted in 2017, as an example to explore the field of contents tourism and its cultural framework and history. By investigating the content and narrative of asadora, as well as the economic impact of rural revitalisation, this thesis provides an extensive study on asadora from a socio-cultural and economic perspective.Show less
To study the Japanese-style garden as a place of psychological restoration, a survey has been conducted at the Hamarikyū Gardens and at Koishikawa Kōrakuen in Tokyo, Japan. The purpose of the...Show moreTo study the Japanese-style garden as a place of psychological restoration, a survey has been conducted at the Hamarikyū Gardens and at Koishikawa Kōrakuen in Tokyo, Japan. The purpose of the survey was, first, to understand whether visitors conceive looking at a garden view as a healing experience and, second, to explore the reasons why it is so. The results confirmed that contemplating a garden is perceived as a relaxing activity that inspires positive feelings - as supported by previous research in environmental psychology. The elements of the garden view that inspired these feelings were examined and grouped into three categories: nature, aesthetics and space-time.Show less
The intent of this thesis is to use a case study for possible new approaches to shinshūkyō 新宗教 (“new religions”) in Japan. In particular, this thesis aims at investigating the nature of kamigakari...Show moreThe intent of this thesis is to use a case study for possible new approaches to shinshūkyō 新宗教 (“new religions”) in Japan. In particular, this thesis aims at investigating the nature of kamigakari 神懸り, loosely translatable as “divine possession”, for Deguchi Nao 出口なお (1837-1918), foundress of the ritual organization in Japan called Ōmotokyō大本教. A close-up on the origins of kamigakari is given in order to understand better the personal circumstances around Deguchi Nao’s experience and how it functioned for her. Kamigakari was the experience through which Deguchi Nao wrote down the Ofudesaki お筆先, a book inspired by the deity she claimed to be inside her, Ushitora no Konjin 丑寅の金神. In the book she called for radical spiritual change for people as well as for kami 神 (deities). The second chapter is dedicated to the book and its worldview. While the third chapter investigates the connections between shamanism and shinshūkyō, the last chapter analyzes the particular features of Deguchi Nao’s kamigakari, which, including the co-founder of Ōmotokyō, Deguchi Onisaburō 出口王仁三郎 (1871-1948), worked through the dual principle based on the notions of “male with a transformed nature” (henjōnanshi 変性男子), which refers to Deguchi Nao, and “female with a transformed nature” (henjōnyoshi変性女子), used to describe Onisaburō’s role.Show less
