Dana Mirsalis
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danamirsalis.bsky.social
Dana Mirsalis
@danamirsalis.bsky.social
610 followers 290 following 35 posts
Assistant Professor of History at Pacific University. Modern and contemporary Japanese religion (especially Shinto), history, and gender.
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danamirsalis.bsky.social
SSJR is running another book talk! Please join us in two weeks for @sdahl.bsky.social's talk. Register here: furman.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
Poster for upcoming virtual bookshop. Text: THE SOCIETY FOR THE STUDY OF JAPANESE RELIGIONS PRESENTS SHUGENDŌ AND TIME: AN ETHNOGRAPHY OF DEWA SANZAN A VIRTUAL BOOK TALK W/ DR. SHAYNE DAHL, UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY IN THIS TALK, DR. DAHL DISCUSSES KEY THEMES IN HIS FORTHCOMING BOOK, THE SECRET WORLD OF SHUGENDŌ: SACRED MOUNTAINS AND THE SEARCH FOR MEANING IN POST-DISASTER JAPAN (2025, UNC PRESS). DAHL MAKES THE CASE FOR ANTHROPOLOGICAL APPROACHES TO STUDYING CONTEMPORARY SHUGENDŌ AND JAPANESE RELIGIONS MORE BROADLY. DR, DAHL ALSO FOCUSES ON THE THEORETICAL SALIENCE OF TIME AS EXPRESSED THROUGH HISTORICAL CONSCIOUSNESS IN LOCAL TOURISM AND MOUNTAIN ASCETIC TRAINING PROGRAMS, DURING ANNUAL MOUNTAIN ENTRY RITUALS, AND IN EXISTENTIAL REFLECTION FACILITATED BY THE CULTURE AND PRACTICE OF SHUGENDŌ IN THE POST-DISASTER PERIOD. DAHL ARGUES THAT SACRED MOUNTAINS SUCH AS DEWA SANZAN EMBODY SPATIOTEMPORAL ALTERITY WITHIN CAPITALIST MODERNITY AS THEY PROVIDE PEOPLE LIVING IN AN ANXIOUS PRESENT WITH A SPACE TO REFLECT ON AND RECONNECT WITH THE PAST, TO REJUVENATE THEIR OVERWORKED LIVES IN THE PRESENT, AND PRAY FOR A BRIGHTER FUTURE FOR JAPAN. TUE. NOV. 11 6 PM U.S. PACIFIC TIME 9 PM U.S. EASTERN TIME // WED. NOV. 12 3 AM CENTRAL EUROPEAN TIME 10 AM JAPAN TIME
October 28, 2025 at 8:53 PM
danamirsalis.bsky.social
SSJR is running its first virtual book talk next week! @orionklautau.bsky.social will lecturing on the enduring fascination with Shōtoku Taishi in 20th century Japan. Please join us! You can register for the Zoom webinar here: bit.ly/4mtw3qJ
THE SOCIETY FOR THE STUDY OF JAPANESE RELIGIONS PRESENTS ANOTHER SHŌTOKU: HISTORY AND MYTHMAKING IN MODERN JAPANESE RELIGION A VIRTUAL BOOK TALK W/ DR. ORION KLAUTAU HOSTED BY DR. OR PORATH, TEL AVIV UNIVERSITY This lecture examines the enduring fascination with the "true" image of Shōtoku Taishi (574-622) in twentieth-century Japan. By tracing the emergence of alternative historical narratives around him, it reveals how Shōtoku has been recast as both a symbol of religious and political importance and a romanticized figure endowed with supernatural power. The talk further explores how modern reinterpretations-spanning from the early twentieth century to the present-have woven together elements of occultism, mythology, and pseudo-history, forging new forms of storytelling that often blur the line between fact and fantasy. Engaging with a range of scholarly works and popular media, this presentation illustrates how these "alternative histories" have been crafted to appeal to both intellectual audiences and the broader public, reshaping Shōtoku's legacy and his role in the Japanese cultural imagination. THU. JUNE 19 9AM JAPAN TIME 2AM CENTRAL EUROPEAN SUMMER TIME WED. JUNE 18 8PM U.S. EASTERN 5PM U.S. PACIFIC ABOUT THE SPEAKER: Orion Klautau is Associate Professor at the Department of Japanese Religion and Intellectual History, Graduate School of International Cultural Studies, Tohoku University. His work focuses on the development of Japanese Buddhism in the modern period, with special emphasis on historiographical issues. Besides a number of articles in both English and Japanese, he is author of Kindai Nihon shisō toshite no bukkyō shigaku (Buddhist historiography as modern Japanese thought, Hōzōkan, 2012), and Kakusareta Shōtoku Taishi: Kingendai Nihon no gishi to okaruto bunka (Shōtoku Taishi Veiled: Alternative Histories and Occulture in Modern Japan, Chikuma Shobō, 2024).
June 12, 2025 at 12:55 AM
Reposted by Dana Mirsalis
jolyonbt.bsky.social
Excellent essay (begins on p. 25)
March 23, 2025 at 3:04 PM
danamirsalis.bsky.social
Forgot to post over here, but my copy of The New Nanzan Guide to Japanese Religions arrived! I have a short piece about gender and fieldwork included.
Photo of the front cover of The New Nanzan Guide to Japanese Religions. Photo of the first page of my chapter, entitled "Gender."
December 14, 2024 at 12:10 AM
Reposted by Dana Mirsalis
bryandaniellowe.bsky.social
Fascinating online (and physical) exhibit on "how women and their families experienced pregnancy and childbirth in early modern Japan," with many amazing images like this one, a parodic rendering of the Buddhist Ten Realms Mandala placed within the womb. www.nichibun.ac.jp/online/ucsf_...
This print serves as a parodic rendering of the Kanjin jukkai zu (Ten Realms Mandala), a graphic text that extols the teachings of Buddhism, visible within the abdomen of a geisha-like woman, with the kanji character for "heart" in the center. The Ten Realms illustration functions here to reflect the new, modern world of Meiji-era Japan, in which the upper realms depict those who commit good deeds and the lower realms, evil. The text in the upper left explains the importance of treating all living things, even insects, with the same respect as is given to humans, and without losing one's sense of compassion. The text and image combined present a perspective of re-evaluating even Buddhist teachings within the context of modern society. Title: Fubu no on o shiru zu Date: 1880 Collection: UCSF Japanese Woodblock Print Collection Owning Institution: UC San Francisco, Library, Special Collections Source: Calisphere Date of access: December 5 2024 15:37 Permalink: https://calisphere.org/item/ark:/13030/hb2r29p0bv/
December 5, 2024 at 3:39 PM
danamirsalis.bsky.social
Well, apparently there are now almost 300 (!!) of you following me, so I suppose I should do a proper introduction.
Hi! I'm Dana Mirsalis. I'm a scholar of modern and contemporary Japanese religion and history, currently an assistant professor in the History Department at Pacific University. (1/12)
November 17, 2024 at 3:06 AM
danamirsalis.bsky.social
Trying out this thing, I guess, although I am very shy on social media. I had an article about how female Shinto priests negotiate menstrual pollution come out recently, if you want to see the sort of things I work on! nccisjpnew.wixsite.com/nccisjp/%E8%...
Vol 46(1) | nccisjp
nccisjpnew.wixsite.com
November 10, 2024 at 1:03 AM