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
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
danamirsalis.bsky.social
Currently about 17% of the priesthood is female, with the number of women in the priesthood increasing every year. The number of men peaked in 2000 and has been declining ever since. This demographic shift has presented a challenge to the dominant gender construction in the shrine world. (3/12)
Bar graph showing the gender composition of priests affiliated with Jinja Honcho. The number of women in the priesthood increases steadily over time, while the number of men peaks in 2000 and then declines.
November 17, 2024 at 3:10 AM