Signs of Life

Grounding the Transcendent in Japanese Memorial Objects

Bibliographic Data

ID7098313
AuthorsJoshua A Irizarry (Bridgewater State University, corresponding author)
Year2014
Volume2
IssueS1
PagesS160-S187
Publication date2014-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSigns and Society (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2326-4489 • E-ISSN: 2326-4497
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1086/674538
OpenAlexW2322864511
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited36

Memorial tablets ( ihai ) and memorial portraiture ( iei ) are important parts of Japanese funerary ritual, serving as focal points during the wake, funeral, and subsequent ritual observances. Far more than static material representations of the deceased or the social relationships they inhabited, these memorial objects display a complex and complementary relationship with the deceased and serve to ground the persistent spirit of the departed (known as hotoke ), which is simultaneously of this world and transcendent to it. Furthermore, I demonstrate how both everyday and ritual interactions with ihai and iei reveal a dynamic and decades-long semiotic process that guides this entity through its transformation from a living human being through a “lifetime” as a hotoke and, ultimately, into a household ancestor

Aesthetics · Art · Geography · Visual arts · Anthropological Studies and Insights · Communication · Cultural Heritage Management and Preservation · History · Memory, Trauma, and Commemoration · Psychology

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