environmentalism Archives

The following is couched in academic terms but is highly relevant to the purpose of Green Shinto as it concerns sacred trees, spirituality and the environment. It is a call for papers for a workshop to be held in France, and its conclusion is worth noting: “in order to preserve the forest, it must be made a resource for well-being, biodiversity, resourcing, utopia, spirituality perceived as useful by humanity.”

*******************

Asie-Sorbonne Workshop: The Tree that Hides the Forest

by Christine Vial Kayser

The aim of this workshop is to initiate a reflection on the dynamics of the relationship to the forest – and, beyond that, to nature – in Asia, its cultural and universal, physiological and emotional determinants. We start from the example of the Japanese practice of immersion in a forest called Shinrin-yoku or “forest bath” (or sylvotherapy), a practice born in Japan in the 1980s, following the same studies of the benefits of “green” landscapes developed in the United States (Wilson 1984). These studies focus on the physical or psychological benefits but do not question possible non-physiological or psychological causes: cultural (imaginary of the tree), mnemonic and emotional causes, nor do they have a comparative perspective.

In Asia the practice could have animist (Knight 2009) or even Buddhist roots. They may take form within the concept of qi (ki) or vital energy shared between man and nature as well as the specific perception of trees in Asian philosophy (Bao et al. 2016; Escande 2011; Alban & Berwick 2004). Won Sop et al. highlight the traditional Korean combination of wood, stone and water to explain the health benefits of ‘forest baths’ in Korea (Won Sop et al. 2010). The representation of the Yakshini also testifies to the role of the tree as a source of life, sometimes ambivalent, in the Indian tradition, where certain species of trees are still considered sacred today. Such representations can be found in Europe before the revolution of modernity, or in the 19th century in European Romanticism (Harrison 1992) or in American transcendentalism (Egerton 2011).

The workshop will therefore examine in Asia in general, and in a comparative dimension with the West, the subjective representation, “for oneself”, of the forest that is formed during the experience, how this interferes with the representation of the forest “in itself”, as an external and autonomous object. We will ask whether the representation of trees in arts and culture sheds light on what happens during immersion in the forest: what is the role of previous images, whether literary, visual, taken from the world of art, visual culture, religious representations; traditional or contemporary (video games, multimedia installations). Indeed, the public’s fascination for these immersive practices in the forest is accompanied by the same thirst for immersive digital practices, as shown by the installation of the Japanese collective Team Lab (Tokyo) whose installations at the Mori Museum or in heritage forest locations (A Forest where gods live at Mifuneyama Rakuen Park) will soon be exhibited in Amsterdam (Huw 2020). This suggests that these installations, by certain aspects (interactivity, sense of “flow”) are perceived as “magical” (Jeon 2019).

The need for silence during the practice of “forest bathing”, presented by practitioners of the discipline as a way to listen to the mind-body relationship, is perhaps a way of being in contact with these imaginary elements. Decorating a tree in a ritual, immersing oneself in a video installation (despite its ambiguities) also. Conversely, the perception of the tree as a trunk to be felled extinguishes this plural dimension. It is also possible that the impression of unity between the inner world and the environment may have repairing properties of the Lacanian “fragmented body”, through sensitive experience (Kono 2011).

The objective is to understand, through a multidisciplinary cultural approach, the dynamics of the relationship to trees in Asia, and how cultural approaches can, possibly, contribute to the protection of trees and biodiversity. We postulate that in a “post-anthropocene”, ecological perspective, it is necessary to “re-enchant” the tree and the forest (as Bruno Latour suggests; Où suis-je, 2021; Face à Gaïa, 2015). Seeing the forest as a living space, an “Umwelt” of which we are only a part, and not as a “world” in which man shapes his habitat. Such a reversal of perspective, implied in the Japanese concept of satoyama, is itself a (re)construction (Indrawan et al. 2014) and can be critically approached, underlining its ambiguities (Rots 2014; Knight 2010). Indeed, it appears that for humans nature is always perceived as a resource (Descola 2005). We propose to explore the idea that in order to preserve the forest, it must be made a resource for well-being, biodiversity, resourcing, utopia, spirituality perceived as useful by humanity. For that the sensory and imaginative approach to nature must be associated with the dominant mechanistic-rationalist approach (Beau 2020).

These different aspects will be questioned in a comparative and in a critical perspective, eschewing essentialism, and possibly showing the limits of this hypothesis in the face of competing competition between nature and man.

For those participants who wish, an immersion experience guided by a professional of Shinrin Yoku will be proposed in the forest of Fontainebleau (fee required).

Practical details

The workshop will take place in person and by videoconference at INHA, unless the pandemic still prohibits all meetings. Communications will be in French and English.

Proposals in the form of an abstract of 300 to 500 words must be received by April 30 at contact@asie-sorbonne.fr. Successful participants will be notified by May 30. A publication of a selection of the contributions is planned.

Bibliography

– Alban N., Berwick C. (2004), Forêt et religion au Japon, Environnement Culture et Société (6). OA.

– Bao Y., Yang T., Lin X. and al. (2016), Aesthetic Preferences for Eastern and Western Traditional Visual Art: Identity Matters, Frontiers in Psychology, Doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01596. OA

– Beau F. (2020, 14 Sept.) Une esthétique du soin environnemental pour cultiver la légèreté, in A. Foiret, « Art et écologie : des croisements fertiles? », Plastik, n° 9. http://plastik.univ-paris1.fr/quest-ce-que-lart-apporte-a-lecologie/

– Descola P. (2005) ; Par-delà nature et culture, Paris, Gallimard.

– Egerton F. (2011), History of Ecological Sciences, Part 39: Henry David Thoreau, Ecologist, Bulletin of ecological society of America. https://doi.org/10.1890/0012-9623-92.3.251

– Escande Y. (2011), L’arbre en Chine, in J. Pigeaud, L’arbre ou la raison des arbres, PUR.

– Harrison R. (1992). Forest: Shadow of civilization, Chicago, The University Of Chicago Press.

– Huw O. (2020, sept.), Europe is getting a teamLab art space, and it’s going to be mindblowing, Time Out. Online: https://www.timeout.com/news/europe-is-getting-a-teamlab-art-space-and-i…

– Knight C. (2009, dec.), “Between the profane and the spirit worlds: the conceptualisation of uplands and mountains in Japanese and Maori folklore”. New Zealand Journal of Asian Studies, vol. 11, n°2.

– Knight C. (2010), The concept of satoyama and its role in the contemporary discourse on nature conservation in Japan, Asian Studies Review, 34(4), 421 (December 2010)
– Indrawan M., Yabe M., Nomura H., Harrison R. (2014, March). Deconstructing satoyama – The socio-ecological landscape in Japan (science direct) show that satoyama is cultural social construct, Ecological Engineering, vol. 64, pp. 77-84.

– Jeon M., Fiebrink R., Edmond E., Herath D. (2019, Nov.). From rituals to magic: Interactive art and HCI of the past, present, and future, International Journal of Human-Computer Studies (131):108-119.

– Kono T. (2011). Ecological Self: Body and Affordances, Kyoto, Nakanishiya publisher (in Japanese).

– Rots A. (2014). Does Shinto offer a viable model for environmental sustainability? Excerpts from author’s PhD. Online Academia.

– Wilson E. (1984). Biophilia. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press.

– Won Sop S., Poung Sik Y., Rhi Wha Y., and Chang Seob S. (2010, Jan.). Forest experience and psychological health benefits: the state of the art and future prospect in Korea, Environ Health Prev Med; 15(1): 38–47. Doi: 10.1007/s12199-009-0114-9Contact Info:

New greenery at Tadasu no mori, Shimogamo Shrine’s sacred grove. These abodes of the kami are held up as shining examples of Shinto’s greenness, but preserving a grove can go hand-in-hand with environmentally destructive policies elsewhere.

Michael Pye is an English academic who has worked at Marburg and Kyoto. He is on the committee of ISSA (International Shinto Studies Association) and has just published what looks like an interesting book on Japan’s Buddhist pilgrimages. On the academic.edu site, he has recently posted a revised version of a talk on the environment and Shinto he first gave in 1995 entitled Can Shinto think Green?

The conclusions Pye reaches are central to the concerns of Green Shinto, and the premises on which they are based will be of interest to the readers of this blog. Many Westerners are drawn to Shinto in the belief that as a nature religion it must be ‘green’, but within Japan such thinking seems simplistic. ‘In fact, Shintō, like most religions, has a somewhat ambivalent relationship to environmental matters,’ writes Pye.

What follows is a summarised account of the paper, and quotations are given with the permission of the author. (The full paper of ‘Can Shinto think Green?’ can be accessed here.)

*********************************************************

Can Shintō think Green? Introductory Remarks on Shintō, the Environment and Industry
by Michael Pye, Marburg.

Sacred waterfall at Matsuo Taisha. Shinto is particularist, and not all waterfalls are sacred…

One of the first issues Pye addresses is the orientation of Shinto in terms of ethics, and he notes the juxtaposition of ‘a religion of the Japanese people’ which ‘mainly promotes a national perspective’ as opposed to the universal nature of the environmental crisis. In terms of Shinto’s early development which grew out of its close relationship to nature, Pye asserts that it was ‘a question of the regulation and manipulation of natural forces, rather than of any kind of romantic love of nature.’ Moreover, as Green Shinto has noted on previous occasions, it is by no means evident that worship of particular items of sacralised nature leads to any significant change in environmental attitude or behaviour. The conservation of sacred trees for instance has gone hand in hand with the large-scale destruction of forests in south-east Asia .

In terms of moral values, Pye notes the emphasis on purity, sincerity and honesty. He notes too a contrast between the particularism of Shinto, whose concern is broadly limited to the frontiers of Japan, and the universalism of Buddhism. Given that water, air and sunshine are shared by humankind, Pye suggests that geographical restrictions are out of place in the face of a global crisis and that, while refraining from being seen to meddle in Japan’s affairs, ‘It is good to emphasize that progressive efforts for environmental protection would meet with world-wide recognition. That is always welcome.’

Pye then gives a concrete example of how change might be encouraged in Japan, which is worth quoting here at length:

Calling for a change of attitude is best done in conjunction with political and economic pressure. Specially targeted conferences and symposia are probably the most effective means of mounting influence from outside Japan, because they are often reported in the media. Responsible participation can be encouraged by the psychologically effective method of planning such symposia on the basis of mutual partnership and exchange.

International collaboration is one way of drawing Shinto into matters of universal concern.

A meeting on environmental questions in Germany, for example, could be complemented by a follow-up meeting to be held in Japan, and so envisaged in the planning stage. Moreover, funding is more likely to be forthcoming. Since the meeting in Japan then refers back to the previous meeting in Germany, it is able to have a much stronger effect on public opinion. For similar reasons, the participation and financial support of industry in both countries should be aimed at. Support in the form of subsidies only may lead into the blind alley of alibi-production, and would be analogous to the donations which flow from the major Japanese companies to the Shintō shrines. Such donations have above all an exorcising function and are supposed to ensure peace, safety and prosperity. It is therefore desirable to have direct representation from industry to industry, in the presence of other experts, ensuring that the environmental aspect remains on the agenda.

By way of conclusion, Pye considers whether Shinto representatives will be prepared to truly ‘go green’, or whether they will just use the word ‘nature’ as a feelgood factor to win popularity. In other words, will the Shinto establishment adopt ‘greenwashing’ as a tactic to project a sympathetic image? Noting that Shinto is an adapted primal religion, he states that throughout history it has undergone change reactively rather than proactively. If indeed it is to be truly a nature religion rather than a national religion, then it will probably need to be nudged in the right direction.

‘So, in the last analysis,’ Pye concludes, ‘there is a question to be posed. Are Shintō leaders prepared to think “green”? The question is urgent.’

Westerners sometimes have an idealised view of Shinto as a religion of nature worship, but Shinto in Japan often has concerns that are far removed from environmentalism.

Tag: environmentalism

Forest bathing (academic)

Asie-Sorbonne Workshop: The Tree that Hides the Forest

Shinto’s greenness