Sacred Space in the Modern City

Book excerpt: Sacred Space in the Modern City offers strikingly new and original perspectives on a number of controversial issues and important questions concerning Japanese pre- and post-war ideology and identity. Meiji shrine is not just ‘a’ shrine; it is ‘the’ shrine of twentieth-century Japan. This book is also noteworthy on account of its use of previously untouched archival materials as well as for its broad range of theoretical approaches applied within a multidisciplinary context. The author uses Meiji shrine as a lens with which to investigate the nature of the society that created, experienced and reproduced this site. This long-overdue study will be widely welcomed by researchers interested in Shinto and Meiji Japan, as well as the wider readership wishing to access the social history of Taisho and early Showa Japan.