Kagura

Cultural anthropology, a branch of anthropology that studies cultural variations among human beings, can illuminate Japanese perspectives on environmental philosophy. By studying the kagura dance performances of the Kyushu regions of Takachiho and Gokase, the environmental anthropology of Japanese mythology can be revealed. The traditional Shinto religious and philosophical ideologies embodied in these ritual dance performances illustrate how the invisible power of divinity can become manifest in the environment. While nature in the Japanese tradition is morally neutral, the human response to the divinity present in nature is not; humans have an obligation to pursue a harmonious relationship with the natural world via the divinity present in it. Kagura stage performances can reveal the indefinite divinity present in the environmental background of Japan.