Shugendo: The Way of Power

Abstract

<p>Shugendo: The Way of Power is a video thesis with a dual agenda. Its primary purpose is to compare Japanese Shinto and Buddhist Shugendo springtime festivals, examining historical, cultural, and religious modes of ritual expression. Pedagogically, this introduces complex ritual material to a new audience of students who have little experience with folk and esoteric religious traditions by allowing them to see how these rituals are actually performed. A paper on fieldwork methodology accompanies the video, exploring the common barriers to documentary film and the need for multimedia projects in the Academy. This should help guide future work in the fields of Ethnographic Film and Ritual Studies by providing insights into the methods used to produce this video thesis.</p>