JAPANESE RICE CULTURE
The Misunderstood Philosophy of the Agrarian Past
by Nold Egenter
The following study on Japanese rice culture is not a nostalgic report on long gone
agrarian ways of life in Japan. It is rather a scientifically objective attempt to
understand the philosophy of a village society without using the Eurocentric schematas
like "primitive belief", "rice soul" etc., as projected on Japanese cult traditions
by early Japanology (Aston, Satow, Chamberlain) or, later, by Western folklore studies
related to Japan (e.g. Eder). It describes agrarian 'rice culture' as a complex system evolved traditionally around a territorial demarcation system which, through its
existential meanings and morphological conditions, developed into a concept of high
ontological values. In the anthropological framework we find a socially and spatially
protective system which is not at all primitive. It clearly makes sense. It produced
a harmonious life philosophy and an aesthetic outfit from which - since we have lost
this harmony - we still can learn today. The paper had been published first in 'Swissair Gazette' 2/1989 which was devoted to various aspects of rice cultivation.
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