Nature, Ritual, and Society in Japan's Ryukyu Islands

Contents List of Illustrations and Maps Acknowledgments Preface Linguistic note Introduction Chapter One: Commuted Landscapes and Species Primordial truths Domesticated reigns Sources of sentiment Diverted sentiment: The search for a surrogate Diverted sentiment: The search for a cover Lasting images Cultivated identities Cultivated kinship Fertilizing soils A semantic ecology Garlics and crabs Bulbs as modifiers of sentiment Crustaceans as modifiers of sentiment Parallel thought The nature of pretense Fuzzy nature Reproductive partnerships Chapter Two: Person and Island Fragments of desire Acts of engagement An animated ambience An adulation of watery flowers A women's initiation cult Two vessels for transporting moods Chapter Three: Cyclical Lapses Gendered events Women's Festival of Spring Men's Festival of Fall An interstice of the year A somber meal A walk in the dark A dance in the dark Two kinds of awareness Chapter Four: Fateful Exchanges Acts of disengagement Uncanny partnerships Ambiguous visitors The saddest moments Recipes for sharing and not sharing Lingering debts Sacrificial moods Curse and punishment An evil spirit of the sea An evil spirit of the soil An encounter with a root force Preparing for a stately journey Constructing the vessel Recovering from dealings with death A ride worthy of a king The end of the journey Readings on a catafalque wall The final moment: Body for body Elegies for a departed priestess Conclusion Glossary of key terms Bibliography

University of Oslo, Norway