Dr. Masato MORI

Professor
College of Humanities, Law and Economics
Mie University

Biography

2018-Present     Professor of the College of Humanities, Law and Economics of Mie University

2005- 2018 　　Associate Professor of College of Humanities and Social Sciences of Mie University

2003-2004 　　　Lecturer of College of Humanities and Social Sciences in Mie University

2000- 2003 　Ph.D (Geography) Department of geography, School of Humanities,

Kwansei Gakuin University

1998- 2000 　Master of Geography Department of geography, School of Humanities,

Kwansei Gakuin University

　　My major is cultural geography. I'm very interested in cultural phenomena in modern

and postmodern Japan, cultural phenomena is deeply entangled with political and economic

levels, or in other word, those can't be divided in fact.

　　My long work is about Japanese pilgrimage, Henro Pilgrimage on Shikoku Island.

Though many researchers( historians, folklorists, sociologists and geographers) have paid

attentions to this pilgrimage, they all regard this as automatic religious one without any

contacts to economic and political levels. In the contradiction to this view, I found complex

relationship between this pilgrimage and other levels.

　　As modern transport system was established for homogenic national territoriality in

modern Japan, and domestic tourism made an appearance, many tourists without religious

belief went into this pilgrimage as leisure. This phenomenon was combined to the

emergence of Japanese capitalism and middle class. Against this movement, people who

wanted to keep religious values insisted of the pilgrimage's "orthodox" style. In the World

War 2, to discipline bodies, Japanese government required making pilgrimage on foot, but

we can find people's tactics. After that war, Henro pilgrimage have been had the

relationship with mass-media, domestic tourism, idea of cultural heritage and ecology and

so on. And I have an interests to tourist gaze and religious sacred place too.

　　Second theme is episteme of Japanese folklore. Japanese folklorists have a long

tradition studying Kunio Yanagita who was founder of Japanese folklore. Yanagita's

folklore was supported by many local intellectuals who was disciplined. My interest is how

those intellectual's practices which is directed within episteme of Japanese folklore

consisted of Japanese folklore reflectively.

　　Third theme is about Japanese nationalism. Though Japanese nationalism studies

resolved how national ideology was constructed, it tend to regard national ideology as top d

own process. I paid attention to processes of 'surdtermination'. I think ideology was

mediated by several levels, and consisted from several direction. So I found out how mass

media, religious sects, exhibition at department store and administer of cultural property

mediated this processes and how ordinal people decoded it.

　　Fourth theme is urban politics and consumption. After emergence of late-capitalism,

specific consumptions which desire are evoked is central issue even in Japan. As specific u

rban Landscapes and senses of place appeared, those are often built at inner city not only in

Tokyo, even in Osaka city. That rent run up. Now I'm tackling the relation ship this kind of

gentrification.

　　Fifth theme is perspective of environment pollution and landscape of injustice.

Industrial city Yokkaichi located in Mie Pref. is famous for environment pollution. Today,

when we see Yokkaichi's chemical conbinat, we feel insanitation, dirty and injustice

( because we know this conbinat was accused of causing pollution ). But, till half of 1960s,

this landscape was a symbol of Japanese industrial development - it was called the 'million

dollar’s night scene'- , and people couldn't cognize polluted water and smoke as dirty.

Recently, I'm engaged in the question how episteme of dirty and pollution has changed,

and with this change, how perspective of landscape has transformed.