This paper examines two cases of fox possession (kitsunetsuki)
in a mountain village in eastern Shiga Prefecture. The study
focuses on the socio-religious and clinical context of the expression
of possession.
In Japan, kitsunetsuki has long been one of the most familiar
expressions of indigenous "madness". Nevertheless, psychiatric
research on the phenomenon, including those from folkloristic
and religious perspectives, have been conducted only since the
1960s. Hitherto, kitsunetsuki had been regarded as a vestige of
superstition.
The first part of the paper deals with some methodological
problems encountered when spirit possession is defined as a
"culture-bound syndrome". The features of this phenomenon
change according to various approaches used to understand it.
In the second part, two cases are examined from psychiatric
records. In the first a 18-year-old male became psychotically
excited after fatigue and a traffic accident. During his severe
confusion he manifested fox-like jumping actions. His family
regarded him as being possessed by local gods, and so left him
unattended for a month. He was hospitalized and was in
complete remission after three months of treatment. His
illness is diagnosed as "atypical psychosis" [MITSUDA 1979:
121-124].
In the second case a 34-year-old housewife (an aunt of the
male in the first case), entered a psychiatric hospital as a result
of illness induced by conjugal discord. After undergoing a series
of religious rituals to evict the fox that possessed her, she came to
hear the voices of three foxes. Her illness is diagnosed as typical
"invocations psychosis" [MORITA (森田) 1915: 286-287].
These two cases reveal a discrepancy between traditional
therapeutic ritual and modern psychiatric treatment.
In the third part of this paper, Kitsunetsuki is re-examined
from the socio-religious viewpoint, based on interviews with
villagers. The reasons for the occurrence in this village of
symptoms of fox possession are considered in their cultural and
religious contexts. Kitsunetsuki of this district can be traced back
to folkloristic and religious lines. Among other phenomena this
is attested to by many folktales of foxes, public religious rituals
practiced by the folkpriest, occasional visits of a man of the
"mountain religion" and his furious performances under godpossession,
and the famous kyogen play, which contains the
metamorphosis of fox, derived from the family temple of the
villagers. A major factor was acute social change in 1950s (e.g.,
in the marriage system, in traditional forestry, etc.). One
therapeutic religious cult which came to exert considerable
influence over the traditional religious order of this village was
finally absorbed into a large sect of Buddhism. Typically,
spirit possession in this village seemed to be formed in accordance
with the god-possessing seances of this cult. From this standpoint
the two cases examined expressed themselves through the symbolic
representation of "fox", when they reached psychological
crises. The other curious disease, "K village disease", is a
variant product of this process. These acts of performance are
molded upon the complicated socio-cultural background;
"possession complex" .
The last part of this paper presents some complemental
discussions on the expression of fox-possession. The folkloristic
and "symptomatic" peculiarity of this mountainous district, and
its tendency to combine with spirit possession, is analysed and
compared with that in the plain district. Two different types of
shamanism, spirit possession and ecstacy, are reconsidered,
based on the analogy of schizophrenic symptoms and other
mystical thoughts. The body in a state of possession and the
associated healing process are reviewed from theatrical and
political points of view.
After examining kitsunetsuki as a performed expression, it is
pointed out that the Westernized psychiatric nomenclature only
滋賀県湖東一村における狐憑きの生成と変容 : 憑依表現の社会 宗教的，臨床的文脈
KH_012_4_003.pdf
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