{"title":"Ian Reader","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"shinto-simple-guides-book-ian-reader-9781857334333","title":"Shinto - Simple Guides","description":"THIS BOK WIL HELP YOU - to appreciate the significance of Japan's own religion in everyday life - to recognize the key traditions and festivals (matsuri) of the Shinto year - to understand what you will see at Shinto shrines and in Shinto rituals - to gain insights into the controversies surrounding Shinto, politics and nationalism ACES THE WORLD'S RELIGIONS Simple Guides: Religion is a series of concise, accessible introductions to the world's major religions. Written by experts in the field, they offer an engaging and sympathetic description of the key concepts, beliefs and practices of different faiths. Ideal for spiritual seekers and travellers alike, Simple Guides aims to open the doors of perception. 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Pilgrimage centres around the world, including Mecca in Saudi Arabia, Guadalupe in Mexico, Lourdes in France, Santiago de Compostela in Spain, Haridwar in India, and Shikoku in Japan, attract millions of pilgrims annually, while a flourishing 'spiritual tourism' industry has grown to promote the practice. In the present day, new pilgrimage locations, including 'secular' ones with no official affiliation, such as Graceland, Elvis Presley's house, continue to emerge across the world.  In this Very Short Introduction Ian Reader explores the factors that affect how pilgrimage has changed over time, from contemporary international developments, such as mass transportation to changing social attitudes reflected in the motives of pilgrims through the ages. He demonstrates the social and international aspects of pilgrimage, showing how it has become a way of expressing social identity and cultural heritage, as well as being entwined with themes of entertainment and tourism.   Reader explores the key issues and themes of pilgrimage through history to the present, looking at its various forms, how people take part, what is learnt from the journeys, and why pilgrimage remains popular in an increasingly secular age.   ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. 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A romance.Publisher: British Library, Historical Print EditionsThe British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. It is one of the world's largest research libraries holding over 150 million items in all known languages and formats: books, journals, newspapers, sound recordings, patents, maps, stamps, prints and much more. Its collections include around 14 million books, along with substantial additional collections of manuscripts and historical items dating back as far as 300 BC.The FICTION \u0026amp; PROSE LITERATURE collection includes books from the British Library digitised by Microsoft. The collection provides readers with a perspective of the world from some of the 18th and 19th century's most talented writers. Written for a range of audiences, these works are a treasure for any curious reader looking to see the world through the eyes of ages past. Beyond the main body of works the collection also includes song-books, comedy, and works of satire. ++++The below data was compiled from various identification fields in the bibliographic record of this title. 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This rich ethnographic work covers a wide range of pilgrimage activity and behaviour, drawing on accounts of pilgrims travelling by traditional means on foot as well as those taking advantage of the new package bus tours, and exploring the pilgrimage’s role in the everyday lives of participants and the people of Shikoku alike. It discusses the various ways in which the pilgrimage is made and the forces that have shaped it in the past and in the present, including history and legend, the island’s landscape and residents, the narratives and actions of the pilgrims and the priests who run the temples, regional authorities, and commercial tour operators and bus companies.  In studying the Shikoku pilgrimage from anthropological, historical, and sociological perspectives, Reader shows in vivid detail the ambivalence and complexity of pilgrimage as a phenomenon that is simultaneously local, national, and international and both marginal and integral to the lives of its participants. 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Examining the nationalistic rhetoric of nostalgia and unique heritage that underpins the promotion of religious sites, Reader also considers why priests acquiesce in such matters.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":51629221150993,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":51629221806353,"sku":"NGR9781350418875","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52658772607249,"sku":"NLS9781350418875","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1350418870.jpg?v=1750985854"},{"product_id":"on-being-nonreligious-in-contemporary-japan-book-ian-reader-9781350541498","title":"On Being Nonreligious in Contemporary Japan","description":"Challenging the notion of the nonreligious in Japan being religious through tradition and institution, this book demonstrates how negativity and antipathy for religion relate to religious decline in Japan today. 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