REVIEWS

This is the first volume in a new series aimed at encourasingr the erowincr con tacts and common ground between folklore studies (minzokugaku 民俗 学 ) and history, and as such heralds yet another encouraginsr sign in the study of religion in Japan. It represents a good example of the ways in which Japanese ethno graphic and folkloric perspectives have become increasingly enriched by his torical awareness and empirical research, and in which historians have come to value what, for want of a better term, may be described as folkloric evidence such as stories, lecrends, customs, and examples of popular belief and practice, as relevant materials in the understanding and reconstruction of the past. Shinno Tosmkazu has, over the last decade and a half, produced numerous perceptive and well-researched academic articles as well as one more general introductory, bu t excellent, book (SHINNO 1980), all o f which, from a sound historical basis, have examined such evidence as folktales and the travel records o f ascetics and religious itinerants to produce valuable insights into the nature, development, and dynamics o f pilgrimage and other forms o f relisrious travel