Japanese Journal o f Religious Studies 1988 15/2-3 The View of Spirits as Seen in the Bon Observances o f the Shima Region

The present paper deals with the meaning to be given to the shinmo 新亡， i.e., the spirits of people who died in the preceding year, in the context of Japan’s traditional ancestor veneration practices. It is based on field work done on Bon observances in the so called five Kamo villages (Funatsu-cho