416 | Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 41/2 (2014)

Anthropological research on Shugendō 修験 道 is far outnumbered by those of religious studies and history, yet it offers innovative perspectives with multidisci-plinary implications.1 The method of analysis that distinguishes the anthropology of Shugendo from those of other disciplines is the emphasis that anthropologists place on understanding Shugendo within and beyond specific contexts: consider-ing the relational dynamics, for instance, between Shugendo and various dimen-sions of social life in contemporary Japan, while striving to discern its ontological insights—what Shugendo can teach us, directly or indirectly, about the human con-dition. Situating its pantheistic ontology, rites, and political history in the gamut of anthropological thought, ethnographies of specific Shugendo contexts can lead to more general theories of asceticism and the soteriological trinity of life, death, and rebirth, which is pervasive in Asian thought (see Obeyesekere 2002) Lobetti’s recent work, Ascetic Practices in Japanese Religion, is a solid contribution to the anthropology of Shugendo because it offers a multifaceted analysis of contem-porary Shugendo, exploring its influence on sociality and contemplating its mor