The Catalpa Bow: A Study in Shamanistic Practices in Japan

First published over twenty years ago, Carmen Blacker's comprehensive study of shamanistic practices in contemporary Japan continues to be acknowledged as the most important reference book in this field. She describes the shamanic figures surviving in Japan today, their initiatory dreams, ascetic practices, the supernatural beings with whom they communicate, and the geography of the other world in myth and legend. Her Preface to this third edition (with an extended bibliography) reinforces the importance of the reawakened interest in Japan of this ancient mystical worldview.