Pilgrims Until We Die

Reviews / Votes

It is suggested that the Shikoku pilgrimage should be seen not as a static phenomenon but instead as an unending dynamic journey. This volume provides an interesting starting point for further studies on pilgrimage in general. * Marzia Alteno, Religious Studies Review * The book is rich in detail, well researched, and well written. * P. Passariello, CHOICE * Impeccably researched and engagingly written, Pilgrims Until We Die is a new milestone in pilgrimage studies... Combining rich documentary material based on in-depth interviews and firsthand observation, this study challenges classic theoretical models of pilgrimage and their reliance on Western Christian examples. * Mark W. MacWilliams, St. Lawrence University * Reader and Shultz present a powerfully argued case for regarding pilgrimage not as exceptional activity but embedded habit, and even orientation for life. In doing so, they demonstrate the importance of going beyond Christian or Western assumptions in developing analytical frames for sacred travel. * Simon Coleman, Author of Powers of Pilgrimage: Religion in a World of Motion * Reader and Shultz's argument for looking at pilgrimage from an immersive perspective is convincing...The title of their book, Pilgrims Until We Die, sounds like a heartfelt pledge to which both Reader and Shultz could be understood to subscribe themselves. * Carina Roth, Politics, Religion & Ideology * This volume provides an interesting starting point for further studies on pilgrimage in general. * Marzia Alteno, Religious Studies Review Vol 48.4 * As researchers we are all on something of our own henro...reading the book slowly-helped no doubt by its ambulatory, circular, and spiritual subject matter - I gained not only detailed insight into the henro itself, but also a most welcome opportunity to reflect on what we do as researchers, and why. * Monumenta Nipponica 78:1 * Pilgrims Until We Die is useful for multiple audiences. For scholars of pilgrimage studies, the call to examine lifelong engagement with a pilgrimage is well worth heeding...For scholars of Japanese religions, this work can provide an understanding of current trends in Japanese pilgrimage in general and the Shikoku henro in particular. It also provides a useful insight into the practices of aging Japanese (many of the repeaters are around or above retirement age), which is important in Japan's rapidly aging society. This work makes contributions to all these fields of study by aptly bringing to the fore the lives and important roles held by repeat performers of the Shikoku henro and demonstrates how we are remiss if we fail to take them into account. * Matthew Mitchell, Reading Religion *