User:Rsorr1/sandbox

Plans to improve Dosojin Article

I want to add sections on the history and worship of Dosojin and add more detail in the beginning of article. Not all of Jizo section has citations so that needs fixing too. The other dosojin need to be expanded on as well and maybe have pictures of them as well. Need to discuss the representation of the Jizo bibs in Jizo section as well. Maybe a section on the forms of dosojin and why they are the way they are. If there are more important dosojin out there they need to be added to the list as well. All sources are dictionaries and encyclopedias, which are alright, but there should be other kinds of sources. Should try to find a picture of a dosojin in a hokora. Also need to discuss jizo and Japanese children's tales. Could also mention dosojin's involvement in festivals like the Nozawa Onsen Dosojin Matsuri. Link to Chimata-no-kami Wikipedia page also needs to be added. Link to Kasa Jizo too.

Preparing sections in Wikipedia article for improvement

Dōsojin (道祖神, road ancestor kami) is a generic name for a type of Shinto kami popularly worshipped in Kantō and neighboring areas in Japan where, as tutelary deities of borders and paths, they are believed to protect travelers, villages, pilgrims, and those in "transitional stages" from epidemics and evil spirits. Also called Sae no kami or Sai no kami (障の神・塞の神, kami to obstruct or keep out evil spirits), Dōrokujin (道陸神) or Shakujin (石神, literally: "stone kami"). Dōsojin are often represented as a human couple, carved male or female genitals, large stones or statues, or even tall poles along a road.

Dōsojin represented as a human couple.

Dōsojin are sometimes enshrined in small roadside Shinto shrines called hokora. In rural areas Dōsojin can be found at village boundaries, in mountain passes, or bordering country byways, while in urban areas at street corners or near bridges. When shaped like a phallus, they are associated with birth and procreation, and therefore marital harmony. When represented as a human couple, a Dōsojin is revered as a deity of marriage and fertility.

History

The origin of Dōsojin stone markers is uncertain and has no exact date. It is known, however, that after Buddhism was introduced to India, Jizō became a tutelary of travelers and pilgrims. Accordingly, he began to preside over pilgrimage routes and mountain passes in India and Southeast Asia in the form of statues.

Sae no Kami

In modern times, Dōsojin have become fused in popular belief with a different deity having similar characteristics called "Sae no kami", whose birth is described in the Kojiki. When kami Izanagi-no-mikoto sought to leave after going to the realm of the dead (Yomi no Kuni) to visit his spouse Izanami-no-mikoto, he was chased by the demoness Yomotsushikome (黄泉醜女, lit. Yomi ugly woman). To stop her, he threw her a stick from which Sae no Kami was born. For this reason, he is the kami who prevents the passage of the spirits of the dead into the world of the living, and therefore a god who is a protector of boundaries. He is represented by large rocks set at the edges of villages. Because of the rocks' elongated shape, he came to be associated also with childbirth, children and matrimonial happiness. As a consequence, he was in turn associated also with Jizō, the bodhisattva who is the protector of children.

Jizō

Roku Jizō

Jizō is the Japanese version of Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha, a Buddhist bodhisattva worshiped mainly in East Asia. His assimilation within a group of kami is an example of the Japanese syncretism of Buddhism and Shinto (shinbutsu shūgō). Originally from India, in Japan he was given new attributes and has become the guardian of children, expecting mothers, firemen, travelers, pilgrims, and unborn, aborted, or miscarried children. He is depicted as a plain monk, sometimes holding his shakujō (錫杖, six-ring staff) in one hand and the hōjunotama (宝珠の玉, wish-granting jewel) in the other. Statues of Jizō can be found along mountain passes or harrowing roads in Japan, often dressed in red, sometimes white, caps and bibs by distressed parents. Small stones are frequently piled in front of a Jizō statue, a tradition believed to relieve a child of their penance. Jizō statues commonly appear in groupings of six, called Roku Jizō. Six because of Jizō's vow to exist concurrently at all six states of Karmic Rebirth. A Roku Jizō appears in the Japanese folktale Kasa Jizō.

Chimata no Kami

Chimata-no-kami (岐の神, god of crossroads), according to the Kojiki, was born when kami Izanagi threw away his trousers to wash himself after returning from Yomi, the land of the dead. The Nihongi and Kogoshūi tell the same myth, but call the kami Sarutahiko. Chimata-no-kami symbols can be found at crossroads, perhaps because of the deity being associating with joining, and some famous onsens, to cure sexual or fertility issues.

Batō Kannon

Batō Kannon is the bodhisattva of compassion and keeps a watchful eye over the animal state of Karmic Rebirth. Atop Batō Kannon's head rests a horse's head. Stone statues of this deity can be found beside perilous paths and byways, like Jizō statues, in northern Japan. However, Dosojin in Batō Kannon's form not only protect travelers, but their horses as well.

Worship

Every January 15 in the village of Nozawaonsen, Nagano the Dosojin Matsuri is held. The Dosojin Matsuri is a fire festival meant to celebrate the birth of a family's first child, exorcise yōkai, and ensure blissful marriages. The day prior to the Dosojin Matsuri, a hundred or so residents of Nozawaonsen construct a shaden. Meanwhile, across the glade are two wooden poles that represent a human couple, the village's version of Dōsojin. On the day of the festival the shaden is burned in a scuffle between men ages twenty-five and forty-two—considered unlucky ages in Japan—and the rest of the villagers who bear reed torches. As the shaden burns, the village men of forty-two years sing to the Dōsojin. The men ages twenty-five and forty-two play a key in the festival to attain protection of Dōsojin to counter their bad luck.

Article Evaluation

Everything written in the article of Little Red Riding Hood (1997 film) seems relevant to the article topic, not out of place or not tied to the film. There isn't anything that steals the focus away from the topic of the article. No information is out of date because, as a film, there is no new developments on the topic to discuss. A lot could be added however. For one, the plot summary is missing many relevant details, like the roads and the little girl’s escape. Also, the only indication that the wolf does ballet in the film is the mention that the actor of the wolf is a ballet dancer. That the wolf ballet dances should be more clear. That the film resembles "The Story of Grandmother" also needs to be mentioned, unless it is the same story "The False Grandmother," that is mentioned in the article. The plot summary and synopsis could most definitely be improved. The first source mentions a description of the personality of little girl, which is missing in the article when it should be incorporated.

The article is not completely neutral. There is some indication of bias as an editor says that the film has black comedy elements. However, there is no citation, therefore no source that says that this claim is actually a fact. This means that the film being somewhat of a black comedy is an editors opinion. However, this is not a huge bias and if a source is found to support the claim the sentence can stay. I am not sure if any viewpoints should be represented in the article, as it may make it bias. If conflicting interpretations are found, they might be able to be incorporated into the article only if it is made clear that they are only a single source's interpretation and are represented evenly. Whoever reads the article must know it is that the mentioned interpretations are only interpretations, not the only explanation of the story. Still, it would be safer if no interpretations are mentioned in the article.

All but the huntsman link seem to work. The huntsman one redirects to an article on Deus ex machina, instead of an article on huntsmans. The links for the citations do work and support the claims of the article, but I think that a couple of the sources could be used more in the article. All the sources seem to be from neutral sources, but second source does not seem to be that reliable as it is from a blog.

Currently there are no conversations going on behind the scenes on how to represent the topic. However, conversations on how to represent this topic should discuss getting better sources, fixing the huntsman link, expanding the plot summary and synopsis, and remedying the unsupported claim of black comedy elements in the film. The article is start-class rated and is part of WikiProject Film and WikiProject Children's Literature. Wikipedia discusses the topic only by the facts of the story, with no interpretations made by editors. This is the opposite of our discussions of our interpretations of the film in class.

Article Plans for Interpretations

Orme interprets that the discrepancies between the visuals, narration, and soundtrack of the film exist to provide, along with the the representation of the wolf and the choice of narrator, space for queer possibility.