iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Caleb Carter @calebscarter.bsky.social · 11/06/2026

Starlink ad embedded in an NYT article questioning SpaceX’s IPO valuation. Rockets and satellites work as great metaphors for unprecedented heights and galactic growth. Here, Mt Fuji sits in as another icon of scale and grandeur. And unlike a rocket, it won’t come crashing back to earth.

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Caleb Carter @calebscarter.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

Here's my review of a deeply insightful reflection on the human and environmental history of Japan's most iconic mountain, published in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. doi:10.1017/S1356186326101539

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Caleb Carter @calebscarter.bsky.social · 05/04/2026

Had to get the iconic rural train rattling past sakura in full bloom shot

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Caleb Carter @calebscarter.bsky.social · 21/03/2026

Which do you prefer? The culturally significant sites, preserved from any alterations, or the ‘insignificant’ sites, plastered with senshafuda and other things that people leave behind? Which would compel you to visit Shinshōji?

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Caleb Carter @calebscarter.bsky.social · 21/03/2026

Well, structures without them are designated as significant cultural properties (重要文化財), and altering them in any way is not allowed (not to mention culturally taboo). But off the beaten path, you find them tucked away—everywhere. Unassuming gates門, small shrines, even some bigger halls (阿弥陀堂など).

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Caleb Carter @calebscarter.bsky.social · 21/03/2026

Here’s some, and more here, and here! Why tons in some spots and zero in others?

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Caleb Carter @calebscarter.bsky.social · 21/03/2026

Ahh, signs prohibiting them. Explains it. Wait, what’s this…

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Caleb Carter @calebscarter.bsky.social · 21/03/2026

Hunting senshafuda 千社札 today at the famous pilgrimage temple grounds of Naritasan Shinshōji 成田山新勝寺. [Dad voiceover] Hmm… for such a famous temple, where are the senshafuda…

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Caleb Carter @calebscarter.bsky.social · 20/02/2026

I've signed a contract with Princeton University Press for my next book! Tentatively "Ascendance: Mountain Climbing and Spirituality in Modern Japan," I'll look at the passage of mountaineering from England to Japan in the early 20th c, esp. on various modern spiritualities that emerged through it.

One of the many cool journal covers of the Japanese Alpine Club, this one from issue 2, 1914

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Caleb Carter @calebscarter.bsky.social · 27/01/2026

Thanks to Bruce Winkleton for the kind review! It focused on the narrative analysis in the book, a pet passion and something an earlier version of the manuscript centered, until I pulled it back and refocused on Shugendō’s historical development (albeit via its frequent shaping through narrative).

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Caleb Carter @calebscarter.bsky.social · 13/01/2026

His air tag eventually placed him back at the car (a few kilometers away!), though as I neared him (albeit still out of sight but with olfactory proximity?), he raced back to greet me.

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Caleb Carter @calebscarter.bsky.social · 13/01/2026

After two days of immersing myself in Tim Ingold’s theories of movement through landscapes, I made an impromptu decision to move through my own for some contemplation in practice of his ideas. Mount Kaya is a dormant volcano overlooking the Genkai coast, 15 minutes from the house.

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Caleb Carter @calebscarter.bsky.social · 20/12/2025

Excited to welcome Jolyon Thomas on Monday! For those in Fukuoka… Details here www.imapkyudai.net/events

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Caleb Carter @calebscarter.bsky.social · 01/12/2025

As one calligrapher reflected at the end of the day, “above all, we need to make it fun; otherwise there’s no reason to continue.” On that note, a wonderful execution.

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Caleb Carter @calebscarter.bsky.social · 01/12/2025

The day beautifully showcased Edo-based craft culture and those who carry it forward. How they will continue—and flourish—was a question raised throughout the day. It’s an anxiety that hovers over communities dedicated to traditional practices in Japan amidst an aging and rapidly changing society.

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Caleb Carter @calebscarter.bsky.social · 01/12/2025

The gathering was commemorated with original woodblock prints. Calligraphers, illustrators, woodblock carvers, and printers led the event and the production of the prints. Zōshōji, a major temple whose legacy is intertwined with the Edo period and its shoguns, provided the perfect venue.

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Caleb Carter @calebscarter.bsky.social · 01/12/2025

Over the weekend, I got the chance to attend a gathering of senshafuda clubs and firefighter brigades celebrating 100 years since the start of the Showa period. Called a nōsatsu ōgai 納札大會 (“great gathering [for the exchange of] votive prints”), this was apparently the first of its kind since 1921.

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Caleb Carter @calebscarter.bsky.social · 09/11/2025

Upcoming workshop on spirituality at Kyudai this Friday For those in the area, let me know if you’d like to join us (sorry, in-person only)

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Caleb Carter @calebscarter.bsky.social · 27/10/2025

First attempt at using Word's audio transcription in a while (just forgot to set it for Japanese)

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Caleb Carter @calebscarter.bsky.social · 26/10/2025

Research update from the Japanese Alps (Karasawa basin, Kamikōchi, Nagano pref)

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Caleb Carter @calebscarter.bsky.social · 24/09/2025

Cosmos on the autumnal equinox, Fukuoka, Japan

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Caleb Carter @calebscarter.bsky.social · 15/06/2025

No regrets on missing this for the No Kings Boston Pride parade

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Caleb Carter @calebscarter.bsky.social · 21/05/2025

2023年に星野靖二先生と平藤喜久子先生が私を國學院大學でのシンポジウム「見られることで何が変わるのか--ツーリズムと宗教文化」に招待下さいました。なかなか魅力的なテーマで、やはりそれぞれの発表は大変面白かったです。今月その報告書が出ました：https://k-rain.repo.nii.ac.jp/records/2001633 その中で私は修験道の事例を上げ、どのようにツーリズムと交錯しているのかを考慮しました。⬇️ tinyurl.com/3z7v7w6m

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Caleb Carter @calebscarter.bsky.social · 05/03/2025

If you're an early bird at the Association of Asian Studies this year, come visit us on Thursday eve! There's something for scholars of religious studies, art history, anthropology, and environmental history. And oh yes, mountain lovers. #AAS2025

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Caleb Carter @calebscarter.bsky.social · 04/02/2025

The epilogue recounts the gov’t's decimation of Shugendō in the Meiji era before pivoting to its recent return to many mountains. I end by reflecting on how historical perceptions shape its performance today and how reimagining that history fosters new modes of engagement.

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Caleb Carter @calebscarter.bsky.social · 04/02/2025

Ch 10 shows how 18th c. storytelling strategically embedded Shugendō in the ancient landscape, placing it at the very roots of the mountain’s origins. This image remains today, offering both inspiration and obstacles for innovation.

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Caleb Carter @calebscarter.bsky.social · 04/02/2025

Ch 9 returns to the issue of women’s exclusion from the site. I look at the economics, popular beliefs, and policies that accelerated this exclusion in the 18th century. Relying on Miyazaki Fumiko’s work, I also use Mount Fuji’s loosening restrictions as a counter example.

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Caleb Carter @calebscarter.bsky.social · 04/02/2025

Ch 8 explores the early modern growth of Shugendō at Togakushi through new narratives, rituals, and policies. While the apex of Shugendō is typically romanticized as medieval, the evidence demonstrates that it’s really the Edo period when things take off.

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Caleb Carter @calebscarter.bsky.social · 04/02/2025

After revising the conventional timeline of Shugendo, I similarly locate Shinto's arrival in the 17th c. Despite common perceptions, this shows that neither Shugendō nor Shinto were ancient traditions but spread to sites like Togakushi through specific historical contexts.

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Caleb Carter @calebscarter.bsky.social · 04/02/2025

Ch 7 focuses on how Togakushi's priests and Shugendō practitioners promoted their mountain’s wonders to a growing laity and traveling public who were eager to experience Shugendō firsthand and encounter the mountain’s famous dragon spirit.

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Caleb Carter @calebscarter.bsky.social · 04/02/2025

Ch 6 traces the transmission of those texts and the ritualized mountain entries they describe to Togakushi in the 1520s, marking the birth of Shugendō at the site.

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Caleb Carter @calebscarter.bsky.social · 04/02/2025

In chapter 5 we reach the self-conscious system of Shugendō. First emergent in mountains south of Nara, it gets fully articulated in ritual texts compiled at Mount Hiko (Kyushu) in the early 16th century.

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Caleb Carter @calebscarter.bsky.social · 04/02/2025

Ch 4 covers asceticism in the caves and on the slopes of Togakushi up through the fifteenth century. This activity is usually identified as part of Shugendō. I distinguish as part of esoteric Buddhism but absent of any self-aware elements of Shugendō.

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Caleb Carter @calebscarter.bsky.social · 04/02/2025

Ch 3 examines internal tensions over exclusionary policies against women at Togakushi and other mountains. Texts I introduce expose significant rifts over such practices in medieval Japan.

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Caleb Carter @calebscarter.bsky.social · 04/02/2025

Ch 2 shows how two centuries later–as the country’s central powers buckled under the brink of warfare–the mountain community flexed its autonomy, taking back its legendary origins and transforming the earlier beast into an all-powerful nine-headed dragon.

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Caleb Carter @calebscarter.bsky.social · 04/02/2025

Ch 1 looks how at how a monastic powerhouse—economically, politically, militarily—influenced Togakushi and beyond in the 13th c. through a simple technique. Storytelling. Subject: a serpentine demon with nine heads. (Photos below are mine from Togakushi and the archives.)

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Caleb Carter @calebscarter.bsky.social · 04/02/2025

For my birthday, I’m ‘ungifting’ myself a Twitter/X account. After 13 years, I’ve just deleted it—cathartic 🤩. I’m salvaging this one 🧵, which introduces my book from 2022.

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Caleb Carter @calebscarter.bsky.social · 10/01/2025

Brits are bringing Protestant orientations to Japan's mountains, naturalist literature by Emerson and others is being read, Japanese climbers are evaluating their own cultural heritage of mountain worship, women are ascending more peaks, and imperial agendas advance on the sidelines.

B/W photo of a small shrine atop at steep mountain

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Caleb Carter @calebscarter.bsky.social · 10/01/2025

It began with a question. Many of us love to get into the mountains--why? Even when unconnected to religion in a formal sense, there's often something deeper going on than just exercise. I'm tracing those underlying ideas, with an emphasis on Japan (my field of expertise). The material is rich!

A snowy ridgeline of a mountain in winter

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Caleb Carter @calebscarter.bsky.social · 17/11/2024

Finally, pasting is already in decline and most people (domestic and foreign) don’t know about it. More attention could help generate more accommodating stances and appreciation for this very cool practice! 7/

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Caleb Carter @calebscarter.bsky.social · 17/11/2024

Cultural heritage interests are another. The protection of valuable places is important, but often cultural *sites* get prioritized over cultural *practices*. Tourist dollars may flow in but at the expense of the site’s regular users 6/

A sign stating the temple bell structure is designated as cultural heritage

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Caleb Carter @calebscarter.bsky.social · 17/11/2024

It’s still done today, but shrines and temples are increasingly banning the practice. There’s a variety of reasons for this. One is new sticker versions, which degrade poorly, damage wood surfaces, and are often seen as too flashy for the aesthetics of the site. (Please don’t use these!) 5/

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Caleb Carter @calebscarter.bsky.social · 17/11/2024

Edo’ites (people from the shogun’s capital/old Tokyo) have been doing this since the mid-18th century. This text from 1790 states that people who paste with a sincere heart will have their prayers answered 4/

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Caleb Carter @calebscarter.bsky.social · 17/11/2024

Traditional ones are custom made from a woodblock carving and printed on washi paper with charcoal-based ink (sumi). Can you find Chiaki’s senshafuda here? This one has disintegrated over time, leaving only a trace of the ink behind 3/

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Caleb Carter @calebscarter.bsky.social · 17/11/2024

Here’s one example (given to me by a paster who goes by Chiaki). Centered is the name (Chiaki 千あき), aka the “daimei” of the practitioner. Above is often additional info—their hometown (not in these), club of paster (Tomoe-ren 巴連), and a dedication to the gods (shinbutsu hōnō 神仏奉納) 2/

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