Roads, State, and Religion in Japanese Antiquity

This is a story of the possibilities created by connection but also of the inherent fragility of movement within a network. It uses a case study of roads in ancient Japan (defined as late seventh through early ninth centuries) to show how networks amplify not only interaction but also isolation. Throughout the premodern world, massive highway construction allowed individuals to reach faraway places and fostered the spread of ideas, including religious ones. But in setting out, a potential wayfarer risked never returning, forever separating from his or her homeland. This was particularly true in premodern contexts, in which many travelers were reduced to rotting by the roadside. The fates of these individuals, who died distanced from their communities, spawned ritual problems. Who would perform mortuary services for the forsaken dead, especially if no one back home was even aware that they had passed on? This article explores the religious implications of road construction, both how a newly connected society enabled the rapid diffusion of a religious tradition and how increased mobility necessitated new practices. In short, I will take up “connectivity and its discontents,” a phrase borrowed from Sherry Turkle, a psychologist and scholar of technology. In doing