Group of 100 Devotees of Koyasan and Kumano

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Professor emeritus at Kogakkan University

Yoshinaga Handa

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Yoshinaga Handa was born in Kinokawa City, Wakayama Prefecture, and currently he lives in Ise city. He studied contemporary Japanese literature (authors such as Ogai Mori and Shiki Masaoka). He has also worked to further academic exchanges between Japan and China as a visiting professor at Henan Normal University. He also participates in editing and authoring books on the history of Wakayama Prefecture. He has authored works including Gekisakka Sakanaka Masao: Denki to Shiryo, Sato Haruo Kenkyu, Bunjintachi no Kii Hanto: Kindai Bungaku no Yoha to Sozo, and Kindai Sakka no Kiso: Bungaku no Seisei to Saisei, and he has edited works including Ariyoshi Sawako no Sekai, Kii Hanto Kindai Bungaku Jitten, and Niwa Fumio Bungei Jiten. He is a member and trustee of various organizations, including the International Society for Kumano Studies, the Kaishaku Gakkai, and the Shiki Kenkyu no Kai. His hobbies are watching professional sumo and theater.

The Kii Peninsula, which is Japan's largest peninsula and which encompasses Koyasan and Kumano Sanzan, is known as a place (topos) that brings together some of the world’s most remarkable spiritual culture. Those of us who live here benefit from this extremely blessed environment, which enables us to think about the past, present, and future of humankind and the rightful form it should take. Just as the Man’yoshu is loved by all Japanese as the national poetry anthology, the time and space of Koyasan and Kumano enlighten people from a variety of standpoints, not simply as a place of healing, but also as a place that embodies universal values. There can be no doubt that the aura of Koyasan and Kumano will become only more meaningful in a time characterized by dizzying change.

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