Aurélien Allard
After completing a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree in Japanese Language and Civilization at INALCO, as well as a Bachelor’s degree in Ethnology at the University of Strasbourg, I spent five years at Osaka University as a recipient of a Japanese government scholarship. During this time, I conducted extensive fieldwork in the Kansai region and northern Shikoku, focusing on local communities and places of worship.
My PhD, defended in 2016 under the supervision of François Macé at INALCO, examines the reclassification and reorganization of Shinto shrines during the Meiji and Taishō periods (1868–1926). I currently teach Japanese language and civilization (history and religious anthropology) at ULB and the University of Lille.
My current research focuses in particular on the Ishizuchi cult in Shikoku, a major pilgrimage site and a point of convergence for shugendō, Shinto, and Buddhist rituals. I am also interested in issues of secularization and laicization.
