The View of Life and Death in Long Life Society ; Rethinking of Okinawan Shamanism.

日本是长寿国家之一。最重要的是，冲绳县以长寿社会而闻名，尤其是女性。我们有一个假设，冲绳妇女的长寿与他们的祖先崇拜和土著萨满教的日常行为有关。因此，本研究旨在探讨冲绳原住民信仰所支持的生死观是否能缓解死亡的压力，从而提高冲绳女性的寿命。研究结果如下：1.以前冲绳县的长寿理论忽略了男女的差异.冲绳萨满教的宇宙观强调死后的永生，影响了特别是老年女性的生死观。对上帝和祖先的习惯性祈祷给老年妇女带来了放松。研究发现，部分老年妇女在养老院和医院中周期性地经历一种意识状态的改变，这种意识状态具有自我治疗的功能。老年妇女把自己的生命看作是从祖先到后代的连续体的一个蓬特。总之，萨满教是当地文化所培养的应对危机的系统，而冲绳的萨满“Yuta”则是一种“现场顾问”。

Now, Japan is one of the long life countries. Above all, Okinawa Prefecture is well-known as a long life society, especially women. We have a hypothesis that the longevity of Okinawan women is corelated with their everyday actions of ancestor worship and the indigeneous shamanism. So this project examined the proposition that the view of life and death supported by the indigenous, faith relieve the stress of death and consequently advances the the longevity of Okinawan women. The results are as follows.1. The previous theoris of the longevity of Okinawan Prefecture neglected the difference of man and woman.2. The cosmology, of Okinawan shamanism emphasizes the everlasting life after death and influences on the view of life and death of especially older womens.3. The customary prayer to God and ancestor bring the relaxation to older women.4. It is found that some of older women of the homes for the aged and hospitals experience a kind of altered states of consciousness periodically which functions as self healing.5. Older women see their own life as a pont of a continuum from ancestors to descendants. This senses may bring a stable self-concept to older women.In a word, shamanism is the coping system for many crisises cultivated by local culture, and shaman "Yuta" in Okinawa islands is a kind of "field counseler".