Reflections on Interdisciplinary Dialogue: A Case Study of the Relationship Between “Hatsumode” and Meiji Shrine

“Culture” is the basis concept of the dialogue between the landscape discipline and cultural anthropology. However, how to avoid the trap of static cultural representations and integrate the macro and micro perspectives is the subject of future work. Starting from this perspective, this research, by discussing the interactions between the social practice of Hatsumode in Japan and the construction of Meiji Shrine, reveals the dynamics of the interactions of multiple forces in landscape formation, suggesting that a focus on the landscape practice itself offers new possibilities for future interdisciplinary dialogue. The establishment of the Hatsumode as a "tradition" and the construction of Meiji Shrine, a mutual accomplishment, dynamically demonstrate the integrated perspective to landscape, which also suggests the importance of reflexive thinking on landscape practice. The forest at Meiji Shrine, substantial for Hastumode, established the "forest aesthetics". The aesthetic values behind the Meiji Shrine and the invention of Hatsumode together convey the quest for the self in the process of modernization in Japan when it encountered the West.