일본 도교의 실천 연구

This article deals with the concept of health and health care in the context of Japanese Daoism as seen today. Though the existence of Japanese Daoism as a religion remains a controversial point of issue, the concept of health and health care are nevertheless useful to understand ‘Daoist elements’ in a single frame. This article focuses on Nihondokan’s activities (philosophy and practices) in the frame of the concept of health and health care. Nihondokan is the most active ‘Daoist’ group in Japan today. In Nihondokan, gi or vital energy, forms the foundation of the concept of health, which plays the pivotal role in the philosophy of Nihondokan. According to the founder of Nihondokan, the state of “natural” flow of gi without any “unnatural” blocking is essential for the state of health, and health care is nothing but the training for maintaining gi in the “natural” state. This article contributes to the study of Daoist practice, which is a relatively unexplored research area despite the fact that Daoism is one of the three major religions in the East Asian tradition. More study of Daoism is especially needed to understand the East Asian tradition of religion in a more complete and balanced way.