A History of Timelessness: Constructing Authenticity at the Ise Shrines

Every twenty years for over a millennium, the Ise shrines have been rebuilt from the ground up, and hundreds of shrine treasures replaced. At Ise, the aspiration to timelessness that is the essence of all monuments has been pursued through endless repetition rather than construction in durable materials. Spanning from Ise's prehistoric beginnings to the present, A History of Timelessness explores the manifold circulation of goods this massive enterprise has engendered, as well as the politi...