Bushū Mitakesan shinkōshi no kenkyū

Published in 1983 by Meicho Shuppan, Bushū Mitakesan shinkōshi no kenkyū by Kenji Nishigai represents a specialized contribution to the academic study of Japanese mountain worship, specifically focusing on the religious history of Mount Mitake in the Musashi region. Emerging from a period of growing scholarly interest in local shugendo and syncretic folk religions during the late 20th century, the text provides a rigorous historical analysis of how the mountain evolved into a major center for pilgrimage and spiritual practice.

The work is designed as a foundational academic reference, prioritizing primary source documentation and archival research over popular narratives. Nishigai approaches the subject by deconstructing the evolution of Mitake's temple-shrine complex and the socio-religious influence it exerted on the surrounding Kantō plain. It was received by the academic community as a dense, necessary volume for regional history departments and those researching the intersection of geography and institutionalized faith in pre-modern Japan.