Basic mental structure in Japanese contemporary subculture of “character”（2）

This article deals with the "character-base activity" in contemporary Japanese subculture. The character, in this case, has a specific meaning that is not necessarily same as the general meaning. The character is not understood as the animate life or humanity itself, but is rather regarded as the "form", "template", "model", "vessel" of animate life or humanity. In the second part of this continuing article, I try to examine the basic mental structure in character-base activities from perspective of “Cognitive Science of Religion”, by particularly focus on “generative ritual theory” proposed by Thomas Lawson and Rober McCauley, and also “anthropomorphism theory” proposed by Stewart Guthrie. The main thesis I explore from these theories and apply to the structure and process of character-base activities is that, 1) direct/strong relation between the character's template and self expression of an actor, and 2) inner expression of an actor as supernatural/superhuman agent through mediation of the characterʼs template.