Animism

Animism is a worldview in which all natural things possess spirits. Japanese fermentation culture retains strong animistic sensibility. Brewers cherish house microbes, call koji mold the national fungus, and hang cedar balls at sake breweries for Shinto rituals. Invisible microbial activity is met with reverence, respected as living processes. Modern science made microbes objective research subjects, but an animistic perspective maintains the sense of being in relationship with microorganisms. Science and animism do not contradict—holding both views may be the path to richer understanding of fermentation. Modern microbiology treats microbes objectively, but Japanese fermentation culture retains animistic sensitivity toward microbes as beings we live with. Holding this dual perspective is key to understanding fermentation richly in both scientific and cultural terms.