DARK GODS IN THE AGE OF LIGHT: The Lightbulb, the Japanese Deification of Thomas Edison, and the Entangled Constructions of Religion and Science

The foothills of the Arashiyama Mountains on the western outskirts of Kyoto, Japan, are well-known to Japanese sightseers, who make their way to the region for its famous bamboo groves, medieval temples, hot springs, and seasonal cherry blossoms. But nestled amongst these quaint tourist attractions, not so far from the hermitage of a renowned haiku master, sits a very unusual Shinto shrine, the Denden-gu Shrine, dedicated to Denden-Myōjin 電電明神, the Bright God of the Electric Telegraph and Telephone—a deity that from its title alone seems to occupy a vexed position among religion, science, and technology.¹ In reverence to this