ABSTRACT

This chapter analyzes questions and answers (Q&A) in Japanese Q&A forums discussing the criteria for trustworthy spiritual healers. Rather than focusing on the actual criteria for healers, which will be evaluated in a different study. The chapter focuses on the meta-level of the communication process. It looks at the difficult balance those asking questions have to maintain between retaining their privacy in a public medium and yet offering sufficient information to elicit helpful answers and at the mechanisms through which those answering questions try to establish their cognitive authority while remaining anonymous. Spiritual healers may roughly be classified into diviners who predict the outcome of events and hence give advice for difficult decisions, and healers as such who provide help in major crises, such as continuous misfortune and obstinate illnesses. Some healers used print media to disseminate information about their services, such as telephone directories and individual leaflets.