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Opinions about Jingū

One of Jinja Honchō’s most consistent policies is the strong promotion of the distribution of Jingū Taima, and Jinja Shinpō’s survey about hatsumōdë specifically asked about it. It is, therefore, not surprising that quite a few priests gave their opinions on this subject in the free response section. If you are a priest at a jinja affiliated with Jinja Honchō, this is a topic that you simply cannot avoid thinking about. As noted at the end of my last post, there are some priests who think that Jinja Honchō should… Read More »Opinions about Jingū

Promoting Jingū

The hatsumōdë survey reported in the 3rd March issue of Jinja Shinpō included quite a few responses from jinja that were taking particular steps to encourage local people to receive Jingū Taima, the ofuda from Isë Jingū. (The previous post talks about the overall state of play there.) In this post, I want to look at some of the things that they are doing. The most common activity is to put up posters or nobori flags, or distribute literature. (Nobori flags are long but narrow flags, hung vertically so that… Read More »Promoting Jingū

Jinja and Jingū

With preparations for the next Shikinen Sengū at Isë Jingū properly underway, the survey that Jinja Shinpō carried out about hatsumōdë this year asked specifically about the distribution of Jingū Taima and gathering support, primarily financial, for the Shikinen Sengū. Jingū Taima are the ofuda for Isë Jingū, and Jinja Honchō’s official position is that every household in Japan should have one. They are distributed through local jinja, mainly at the end of the year, although you can receive one at almost any jinja throughout the year. One of Jinja… Read More »Jinja and Jingū

Dispute Aftermath

As I explained in my last post about the disputed presidency of Jinja Honchō, the dispute has now been resolved, and Revd Tanaka is the undisputed president. Although I entitled that post “Problem Solved”, I did note that I was not being entirely sarcastic. The March 31st issue of Jinja Shinpō reported on two meetings that dealt with the issue, one of the Board of Directors and one of the heads of the Prefectural Jinjachō, and the board meeting article was on the front page. In the last post, I… Read More »Dispute Aftermath

Pamphlets

With Jinja Honchō’s new website, they have also made some new pamphlets public. Soul of Japan and Jinja were available before, but the others, I think, are new. Matsuri was mainly by the other consultant, so I am not going to say much about it — although it is worth reading. I wrote Shinto Myths a couple of years ago (checking my files, actually 2021-2), but I don’t think it made it online before the beginning of this month. The art and layout took quite some time, and as you… Read More »Pamphlets

New Book: Toshigoi Norito

My latest book is The Toshigoi and Tsukinami Norito, and it is available on Amazon and Gumroad. (Affiliate link to Amazon.) The title of this book is clear and informative if you are an expert on Shinto, and almost completely opaque if you are not. Unfortunately, the clearer titles would be insufficiently specific, because there are lots of other norito coming from the same source. That source is the Engishiki, a tenth-century legal compilation that includes details for the rituals through which the court bureaucracy venerated the kami. Those regulations… Read More »New Book: Toshigoi Norito