The August 19th issue of Jinja Shinpō led with an article about the first meeting of the Jingū Shikinen Sengū Preparation Committee. The committee is an advisory body for the Senior Chief Priest of Jingū, with the remit to investigate and discuss important issues. It is chaired by the Chairman of Jinja Honchō, Revd Takatsukasa, who is himself a former Senior Chief Priest of Jingū. Revd Tanaka, the President of Jinja Honchō, is also on the committee.
The meeting was held on July 31st, in Tokyo, and other members of the committee include the previous head of the Tennō’s personal priests (the shōten), and the current deputy head of that group, who is also the head of the matsuri division. As the matsuri at Jingū are considered to be performed for the Tennō, their attendance is natural.
Further members of the committee include the head of the Jingū Adherents’ Association, and members of (I think) the governing boards of Jingū and the Adherents’ Association. (They are referred to as “sōdai”, which in this context probably means something like directors, rather than day-to-day managers). The head of the Adherents’ Association is Masayuki Matsushita, the grandson of the founder of Panasonic, and a former vice-chairman of that company, and thus forms a natural bridge to further members. They are: the head of the Japanese Chambers of Commerce, the head of Keidanren (the organisation of large Japanese companies), and the head of the Japan Association of Corporate Executives.
The Senior Chief Priest of Jingū and Revd Takatsukasa both made opening remarks (Revd Takatsukasa talked about the importance of teamwork…), and a video introducing Jingū was shown. This was followed by an explanation of what would happen during the Shikinen Sengū.
Now, it is true that there is a tendency for meetings in Japan (at least) to involve someone reading out the material that was distributed in advance, even when everyone at the meeting knew it already. That is particularly true for high-level committees like this one. Indeed, the accompanying editorial talks about what happened last time, and it involved the establishment of several more committees to actually make practical decisions and manage the process. However, I suspect that the video and explanation were not entirely otiose. I think that gathering donations for the Shikinen Sengū is one of this committee’s important functions, and that that is why the heads of all the major business organisations in the country are on it. The “sōdai” of Jingū and the Adherents’ Association may also be people who provide substantial financial support — after all, that is true of the sōdai of most jinja.
In one sense, that should be the committee’s only function. The rituals and activities of a Shikinen Sengū are defined by traditions and documents going back over 1300 years, and so the only substantial unanswered question should be “how do we pay for it this time?”. However, the presence of a significant number of priests on the committee suggests to me that it does have another function. It is possible that Jingū will come up against a significant problem in the process. For example, suppose the crafter who made one of the sacred treasures last time was the only one in Japan, had no apprentice, and has since died. (This is a possible situation that people involved have expressed concern about in print.) The official description of the committee, and its membership, makes me think that, if something like that happens, this committee will genuinely provide advice to the Senior Chief Priest of Jingū on how to handle the problem.
I suppose, then, that I hope that Jinja Shinpō never again feels the need to report on it at any length.