The video in this post gives an overall impression of the ceremonies around the transfer of the kami from one sanctuary to another at a jinja in rural Kyoto Prefecture. It has proper English subtitles for the explanations (although the English translation is not as great as it could be), so it should be accessible to most of my readers. It’s also short — only three minutes.
The making of the video was reported in the January 24th issue of Jinja Shinpō, which is how I found out about it. It was created as part of a Kyoto Prefecture project to connect university students in Kyoto City with the rural areas of the prefecture. (About the only prefecture that does not have very rural areas is Kanagawa, the one I live in. Tokyo does.) In this case, the students worked with a research group to make the video about the transfer of the kami.
At this jinja, Koishidani Jinja, the kami is transferred once every twenty years, just like Jingū at Isë. This, however, is much smaller scale, and supported by local people. I am not going to say much in commentary, because I do not know any more about this particular case than is described in the video.
Enjoy!
this was a beautiful ceremony, the tale of her wishing to be able to protect others is a testament to the innate goodness of humanity. this literally brought tears of joy to my eyes.
The Japanese is arguably even better: “It is enough for me alone to have suffered from love and sickness. I want to become a guardian kami.”
that is lovely!