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David Chart

Daijōsai Archaeology

The Daijōsai is an important Shinto ceremony that is conducted by each Tennō at the beginning of their reign. I wrote an essay about it around the time of the current Tennō’s accession, which you can buy on Amazon (affiliate link!). The history of the ceremony is not continuous, because there were a couple of centuries in which the Tennō did not have the resources necessary to perform it — it requires several buildings to be constructed from scratch, and then demolished, among other things. However, the Tennō always wanted… Read More »Daijōsai Archaeology

Foreigners at Jinja

One of the year-opening articles in the January 1st issue of Jinja Shinpō is by a priest born in 1941 who currently works at Meiji Jingū. He observes that many foreigners, of all kinds, visit Meiji Jingū every year, and that they all seem to enjoy the experience. He says that the department where he works — Meiji Jingū’s International Shinto Culture Research Center — has focused on introducing the sacred forest and helping people to feel the sacred power within nature, and on the ideals of the kami of… Read More »Foreigners at Jinja

Year Opening Articles

At the end of each year, Jinja Shinpō invites people who were born in the same zodiacal year as the following year (so, for this year, the year of the snake) to write short articles, which are published over the course of January. These are short opinion pieces, and while some people are individually asked to write them, there is also an open call, announced in the newspaper. A few years ago, I wrote one and sent it in for the open call, and they published it. Because the zodiacal… Read More »Year Opening Articles

Problem Solved

On December 12th last year, the Board of Directors of Jinja Honchō met, and the chairman appointed Revd Tanaka as president. This means that the immediate problem of the disputed presidency is solved — the title of this blog post is not (entirely) sarcastic. Revd Tanaka is the president of Jinja Honchō, until the whole board comes up for election again in May. This also means that the chairman decided to give in for the sake of unity. I think this greatly reduces the chances of a split in Jinja… Read More »Problem Solved

Starting to Serve

Revd Tagawa’s series of columns in Jinja Shinpō continued in the December 16th issue. This instalment covers the beginning of her service as a priest. As she mentioned in the previous column, she had found a place at Imari Jinja, fairly near her home, and she was soon given responsibility for gokitō (formal prayers). This was not just in the jinja itself, but also in their wedding hall. There, she had a problem. The miko were older than her, and their reaction was to laugh. “What? A female priest?” Now,… Read More »Starting to Serve

Mutual Aid for Priests

Tottori Prefecture, on the Japan Sea coast, has the lowest population of any prefecture in Japan — 530,000, or about a third the population of Kawasaki. This means that it has all the problems of depopulation, including the ones that directly affect jinja. The December 2nd issue of Jinja Shinpō had an article about part of the response. The prefectural association of young priests has set up a group that links jinja looking for extra priests for special matsuri with young priests who want to get more experience of serving… Read More »Mutual Aid for Priests