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David Chart

The Izawa Rice-Planting Festival

Izawa-no-Miya is one of the Betsugū of the Naiku at Jingū. (This is explained in the chapter on Jingū in my book. Basically, the Betsugū are important subsidiary jinja, but they can be quite some distance from the main sanctuary — in this case, a bit less than twenty kilometres.) Izawa-no-Miya is the only one of the Betsugū to have its own sacred rice fields, and the rice-planting festival, otauë-shiki, is one of the three largest and most famous in Japan. When it is held at full scale, it involves… Read More »The Izawa Rice-Planting Festival

The Burdens of Sacred Forests

The August 29th issue of Jinja Shinpō had an article written by the chief priest of a jinja in Shiga Prefecture in response to the articles about sacred forests. The jinja is in a town, facing onto the main road through it; the precincts cover about a hectare, and there is a good forest, including a keyaki (Japanese zelkova) with a trunk 4.5 metres in circumference. The woodland is designated by the city as a protected woodland, and people often visit it. However, maintenance is a major task. The trees… Read More »The Burdens of Sacred Forests

“Tales of Sacred Forests”

Over the past few years, Jinja Honchō has produced a number of short (under five minute) videos introducing “ordinary” jinja around Japan, under the title “Chinju no Mori no Monogatari”, or “Tales of Sacred Forests”. They are more about the jinja and the matsuri than the forests as such, but “mori” is Japanese for the sacred space of a kami as well as for a woodland, so that is fair. They were made with a Japanese satellite television company, and broadcast in Japan. Jinja Honchō is now making them available… Read More »“Tales of Sacred Forests”

Himeji Jinja

Most readers of this blog have probably heard of Himeji Castle. It is the most spectacular of Japan’s surviving castles, and a World Heritage Site. I doubt anyone has heard of Himeji Jinja. Well, you are going to. But first, a bit of background. As readers probably do know, I work for Jinja Honchō as a consultant. Earlier this year, I suggested that I could offer assistance to jinja, particularly smaller jinja, that wanted to strengthen their ability to accommodate foreigners, both visitors and residents. Nothing will really happen at… Read More »Himeji Jinja

Holy Water

The August 15th issue of Jinja Shinpō included a substantial article about the Gion Matsuri in Kyoto. This is one of the largest and most famous matsuri in Japan, with roots going back over a thousand years, and it happens over the course of July. It is the main matsuri of Yasaka Jinja, and the centrepiece, as far as most people are concerned, is two processions of elaborate floats, called “yamaboko”. I have written about it before, because it had to be radically altered to respond to the pandemic —… Read More »Holy Water

Environmental Issues

A few articles in the August 15th issue of Jinja Shinpō addressed environmental issues. Several of them were about the Mt Hiei Religions Summit, which had “Climate Change and the Responsibilities of Religious People” as its theme. One was about sacred forests, and their potential to operate as OECMs under the CBD. I’ll explain what that means later. The Mt Hiei Religions Summit has been happening for 35 years, although it seems that it is only held once every five years. (That part of the description was a bit complex,… Read More »Environmental Issues