David Chart

What are jinja for? This is a question that members of Jinja Honchō’s Oversight Council have raised recently, and that has been addressed in editorials in Jinja Shinpō, but I do not think that there is an official answer. Here are some of the options that seem to be popular in the Shinto world — they could all be true at the same time. Jinja are places to venerate the kami. This is the most purely religious answer, and probably the closest to the original purpose of jinja. However, it… Read More »The Purpose of Jinja

Happy New Year! I hope 2021 is a lot better for everyone than 2020 was. Traditionally, millions of people across Japan would be visiting jinja today, often returning from the cities to their hometowns to do so. This season, however, has seen the government actively discouraging that. In a few weeks, when the reports start coming in, we will see what sort of impact this has had on jinja. I hope that it will be fairly minor. I have a Patreon, where people subscribe to receive in-depth essays on various… Read More »Happy New Year

I have made another back issue available on Gumroad: Experimental Theology. This is rather different from the normal essays, because it is about my experimental studies of Shinto. The essay explains why I am doing the experiments, how I am doing them, and why I am doing them in that way. It also has the first set of results, but those results are not terribly interesting. The experiments are ongoing, and the results are reported to my patrons on Patreon as each experiment concludes. I expect to write another essay… Read More »New Back Issue

Every year, the Shinto world distributes Jingū Taima, the ofuda associated with Jingū, and more specifically with the Naiku, which enshrines Amaterasu Ōmikami. People are expected to place this ofuda on their kamidana, and venerate it for one year, before replacing it at the end of the following year. Thus, in theory, jinja would distribute one Jingū Taima per household per year. In some areas (although not the area where I live), the priests and adherents of the local jinja go to visit every household and business, taking Jingū Taima… Read More »Distributing Jingū Taima

Since my standard cycle for these posts has one falling on Christmas Day, and since I write and schedule them in advance (the secret is out!), I though I would write about the connection between Shinto and Christmas. There isn’t one. Merry Christmas! …OK. A bit more detail, because this is more interesting than that might suggest. Japanese culture as a whole is very into Christmas. It isn’t a day off work or school, of course, but there are decorations in the shops, and anywhere that sells cakes sells Christmas… Read More »Shinto and Christmas

My essay on Mirrors, Swords, and Jewels is now available again for purchase through Gumroad. These items are the sacred treasures of the Tennō, but they are also important in other ways in Shinto. This essay discusses that significance, both historically and in contemporary practice. Buy Essay