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Shinto

Jinja: Heart of Japan in PDF

I have mentioned before on this blog that I wrote a booklet for Jinja Honchō entitled “Jinja: Heart of Japan” to serve as their general introduction to Shinto for foreigners. Most of the content was incorporated into Jinja Honchō’s English language website, and has been available for a while, but the only way to see the full booklet was to get hold of a physical copy. That has changed. The PDF is now available on their website. As you can see, there are nine languages available. The choice of languages… Read More »Jinja: Heart of Japan in PDF

Hemp

I have written before on this blog about hemp. Hemp is historically important in Shinto ritual, being used in traditional offerings and purifications, and it is also the plant that produces cannabis. This has caused problems, because Japan’s anti-drug, and anti-cannabis, laws are really strict. They are so strict that, until very recently, it was essentially impossible to get new permission to grow hemp with no psychoactive content. There were a few growers who had been grandfathered in, but they were not finding successors, and sometimes were being strangled by… Read More »Hemp

Sakura

One advantage of paying my respects at Shirahata Hachiman Daijin every day is that I do not miss the days when the cherry blossoms are at their best. Here are some photographs. Unfortunately, we also had some very rainy days, so the snake is looking a bit sad.

Faking Liberties

I have recently read Faking Liberties: Religious Freedom in American-Occupied Japan (affiliate link!) by Jolyon Baraka Thomas. It is very good, and well worth reading if you are interested in the social place of Shinto in Japan since the Meiji Revolution of 1868. His argument is roughly as follows. Japan had just as much religious liberty as any other constitutional democracy of the time under the pre-war Meiji Constitution. This was deeply problematic and often oppressive, but Japan was in no way exceptional in this. Shinto was definitely not the… Read More »Faking Liberties

Sōmen Divination

Sōmen are a popular type of wheat noodle in Japan — thin, and normally eaten cold in the summer. A particularly well-known type of sōmen is Miwa Sōmen, which is associated with Ōmiwa Jinja in Nara Prefecture. Indeed, the noodles are said to have been invented centuries ago by a priest of the jinja based on inspiration from the kami. Every year, the manufacturers’ association comes to Ōmiwa Jinja to have a divination ceremony performed, at which the kami determines whether the price of the noodles will be low, medium,… Read More »Sōmen Divination

2023 Snake

My local jinja, Shirahata Hachiman Daijin, had its annual First Rabbit Festival a few weeks ago (on the first day of the rabbit in March, as always), which means that there is a new snake up on the inner torii. Here are some photographs, which I took the day after it was put up, in nice weather. It still looks very fresh. At some point, I should put up photographs of what it looks like after a few months of being rained on. The festival itself is primarily a divination… Read More »2023 Snake