Shinto

Today’s post is based on an article in the Journal of Shintō Studies, an academic journal published by The Society of Shintō Studies at Kokugakuin University. I have mentioned it before; I am a member of the society, and thus get the journal. It is very interesting, but it is published twice a year, while Jinja Shinpō is published once a week, so you get rather more posts based on the latter. The article I want to pick up today is “The Law of Attraction: Deities and Shrines in Votive… Read More »Jinja and Wish-Fulfillment

The October 18th issue of Jinja Shinpō had a full-cover back page special on the opening of “The Sword Treasure Vault Kusanagi-Kan” at Atsuta Jingū in Nagoya. This was part of the jinja’s redevelopment to celebrate the accession of the new Tennō in 2019, and was the last part to be completed. It is a museum, displaying some of the swords that have been donated to the jinja over the centuries. The goshintai, the object housing the kami, at Atsuta Jingū is said to be Kusanagi no Mitsurugi, the sword… Read More »Kusanagi-Kan

A few weeks ago, I reported on an article in Jinja Shinpō about how people were paying their respects at jinja. The author of that article had another one in the October 11th issue, looking further back, and starting from a line from a military song published during the Second World War, which refers to a mother visiting Yasukuni Jinja and kneeling to pay her respects and recite a Nenbutsu, which is a Buddhist prayer. According to the article, this was to emphasise her rustic background, as she did not… Read More »Kneeling at Jinja

As of yesterday, I have visited Shirahata Hachiman Daijin to pay my respects every day for 365 days without missing a single one. Just thought I would use my blog to brag about that. I have been basically visiting the jinja every day for something like eight years now, but under normal circumstances I have overnight trips, or there are typhoons or snowstorms, and I have to miss occasional days. However, thanks to the pandemic and the lack of truly violent weather in Kawasaki over the last year, I have… Read More »A Year of Daily Visits

Last Sunday, I went to Kinkazan Koganëyama Jinja, in Miyagi Prefecture, for a formal prayer. This is a jinja that I have visited every year for the last nine years, and I have mentioned it before on this blog — my name is literally carved in stone in the precincts. This year, for various reasons, I wasn’t sure that I would be able to get there, because it is a long way away, and last Sunday was when I could. By chance, that was also the day of the annual… Read More »Ebisu Matsuri

The home of Amaterasu Ōmikami and many other kami in Shinto myth is Takamagahara, or possibly Takamanohara. In Japanese, it is written with three characters, meaning “high” (“taka”), “heavens” (“ama”) and “plains” (“hara”). The last “a” of “taka” and the first “a” of “ama” merge, making “Takama”, and then “hara” goes on the end. I normally translate it as “the High Plains of Heaven”. However, there is no written character in the Japanese corresponding to “ga” or “no”. “Ga” and “no” are both possessive particles. “Ga” is from old Japanese,… Read More »Takamagahara or Takamanohara?