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Ashizu Uzuhiko

The June 13th issue of Jinja Shinpō contained a long article about Ashizu Uzuhiko. He died thirty years ago this year, in 1992, and was probably the most important single figure in post-war Shinto. In the immediate post-war period he was known as “Shinto’s Lawyer”, because he publicly defended Shinto against the attacks launched on it by both the Occupation authorities, and by some elements of Japanese society. Although he worked at Jinja Shinpō and wrote a significant number of editorials for it, he was not a priest. However, his… Read More »Ashizu Uzuhiko

Poems on the Nihonshoki

A week or so ago, I read an interesting article in Monumental Nipponica (Matthieu Felt (2021), Nihongi Banquet Poetry: Rewriting Japanese Myth in Verse, Monumenta Nipponica 76:2, 249–290) about poems written on the Nihonshoki over a thousand years ago. On half a dozen occasions during the ninth and tenth centuries, the court organised official readings of the Nihonshoki, at which the whole work was read over the period of at least a couple of years. Part of the purpose of this was to simply read it out in Japanese; the… Read More »Poems on the Nihonshoki

Presidential Election

OK, back to Jinja Honchō politics. The June 13th issue of Jinja Shinpō had an article about the current state of the election of the new president of Jinja Honchō on the front page. On June 3rd, the last day of the term of the previous directors and officers, the chairman wrote to all members of the Oversight Council and to all the Prefectural Jinjachō saying that he named Revd Ashihara as president and Revd Nishitakatsuji as vice president at the board meeting on May 28th, and that after consultation… Read More »Presidential Election

Kushimitama, Sakimitama

I feel like writing a blog post that isn’t based on Jinja Shinpō or Jinja Honchō politics, so today’s post is about sakimitama and kushimitama. One idea that is occasionally seen in Shinto is the belief that each kami has four spirits, with different characters and functions. These are the nigimitama, aramitama, sakimitama, and kushimitama. “Mitama” means “honourable spirit”, which is why it is the common element. “Nigi” means “calm, harmonious”, “ara” means “wild, chaotic”, “saki” means “happy, fortunate”, and “kushi” means “comb”. Sorry, “miraculous”, although there are puns on… Read More »Kushimitama, Sakimitama

Priests and Workers

As I mentioned last time, one of the interesting points raised at the Oversight Council was the relationship between priests and workers. More specifically, it was about whether priests can be considered as workers. The actual language used translates literally as “religion person”, but that sounds silly in English, and they are mainly talking about priests. There was concern that considering priests to be workers, under the law, could cause significant problems. For example, if all-night duties, such as serving at hatsumōdë or spending the night in the jinja before… Read More »Priests and Workers

The Oversight Council

The Oversight Council met from May 26th to May 28th, and the June 6th issue of Jinja Shinpō carried a fairly detailed account of the deliberations, over the first two pages. As I predicted, there were “lively discussions” and a “full and frank exchange of views”. Before I move on to those, however, there are a couple of points I want to make first. The Chairman was re-elected unanimously, and the budgets were passed. The Chairman (a largely, but not entirely, ceremonial position) still appears to have everyone’s confidence, and… Read More »The Oversight Council