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Multi-Religion Ceremonies

I have mentioned before that Shinto is much more open to practitioners of other religions than one might expect from a western perspective, and there was a clear example reported in Jinja Shinpō on January 13th. On Awaji Island, part of Hyōgo prefecture in central Japan, there is a memorial to the students who were killed in action in World War II after being called up by the government. This was originally built by the local government, but the number of visitors dropped off, and the Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake in 1995… Read More »Multi-Religion Ceremonies

Distributing Jingū Taima

Every year, the Jingū Taima, the ofuda from Jingū that the Shinto establishment would like every household in Japan to venerate, are distributed to jinja across Japan so that they can be handed on to individuals. However, the ofuda are not just posted to the jinja. There are a number of ceremonies involved in the distribution itself. The first takes place at Jingū in September, and is attended by representatives of Jinja Honchō, including the president and chairman, as well as by the priests of Jingū. At this ceremony, the… Read More »Distributing Jingū Taima

Nihonshoki 1300 Years

This year marks the 1300th anniversary of the completion of the Nihonshoki. The Nihonshoki is the first official history of Japan, starting from the creation of Japan, and continuing up to the reign of Jitō Tennō at the end of the seventh century. It is a very important source for early Japanese history, and an even more important source for Japanese myth. Although the Kojiki, which was completed in 712, and is thus slightly older, is more famous today, the Nihonshoki is the more important text for the study of… Read More »Nihonshoki 1300 Years

The First New Year of Reiwa

This new year was the first new year of the Reiwa era. Although this year is Reiwa 2, Reiwa 1 started on May 1st last year, and so it did not have a New Year’s Day. Jinja Shinpō has, as normal, published a report on how things went. In general, the weather was good across most of the country, which will have been a big relief to the jinja that rely on hatsumōdë income to keep going through the year. Meiji Jingū, in Tokyo, which typically has the highest number… Read More »The First New Year of Reiwa

Gokoku Jinja

Pretty much anyone who knows anything about Japan has heard of Yasukuni Jinja, the jinja in Tokyo enshrining Japan’s war dead, even if they know nothing about Shinto. The Gokoku Jinja, which also enshrine the war dead, are much less well known. “Gokoku Jinja” means “Country Protecting Jinja”, and these jinja were set up by the government of Japan before the war. The idea of enshrining people who had died fighting for the Tennō first appeared among the people pushing to restore Imperial rule to Japan in the mid nineteenth… Read More »Gokoku Jinja

Red Torii

Almost all jinja have a torii to mark the entrance, a simple gateway with two vertical pillars, one either side, and two lintels across the top. There are a number of variations in the design, but in this post I want to focus on the colour. A lot of torii are red, but not all. Why? Now, at first sight it might not seem that you really need an explanation for this. Some torii are painted red, and others are different colours. Why do the red ones need a particular… Read More »Red Torii