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Jingū

Harvest and the Kan’namësai

The October 21st and 28th issues of Jinja Shinpō included numerous articles on harvest matsuri and the related Kan’namësai, a matsuri celebrated at Isë Jingū. The harvest matsuri are called “nukiho” or “nuiho” matsuri. Both readings are written the same way, with characters that mean “pull out rice”, and this may mean that the origins of the tradition go back to before rice was harvested with sickles. Whatever may be the truth of that, sickles are used now. Nukiho matsuri are carried out at the actual rice field, with the… Read More »Harvest and the Kan’namësai

Attitudes to Jingū Taima

Following on from the previous post, I want to look at the results for Jingū Taima, the ofuda from Isë Jingū that the Shinto establishment wants to see venerated in every household, and the results for local jinja, the so-called ujigami jinja. The first striking result is that only 25% of people have even heard of Jingū Taima. Given the vastly higher level of recognition of Jingū itself, this suggests that there is room for improvement in this respect. Even if 98% awareness of Jingū Taima seems unreasonable, the 50%… Read More »Attitudes to Jingū Taima

Awareness of Jingū

Earlier this year, Jinja Honchō commissioned a survey of people’s awareness of, and attitudes towards, Jingū. This is the third such survey, and they have been held at ten-year intervals. This means that the last one was held the year after the most recent Shikinen Sengū, while this one and the first one were held roughly midway in the cycle. The basic results, the proportions of each answer to each question, were published in Gekkan Wakagi on September 1st. (Gekkan Wakagi is the monthly newsletter that Jinja Honchō sends to… Read More »Awareness of Jingū

Jingū Shikinen Sengū Preparation Committee

The August 19th issue of Jinja Shinpō led with an article about the first meeting of the Jingū Shikinen Sengū Preparation Committee. The committee is an advisory body for the Senior Chief Priest of Jingū, with the remit to investigate and discuss important issues. It is chaired by the Chairman of Jinja Honchō, Revd Takatsukasa, who is himself a former Senior Chief Priest of Jingū. Revd Tanaka, the President of Jinja Honchō, is also on the committee. The meeting was held on July 31st, in Tokyo, and other members of… Read More »Jingū Shikinen Sengū Preparation Committee

Remote Offerings

The 8th July issue of Jinja Shinpō had an interesting historical article about the ways people made offerings to Jingū in the early sixteenth century. It was written by the head of Nagasaki Prefectural Jinjachō, based on surviving documents from what is now Okayama Prefecture. These record 479 people who visited Jingū with a particular onshi (the priests who gathered adherents for Jingū and organised their visits), and give details of how they made their offerings. It seems that only 82 of them took cash to Isë and made their… Read More »Remote Offerings

Living Things at Jingū

The Jingū column in the July 8th issue of Jinja Shinpō was about living creatures at Jingū. There are about 2,800 kinds of animals, and about 140 birds, including mammals such as boars, raccoon dogs, and rabbits, birds such as kingfishers and owls, and river creatures such as catfish and frogs. There are also lots of insects and other bugs. Do you notice anything missing from this list? That’s right! Trees! The article does go on to discuss the importance of preserving the forest in order to provide the habitat… Read More »Living Things at Jingū