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Imperial Succession

I have written about the Imperial family and succession on this blog before, but the relevant law was revised on July 17th, and there was a front-page article about it in the July 27th issue of Jinja Shinpō, so I am going to write about it again. The Tennō is extremely important to mainstream Shinto, and to Japanese conservatives in general. The immediate reason for this is that the Meiji government, which had just overthrown the Tokugawa government, used jinja and priests as part of a propaganda effort to make… Read More »Imperial Succession

Priestly Numbers

Issues 280 and 281 of the Journal of Shinto Studies (神道宗教) were merged into a single special issue, focusing on the modern history of Shinto — defined as post-1868. There are a few articles in this issue I want to write about, but first I want to pick up some numbers given in the introductory article by the issue’s editor, Fujimoto Yorio (藤本頼生). The first compares the numbers of religious institutions (defined as religious corporations) and religious professionals (priests, monks, pastors) for Shinto, Buddhism, and Christianity. These numbers are taken… Read More »Priestly Numbers

Priestly Titles

Issue 279 of the Journal of Shintō Studies has a report on a presentation by Yamanaka Terushige entitled “About the Pre-War and Post-War Shinto Priesthood System: The Transformation of the Rank of Gon-negi”. Readers of this blog may know that, in contemporary Jinja Shinto, there are three ranks of priest at most jinja: Gūji (宮司 Chief Priest), Negi (禰宜 Senior Priest) and Gon-negi (権禰宜 Junior Priest). Large jinja may also have a Gon-gūji (権宮司 Deputy Chief Priest). Gon-negi is probably the most common rank, because a jinja is only allowed… Read More »Priestly Titles

The Role of Jinja Shinpō

The July 20th issue of Jinja Shinpō contained two articles about the 80th anniversary of Jinja Shinpō. One was a report of the celebratory gathering, on the front page, and the other was the editorial. The editorial was concerned with what Jinja Shinpō should be doing. It opened with a rather plaintive question: Does anyone actually read it? Well, I do, obviously. And, in fact, I know that other people do, because I have met several priests who have told me that they have read my articles in Jinja Shinpō.… Read More »The Role of Jinja Shinpō

Norito Composition

In Issue 279 of the Journal of Shintō Studies, there is a report of a presentation by Adachi Ryō entitled “A Problem in the Composition of Norito: About the Reading and Usage of the Term Saihō”. I think the immediate content of this is of no interest to my readers (you are not likely to be writing norito), but what it shows about the place of norito in contemporary Shinto might be very interesting. First, a little bit of background. Norito are formal Shinto prayers. They are written in classical… Read More »Norito Composition

When the Tennō Leaves

The Tennō and Empress were out of Japan to make state visits to the Netherlands and Belgium from June 13th to 26th. The visit to the Netherlands reportedly involved the King and Tennō sitting down together to watch the Japan-Netherlands match at the World Cup, so it is perhaps just as well that it was a draw. Such overseas visits are, of course, an important part of the jobs of the Tennō and other members of the Imperial family. While the Tennō is out of the country, his constitutional duties… Read More »When the Tennō Leaves