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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

Seoritsuhimë & Hayasasurahimë

In this post, I want to quickly summarise two presentations from the 2026 annual meeting of The Society of Shinto Studies, as reported in issue 279 of their journal. Both concern the Tokugawa period (1603 to 1868). The first, by Satō Mami (佐藤真実) is “The Transition of Beliefs and Conceptions Concerning the Haraedo no Kami (Seoritsuhime) from the Medieval to the Early Modern Period”, and the other, by Kimura Nagisa (木村凪沙) is “Norinaga Motoori’s Theory of the Functions of Hayasasurahime”. Both presentations concern theories about kami who are named in… Read More »Seoritsuhimë & Hayasasurahimë