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Stresses of the Priesthood

Revd Tagawa continued her account of her career in the March 17th issue of Jinja Shinpō. (Yes, I know I’m way behind. The hatsumōdë survey took up a lot of posts.) That entry takes up the story two years after she qualified as a priest, when she was serving at Imari Jinja while another priest was acting chief priest at her family jinja of Fukumo Hachimangū. Her mother had always said that you should stick to something new for three years to ensure that you really understood what it involved,… Read More »Stresses of the Priesthood

Miscellaneous Issues

The respondents to Jinja Shinpō’s hatsumōdë survey also touched on a range of other issues. One was money. The need to accept digital money has become more obvious, with many more jinja looking positively at introducing it even than last year. There are still voices of caution, and people asking for guidance from Jinja Honchō. In this case, they are going to get some in the fairly near future — Jinja Honchō has been a bit slower than would have been ideal, but it is not too bad. The service… Read More »Miscellaneous Issues

Opinions about Jingū

One of Jinja Honchō’s most consistent policies is the strong promotion of the distribution of Jingū Taima, and Jinja Shinpō’s survey about hatsumōdë specifically asked about it. It is, therefore, not surprising that quite a few priests gave their opinions on this subject in the free response section. If you are a priest at a jinja affiliated with Jinja Honchō, this is a topic that you simply cannot avoid thinking about. As noted at the end of my last post, there are some priests who think that Jinja Honchō should… Read More »Opinions about Jingū

Promoting Jingū

The hatsumōdë survey reported in the 3rd March issue of Jinja Shinpō included quite a few responses from jinja that were taking particular steps to encourage local people to receive Jingū Taima, the ofuda from Isë Jingū. (The previous post talks about the overall state of play there.) In this post, I want to look at some of the things that they are doing. The most common activity is to put up posters or nobori flags, or distribute literature. (Nobori flags are long but narrow flags, hung vertically so that… Read More »Promoting Jingū

Jinja and Jingū

With preparations for the next Shikinen Sengū at Isë Jingū properly underway, the survey that Jinja Shinpō carried out about hatsumōdë this year asked specifically about the distribution of Jingū Taima and gathering support, primarily financial, for the Shikinen Sengū. Jingū Taima are the ofuda for Isë Jingū, and Jinja Honchō’s official position is that every household in Japan should have one. They are distributed through local jinja, mainly at the end of the year, although you can receive one at almost any jinja throughout the year. One of Jinja… Read More »Jinja and Jingū

Dispute Aftermath

As I explained in my last post about the disputed presidency of Jinja Honchō, the dispute has now been resolved, and Revd Tanaka is the undisputed president. Although I entitled that post “Problem Solved”, I did note that I was not being entirely sarcastic. The March 31st issue of Jinja Shinpō reported on two meetings that dealt with the issue, one of the Board of Directors and one of the heads of the Prefectural Jinjachō, and the board meeting article was on the front page. In the last post, I… Read More »Dispute Aftermath