2020

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

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

I have just sent all my patrons (from my Patreon) the links to December’s essay, about the Izumo Yogoto. This is an ancient norito, which was recited by a new chief priest of Izumo Ōyashiro to the Tennō on his (the priest’s) accession to the role. It was important enough to be recorded in the Engishiki, a compilation of the details of the implementation of the law made in the tenth century that is an extremely important source for the history of Shinto, but it is certainly older than that.… Read More »New Patreon Essay: Izumo Yogoto

Happy New Year. As usual, my local jinja, Shirahata Hachiman Daijin, was busy with people coming to hatsumōdë. I hope that you find this year’s information about Shinto interesting and useful.