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David Chart

Shinto-Adjacent Manga

I read quite a bit of Shinto-adjacent manga — that is, manga in which Shinto features as more than just an occasional torii in the background. This is both research and entertainment, and I have given up on some series after one volume when they were simply not very good. In this post, I want to introduce a couple of ongoing series that I think are good. I am not aware of either being available in English — and if anyone with those sorts of connections is reading, I think… Read More »Shinto-Adjacent Manga

Sacred Horses

This year is the year of the horse, and so the 1st January issue of Jinja Shinpō had a front page image of a sacred horse paying its respects at Isë Jingū (伊勢神宮). Jingū has four sacred horses, two at each of the Inner and Outer Sanctuaries. These are offered by the Imperial household, and the two currently at the Inner Sanctuary are called Moto’isamu and Kusashin, while the two at the Outer Sanctuary are called Kusa’oto and Emitomo. They pay their respects to the kami when they are first… Read More »Sacred Horses

Requests of the Tennō

The combined Issue 275/276 of the Journal of Shinto Studies (神道宗教) included an article by Itō Yūsukë (伊東裕介) on the requests made by the Tennō of the kami in the Heian period, around a thousand years ago. The article concentrates on Tennō from the late ninth and early tenth centuries, when the system was just getting established. The article focuses on two questions. The first concerns the name used for this practice, which in later years was “gogan” (御願). Itō confirmed that, in the time period he was looking at,… Read More »Requests of the Tennō

Saipan Katori Jinja

The 15th December issue of Jinja Shinpō included an article about the reisai (例祭) — annual grand matsuri — of Saipan Katori Jinja (彩帆香取神社). This jinja is, as the name suggests, on Saipan island, and thus outside Japan — at least now. According to the article, the jinja was founded in 1914, when Japan took over the administration of Saipan from Germany, without bloodshed. (This was clearly connected to World War I, in which it is important to remember that Japan was allied with the British.) The warship Katori, which… Read More »Saipan Katori Jinja

The Feel of Jinja

Recently, I was chatting to one of the priests at my local jinja, and the topic of the “feel” or “flavour” of jinja came up. The priest put it in terms of feeling the presence of the kami, and that is at least as good as any other expression. When I have my Jinja Honchō hat on, I obviously avoid suggesting that there are any jinja that do not feel as though the kami are present — but there are. I have no idea whether different people would agree on… Read More »The Feel of Jinja

We Need to Talk about Shinto

In the 8th December issue of Jinja Shinpō, the “Thoughts in the Forest” column was by Suzuë, and talked about the need to talk about Shinto. It was prompted by an article in an earlier issue that explained AI to Shinto priests, but is more broadly about communicating Shinto in the internet age. This is something I have an interest in… She starts by observing that the Shinto community in general has been very cautious about the internet, but that young people looking for information today do not open books… Read More »We Need to Talk about Shinto