Skip to content

David Chart

More on Tree Transport

A few weeks ago, I wrote about the delivery of the sacred timber to Isë Jingū (伊勢神宮). However, the July 21st issue of Jinja Shinpō (神社新報) devoted its entire back page to more details of what happened along the way, so I am going to write about it again. There were a lot of matsuri involved. The earlier article covered what happened in Nagano, the starting point for one set of timber. That truck then made its way through Aichi Prefecture, where there were fourteen events and ceremonies along the… Read More »More on Tree Transport

Reasons for Optimism

A few weeks ago, a reader left a comment noting that I was optimistic about the future of Shinto. This is true, and there are reasons for that, despite all the problems at Jinja Honchō, the shortage of priests, and the declining population of Japan. I should be clear that I do not think that every jinja in Japan will survive into the future. Indeed, I know they will not. Some have already been merged, and there was an article in Jinja Shinpō a few years ago about a group… Read More »Reasons for Optimism

Goddess Tour

OK, so “goddess” is a bad translation, but “female kami tour” doesn’t have the same ring. The July 14th issue of Jinja Shinpō had a short article about three jinja on Awaji Island and a neighbouring small island (in Hyōgo Prefecture, between Honshū, the main island of Japan, and Shikoku). These jinja all enshrine female kami, have female priests, and are quite close together, so they decided to team up. They created a set of three special goshuin (御朱印), along with a webpage, to encourage people to visit all three… Read More »Goddess Tour

Digital Publicity

The July 7th issue of Jinja Shinpō had two articles about digital publicity for jinja, both connected to Jinja Honchō. One was quite simple, about a jinja creating a website. These days there is nothing particularly remarkable about a jinja having a website, and most do not get articles about it in Jinja Shinpō. One reason for the article is that one of the newspaper’s correspondents wrote about it. (The importance of that sort of practical reason should not be underestimated.) The other reason is that this jinja, Hiyoshisha (日吉社)… Read More »Digital Publicity

Full-Time Chief Priest

Going back in time a bit, the June 23rd issue of Jinja Shinpō included the next article from Revd Tagawa about her progress as a priest. This article was about when she started working full-time as the chief priest of Fukumo Hachimangū (服母八幡宮), her family jinja. When she started, it was a good month if there were a handful of formal prayers, and as for goshuin the question was whether any would be requested in a year. Nobody wanted omamori at any time other than New Year, and there were… Read More »Full-Time Chief Priest

Matsuri for Nature

The July 14th issue of Jinja Shinpō included an extremely interesting article by a consultant for Jinja Honchō called… Oh! Will you look at that? David Chart! Is my faux naïf act fooling anyone? I had another article published in Jinja Shinpō. It suggests that jinja could perform matsuri to celebrate features of nature in their local area. That could be an old tree, or the cherry blossoms, or fireflies, or birds, or the first snow of the year — anything. I suggested that the matsuri could be held outside,… Read More »Matsuri for Nature