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David Chart

Ujigamisama no Konsarutanto

Ujigamisama no Konsarutanto (Ujigami-sama’s Consultant) is a recent manga that is currently complete in three volumes. The link is an affiliate link to Amazon Japan, but the manga is only available in Japanese, and unlikely to do well in translation. That is because the manga is about the efforts of the heir of a priestly family to revitalise the jinja. I came across it because a priest wrote an article in Jinja Shinpō saying that it was very good, and recommending that people read it. It is, and I do.… Read More »Ujigamisama no Konsarutanto

New Priests 2025

The 28 April issue of Jinja Shinpō included the annual article about the employment of newly qualified priests. I have been writing about these since 2017. One notable change this year was a substantial fall in the number of people qualifying as priests: a drop of 26 to 136 at Kokugakuin University, and of 24 to 66 at Kōgakkan University. The majority of these students were on four year courses, which means that these people entered university in 2021, at the height of the pandemic. This drop probably says nothing… Read More »New Priests 2025

Who Owns Jinja?

A few days ago, one of my patrons asked me who owns jinja, and while I gave them a short answer then, I promised a longer answer on the blog, because I thought it would probably be more broadly interesting, This is that answer.  It depends on the jinja. OK, OK, so that’s the answer to any question about Shinto. It is possible to be a lot more informative in this case, because almost all jinja are in Japan, and thus have to follow Japanese law when it comes to… Read More »Who Owns Jinja?

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