David Chart

In this week’s Jinja Shinpō, there are a lot of articles about jinja and Shinto groups that have taken various steps to make sure that they can still hold a matsuri, while minimising the chances of spreading COVID-19. In some cases, it was very simple. Miyagiken Gogokoku Jinja simply reduced the number of people attending its annual memorial matsuri by 90%. (This is one of the regional jinja to the war dead, and thus holds a matsuri on August 15th, the day the war ended according to Japan, every year.)… Read More »Matsuri Under COVID-19

I have just put two more of the past essays from my Patreon up for sale on Amazon. These essays cover two Shinto prayers, with transcriptions, translations, and basic commentary. These two prayers are not strictly norito, because they have slightly different functions, but they are, in terms of structure and vocabulary, important examples of how norito are written now, and were written in much earlier times. The Ōharaëkotoba is the most important purification prayer, and is still an important part of Shinto practice today. I would imagine that any… Read More »Ōharaëkotoba and Izumo Yogoto on Amazon

“Calling on Jinja Shinpō and its Readers while Lamenting the Current State of Jinja Honchō” This is not the sort of title I expect to see on an article in Jinja Shinpō, and indeed the first sentence of the article says, basically, “I am not at all sure whether this article will be printed in Jinja Shinpō”. As I have mentioned before, Jinja Shinpō rarely publishes anything critical of the Shinto establishment, or even anything that might be awkward for them. This is why I included them in the Shinto… Read More »Dissension in the Ranks

A few days ago, I wrote a post explaining that Kanda Myōjin is a rather unconventional jinja. A couple of days after that, I found that they have done something even less conventional. They have set up a festival inside Animal Crossing. The video is all in Japanese, but the visit to the sacred horse is cute, as is the little miko character’s attempt to pay her respects. Obviously, people will have to ask the publishers to add the proper action to the game’s options. The jinja also has a… Read More »A Jinja in Animal Crossing

The Ieshima islands are a group of islands in the Seto Inland Sea, southwest of Himeji. The main island, also called Ieshima, has a jinja, called Ieshima Jinja, and towards the end of last month, the jinja held its main annual matsuri. Most years, this involves decorated boats, and appears to be something of a tourist attraction, but this year, of course, things had to be toned down and reduced in scale. The decorated boats were cancelled, as were other events, and the matsuri was limited to the shinji ceremonies… Read More »Out to Sea

While I was researching another piece, I came across the following group: https://theshow.jp The website is all in Japanese at the moment, but you can see the pictures. They offer a Japanese-style dinner show, with Japanese food, and a Japanese story to the play. The play starts with Taira no Masakado, a hero from around Tokyo in the tenth century who defended local people, but was declared an enemy of the Tennō and killed by an army sent from Kyoto. (That much is historical.) Then his daughter, Taki-Yasha-himë, became a… Read More »Samurai Show