Mimusubi

Yesterday, I went to my local jinja, Shirahata Hachiman Daijin, to pray that my daughter will pass her university entrance exams. (Her first one is on Sunday.) She didn’t go; she was too busy studying. This is, in general, normal. Not that I’ve ever done it before, but then my daughter has never taken university entrance exams before. First, praying for success in exams is normal. I don’t know percentages, but pretty much every jinja has omamori for exam success, and jinja that have a reputation for such requests, particularly… Read More »Praying to Pass

In the December 1st issue of Jinja Shinpō they completed the reprinting of a series of three articles by Ashizu Uzuhiko (葦津珍彦), originally published in 1963. These articles set out Ashizu’s position on the war. He argues that the claim, common then and now, that Japan was motivated purely by imperialist ambitions is unjustified. Most Japanese, he says, genuinely believed that the purpose of the war was to liberate Asia from white imperialism (a phrase he actually uses), and the result of the war was, in fact, to bring about… Read More »Talking about the War

Jinja Shinpō started a new article series in the 24th November issue, in which people will write about items relevant to the history of Shinto held by Kokugakuin and Kōgakkan Universities. This looks interesting, and I may well write about these articles quite frequently. (The plan is one every other week, so I guess one per university per month.) The first article was about an item owned by Kokugakuin University (國學院大學), called Kumano Engi (熊野縁起). This is a pair of picture scrolls, dating from the early Edo period, telling the… Read More »Kumano Engi

The 24th November issue of Jinja Shinpō included two articles about “new” matsuri. One was based at Yoshida Jinja (吉田神社) in Mito, Ibaraki Prefecture. The autumn reisai (例祭), Grand Matsuri, is already registered by Mito City as an Intangible Folk Cultural Property, and involves one mikoshi (神輿) and seven dashi (山車) floats processing around the city. However, a couple of centuries ago, back in the Edo period, it also involved taking the kami down the river to the sea. According to the article, this stopped because of an “argument” (quotation… Read More »Matsuri, Ancient and Modern