Mimusubi

This year is the year of the cow according to the Chinese zodiac, and so the back page of the year’s first issue of Jinja Shinpō introduced several matsuri and other events associated with cattle. The first was about an area in Niigata Prefecture where they have traditional bull fights. These fights are between two bulls, and they are primarily a Shinto ceremony, so they are not allowed to go on long enough for there to be a winner, or for either of the bulls to get injured. The purification… Read More »Cow-Related Matsuri

I have mentioned that, during the pandemic, a lot of jinja have removed the ladles from their purification fonts, and typically drained the water from the font, to avoid the risk of infection from people using ladles that other people have used. Some jinja have set up alternative arrangements, so that people can rinse their hands without touching anything. Most of these have been at larger jinja, but not all. A few days ago, when I was visiting my local jinja (Shirahata Hachiman Daijin), one of the priests called to… Read More »Safe Purification

There is a position in Jinja Honchō called “san’yo” (参与). This title turns up from time to time in Jinja Shinpō, particularly in obituaries, but I hadn’t managed to work out what sort of position it was. There are a lot of other titles, but over time it became clear from context what they were, at least in general terms. For example, a sanji is a fairly high-ranking employee of Jinja Honchō, while a chōrō is an elderly and eminent chief priest who has been particularly honoured by Jinja Honchō.… Read More »San’yo

I have made some more back issues available for purchase. This includes a very, very recent back issue, as last month’s essay is now available on Amazon. The two issues available there, in Explaining Shinto, cover the reasons why it is difficult to explain Shinto, particularly in English. The first problem is that Shinto does not have an “essence”; there is nothing that one can point to as the heart of Shinto, and that unifies all the detailed explanations. The first essay looks into that situation, and suggests why it… Read More »More Back Issues

What are jinja for? This is a question that members of Jinja Honchō’s Oversight Council have raised recently, and that has been addressed in editorials in Jinja Shinpō, but I do not think that there is an official answer. Here are some of the options that seem to be popular in the Shinto world — they could all be true at the same time. Jinja are places to venerate the kami. This is the most purely religious answer, and probably the closest to the original purpose of jinja. However, it… Read More »The Purpose of Jinja