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Floods

From the beginning of this month, there has been serious flooding across a wide area in Japan. Kyushu, in the southwest, has been the hardest hit, but there has been serious flooding as far east and north as Nagano Prefecture, not too far from Tokyo. This was caused by the rainy season front, not a typhoon, and so the rain continued for about a week, from the 3rd to the 10th. Over the course of that week, some places had over 1 metre of rain, while in certain areas of… Read More »Floods

Presidential Address

Twice a year, the highest body of Jinja Honchō, the Hyōgi’inkai, meets to approve the budget and rule changes that have been prepared by the directors. Normally, they also make a few proposals of their own. As the Hyōgi’inkai is over a hundred people, it normally functions as a rubber stamp, and that is even more true this year, when the meeting was held remotely and most of the members were not even consulted. One feature that was preserved was the presidential address. Tanaka Tsunëkiyo, the president of Jinja Honchō,… Read More »Presidential Address

Straw Men

As it looks like Japan is heading into the second wave of COVID-19 infections, Jinja Shinpō is continuing to report the activities of various jinja. There were two interesting articles, with a common thread (straw men!) in the latest issue. The first was about Kashima Jingū, an important jinja in Ibaraki Prefecture, a short distance to the northeast of Tokyo. The jinja displayed ten “Ōsukë” figures in its precincts in June. These are simple human figures made of straw, with fierce warrior faces drawn on rectangular pieces of paper and… Read More »Straw Men

Uniformity of Matsuri

A couple of weeks ago I wrote a post about a booklet of instructions for matsuri that Jinja Honchō had prepared for sōdai across the country. One of my readers asked a very reasonable question: given that matsuri vary a lot from place to place across Japan, is it actually possible to provide instructions that apply to everyone? The short answer to this question is “yes”, but things are a bit more complex than that suggests. While it is true that there are a lot of variations across Japan, there… Read More »Uniformity of Matsuri

The Gion Goryōë

The Gion Matsuri is one of the biggest, if not the biggest, matsuri in contemporary Shinto. It takes place every summer in Kyoto, with massive processions of decorated floats, called Yamaboko, and also involves processions of mikoshi. The float processions are thought to symbolically purify the city before the mikoshi, carrying the kami, also process, and the procession of the kami is thought to increase their power before the final ritual that closes the week of ceremonies. It is one of the main tourist attractions in Kyoto, and it is… Read More »The Gion Goryōë

Daijōsai Essays Available

The two essays I wrote about the Daijōsai for my Patreon are now available from Amazon. The Daijōsai is a ritual performed by a new Tennō soon after his accession, and it is performed in special halls that are built for the rite, and demolished immediately afterwards. It has traditionally been described as a secret rite, but it is not clear how much of it is actually secret now. These two essays cover what we know about how the rite is performed today, and some of the most important theories… Read More »Daijōsai Essays Available