Mimusubi

Last week’s Jinja Shinpō contained an editorial about COVID-19 and the response to it, which had some very interesting content. In Japanese, people are asked to avoid “fuyōfukyū” trips out. This means trips that are not necessary and urgent: that is, things that you do not need to do right now. So, the editorial asks whether paying one’s respects at a jinja is “fuyōfukyū”. As you might expect, given that this is an editorial in the Shinto newspaper, the conclusion is “not necessarily”. The reasons given are sensible. People are… Read More »COVID-19 and the Future

In the midst of the impact of COVID-19, I am still visiting my local jinja every day. This is fine: it is part of my walk, and I do not get close to anyone while doing so, which means that social distance is being maintained. (I wouldn’t visit a jinja I couldn’t walk to at the moment, though.) Today, I arrived to find that a small red gohei had been set up on the offering box. (A gohei, or heisoku, is two pieces of paper, both folded into lightning-bolt shapes,… Read More »The Kami of Smallpox

As COVID-19 continues to affect the world, it is, naturally, having more effects on jinja. These effects are being reported in Jinja Shinpō, which means that I can tell you what is happening. The advice is still that matsuri should be carried out, as it has been from the beginning, but jinja are asked to seriously consider only having priests present, or to restrict the number of other people who attend, to avoid crowding in the prayer hall. On the other hand, jinja are advised to cancel the associated events,… Read More »Further Impact of COVID-19

As COVID-19 continues to spread around the world, I want to write another post to bring readers up to date on how it is affecting jinja. One important thing to be aware of is that the situation in Japan is, at present, much less critical than it is in most European countries or the USA. The total number of deaths is still under 200, the total number of confirmed infections is still under 10,000, and nowhere in the country is in lockdown. (Part of the reason for that is that… Read More »COVID-19 Developments

My patrons on Patreon have just received the March essay, on Shinto for non-Japanese. This essay discusses whether non-Japanese should practise Shinto, and how they can do it, despite the practical problems that arise. If you are not yet a patron but are interested in seeing it, you can sign up at the $2 tier, and claim this essay as your back issue for April, when the charges go through in early May.

At the moment, there is something of a boom for goshuin in Japan. A goshuin is a vermilion stamp that you can receive at a jinja or Buddhist temple to record the fact that you visited there and paid your respects. They were originally Buddhist, and recorded the fact that you had copied and offered a sutra. I am not sure how they work at Buddhist temples these days, but at jinja they are a record of your sanpai: visiting and paying your respects to the kami. In theory, you… Read More »The Fate of Goshuinchō