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hatsumōdë survey

Miscellaneous Issues

The respondents to Jinja Shinpō’s hatsumōdë survey also touched on a range of other issues. One was money. The need to accept digital money has become more obvious, with many more jinja looking positively at introducing it even than last year. There are still voices of caution, and people asking for guidance from Jinja Honchō. In this case, they are going to get some in the fairly near future — Jinja Honchō has been a bit slower than would have been ideal, but it is not too bad. The service… Read More »Miscellaneous Issues

Opinions about Jingū

One of Jinja Honchō’s most consistent policies is the strong promotion of the distribution of Jingū Taima, and Jinja Shinpō’s survey about hatsumōdë specifically asked about it. It is, therefore, not surprising that quite a few priests gave their opinions on this subject in the free response section. If you are a priest at a jinja affiliated with Jinja Honchō, this is a topic that you simply cannot avoid thinking about. As noted at the end of my last post, there are some priests who think that Jinja Honchō should… Read More »Opinions about Jingū

Promoting Jingū

The hatsumōdë survey reported in the 3rd March issue of Jinja Shinpō included quite a few responses from jinja that were taking particular steps to encourage local people to receive Jingū Taima, the ofuda from Isë Jingū. (The previous post talks about the overall state of play there.) In this post, I want to look at some of the things that they are doing. The most common activity is to put up posters or nobori flags, or distribute literature. (Nobori flags are long but narrow flags, hung vertically so that… Read More »Promoting Jingū

Jinja and Jingū

With preparations for the next Shikinen Sengū at Isë Jingū properly underway, the survey that Jinja Shinpō carried out about hatsumōdë this year asked specifically about the distribution of Jingū Taima and gathering support, primarily financial, for the Shikinen Sengū. Jingū Taima are the ofuda for Isë Jingū, and Jinja Honchō’s official position is that every household in Japan should have one. They are distributed through local jinja, mainly at the end of the year, although you can receive one at almost any jinja throughout the year. One of Jinja… Read More »Jinja and Jingū

Hatsumōdë Manners

Quite a few of the responses to Jinja Shinpō’s survey on hatsumōdë dealt, in one way or another, with hatsumōdë etiquette. One problem that has come up before is that people are too well-mannered. They line up to pay their respects, and wait patiently in line, even when the line gets really, really long. One priest noted that they try to get four or five people to pay their respects at once, because there is plenty of space, but if they (the priests) go away again, it soon drifts back… Read More »Hatsumōdë Manners

Hatsumōdë Survey 2025

Jinja Shinpō published the results of its survey of its correspondent priests in the 3rd March issue. This survey is nominally about hatsumōdë, but the priests take the opportunity to write about lots of issues. The paper has been doing this for a few years (2024, 2023, 2022), but I think they have been expanding it over time. It is an incredibly valuable window onto the views of a wide range of priests, and I think that may be why it has been expanded. There will be six posts about… Read More »Hatsumōdë Survey 2025