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hatsumōdë

Hatsumōdë Survey 2026

Jinja Shinpō has once again conducted its annual survey of its correspondents, priests at jinja across Japan, to find out how hatsumōdë went, and to hear about other issues. The results were published in the March 9th issue. This survey was started during the pandemic, but it seems that I am not the only one to find its results very interesting and useful. This year, there is no mention of the pandemic or of changes related to it, and so it seems to have become a regular annual event. I… Read More »Hatsumōdë Survey 2026

Hatsumōdë 2026

Jinja Shinpō published its first article about this year’s hatsumōdë in the January 19th issue. As always, it started with Isë Jingū, which had 426,544 visitors over the first three days of the new year, up 10,433 from last year. As of December last year, Isë City had a population of 117,368, which means that the overwhelming majority of these visitors travelled some distance to be there. Jingū also reported an increase in the number of people receiving ofuda. Meiji Jingū in Tokyo reported an increase in both visitors and… Read More »Hatsumōdë 2026

Visiting Jingū

The front page of the January 12th issue of Jinja Shinpō carried an article about the visit of Prime Minister Takaichi and eleven cabinet ministers to pay their respects at Isë Jingū on the 5th. After visiting the Outer and Inner Sanctuaries, they offered kagura (which is the Jingū version of a formal prayer, gokitō), and Takaichi gave a press conference at the Jingū office. In the press conference, she summarised her plans as prime minister, and affirmed the significance of the Shikinen Sengū. This is a tradition. As I… Read More »Visiting Jingū

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

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