himeji jinja

The project at Jinja Honchō to help jinja with their provision for foreigners is moving along. We actually have more jinja wanting help than we can support, now, so there is a waiting list. Fortunately, this is the sort of thing that does not tend to have a strict deadline, so jinja can afford to wait a few weeks for one jinja’s project to finish and free up some of my time. That has just happened. Himeji Jinja now has an English website. The design is simple, because they do… Read More »Himeji Jinja Website

Last week, I went with one of my colleagues from Jinja Honchō to visit Himeji Jinja, and talk in more detail about what they are going to do, and what support they need. This was a day trip, which was a bit of a push because Himeji is about 500 km from where I live. It was also, however, extremely valuable. It really is very helpful to visit a place in person when you are going to write guidance for visitors. For example, this is the view of Himeji Castle… Read More »Visiting Himeji Jinja

The project with Himeji Jinja is continuing. I still can’t link to their web page, but we are moving forward on creating it, and the hope is that the Japanese version, at least, will go live before the end of this year. We are planning to have the English material ready for March, so that it will be available when the tourist season starts. As part of this, the jinja wants to offer “tokubetsu sanpai”, which I am currently translating as “special reverence”. This is, basically, a kigansai, where the… Read More »Special Reverence

Most readers of this blog have probably heard of Himeji Castle. It is the most spectacular of Japan’s surviving castles, and a World Heritage Site. I doubt anyone has heard of Himeji Jinja. Well, you are going to. But first, a bit of background. As readers probably do know, I work for Jinja Honchō as a consultant. Earlier this year, I suggested that I could offer assistance to jinja, particularly smaller jinja, that wanted to strengthen their ability to accommodate foreigners, both visitors and residents. Nothing will really happen at… Read More »Himeji Jinja