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Jingū

Funding the Shikinen Sengū

As I have mentioned before, the Shikinen Sengū (式年遷宮) at Isë Jingū (伊勢神宮) is funded entirely from private sources. The total budget this time is ¥57.7 billion, or in US terms about the price of a tank of gas $356 million at the moment. Jingū has about ¥38.7 billion on hand or expected over the next seven years, and so it needs to raise around ¥19 billion. To coordinate it, a non-profit organisation (NPO) has been set up, the Isë Jingū Shikinen Sengū Hōsankai. “Hōsankai” means, roughly, “Money-Offering Group”, so… Read More »Funding the Shikinen Sengū

Okihikigyōji — Experience

As I said in the last post, I participated in the Okihikigyōji (御木曳行事) as part of the Shikinen Sengū (式年遷宮) at Isë Jingū (伊勢神宮) on June 13th. That post explains what that is, and this post is about my experience of it. There were about 30 of us in the group from Jinja Honchō, including the entire International Section and a reporter from Jinja Shinpō, so I expect there to be an article about the event, although I do not need to consult it this time. Most of us went… Read More »Okihikigyōji — Experience

Okihikigyōji — Background

On June 12th and 13th I had the opportunity to visit Jingū (神宮) in Isë and participate in the Okihikigyōji (御木曳行事). Translated literally, that is something like “Honourable Tree-Pulling Formal Event”, which is obviously a terrible translation. I have already written about the ceremony held to mark the start of these events, and the reason I said I would write about the events themselves later was that I knew I was going to be participating. In this post, I will write about the background to the tradition, and explain its… Read More »Okihikigyōji — Background

Betsugū at Isë Jingū

Issue 109 of The Imperial Family (皇室) had an article about the Betsugū at Isë Jingū. The Betsugū are the most important jinja under the two main sanctuaries (the Inner and Outer), and there are fourteen of them: ten associated with the Inner Sanctuary, and four with the Outer. The article was mainly about the two that are furthest from the main sanctuaries, about 17 and 40 kilometres, but there was an interesting page about the origins of these jinja. The earliest surviving document from Jingū, from 804, lists five… Read More »Betsugū at Isë Jingū

Karimihishirogibassaishiki

The Karimihishirogibassaishiki (仮御樋代木伐採式) is another ceremony leading up to the Shikinen Sengū (式年遷宮) at Isë Jingū (伊勢神宮), and was held on May 17th in the mountain forests in in Kiso, Nagano Prefecture that are supplying much of the timber for the rebuilding process. It was reported in the 25th May issue of Jinja Shinpō. In Japanese, parts of the name are self-explanatory. “Shiki” is “ceremony”, while “bassai” means “felling (a tree)”, and “gi” is “tree”. “Kari” means “temporary” or “substitute” or “provisional” — it is the character used in the… Read More »Karimihishirogibassaishiki

The Shikinen Sengū Interval

Issue 278 of Shintō Shūkyō included an interesting article speculating on the reasons why the Shikinen Sengū at Isë Jingū is held every twenty years: “The Foundations for Determining the Year for Transfer of a Deity (Sengūshiki): Sakutan usui and the Regulations for Official Storehouses”, by Ōno Yoshiyuki. The Shikinen Sengū is held every twenty years. Today, that means that the last one was in 2013, and the next will be in 2033. Originally, however, the year in which it was held was year one, and it was held again… Read More »The Shikinen Sengū Interval