komorëbi

One of the authors of the Komorëbi (“Sunlight Through Leaves”) column in Jinja Shinpō for the next two years is Revd Tagawa, the chief priest of Fukumo Hachimangū (“Fortunate Mother” Hachimangū) in Ōmachi Town (“Big Town” Town), Saga Prefecture, Kyūshū. Her first column was in the June 17th issue, and she wrote about how she came to be a priest. She was born in 1991, so this is a fairly recent story. She grew up some distance from the jinja, but Ōmachi is the smallest town in Saga Prefecture (Yes,… Read More »A Priest’s Calling

The Komorëbi column in the December 19th/26th issue of Jinja Shinpō is about the “Month with Kami” in Izumo. That is the tradition that all the kami of Japan gather in Izumo in the tenth month of the lunar calendar, which is accordingly called the “month without kami” (kan’nazuki) elsewhere. The author is the chief priest of a jinja in the area, and this is one of the jinja that welcomes the visiting kami. He says that, this year, immediately after he had completed the ceremony to welcome the visiting… Read More »Matsuri Weather