In a post to the shinto mailing list on Feb. 11, 2005, Paul de Leeuw wrote as follows about the Shinto foundation in Amsterdam.

“Legally my foundation is an autonomous Dutch foundation, having a board and a director. The foundation is registered as a nonprofit cultural organization. Besides being the founder, I am director and guji [head priest]. Acknowledging Kireigu as the root of our spiritual knowledge is not the same as sharing the political views of its individual members. I remember Guji [the head priest] as a unique representative of Shinto’s Universalism, as testified in his obituary of Jean Herbert “Please, don’t propagate shinto…”,  which is published on our website: http://www.shinzen.nl/

For the advice I am still grateful to Jean Herbert, who imho has triggered a deterritorialization of Shinto, now 50 years ago.  It is a pity that his standard work about Shinto is out of print.  To celebrate a half century memorial of Jean Herbert’s first visit to Japan, I would like to make “universal shinto” the key issue of this year.”

Entrance to Holland Yamakage Shinto Saigu

Paul de Leeuw