Category Archives: Ise

Year of Renewal (Sengu)

Posted on January 20, 2013 by John D.

  2013 is going to be the year of the Shikinen Sengu (rebuilding) at the country’s premier shrines of Ise and Izumo.  By coincidence, both major shrines are due to complete their rebuilding this year amidst rites and celebrations.  My … Continue reading →

Posted in Ise, Izumo, Shrine items | 5 Comments

Ise’s logs for Tohoku

Posted on January 18, 2013 by John D.

Ise donates cypress logs to fix Tohoku shrines (Japan Times, 1/12) “Hinoki” cypress from Ise Shrine in Mie Prefecture will be used to rebuild Shinto shrines damaged during the deadly March 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, whose monster tsunami devastated … Continue reading →

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Life goes on

Posted on December 21, 2012 by John D.

The end of the world appears not to have taken place after all, as Mayan freaks suggested, but symbolically with the winter solstice today the death of nature is taking place.  So commiserations and congratulations are in order.  The king … Continue reading →

Posted in Death, Ise, Mythology, Rites and celebrations | Leave a comment

Teeuwen on Shinto

Posted on November 10, 2012 by John D.

‘What Used to be Called Shinto’ runs the provocative title of a paper by academic Mark Teeuwen (in Japan Emerging, ed. Karl Friday, 2012).  In clear and systematic fashion, he questions the notion of Shinto as ‘Japan’s indigenous religion’ by … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Reviews, Ise, Mythology | 1 Comment

Summer solstice

Posted on June 21, 2012 by John D.

  For the summer solstice celebration last year I went to the Meoto rocks near Ise where I participated in the morning misogi done in the Pacific. It is timed to coincide with sunrise on the year’s longest day, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Ise, Misogi, Practical, Purity and pollution, Rites and celebrations | 1 Comment

Princess priestess at Ise

Posted on May 8, 2012 by John D.

The Japan Times today carried an article about the appointment of an Ise special priestess (see below), which relates to the old custom of ‘saigu‘ (unmarried royal princess}.  The practice probably started in the late seventh century, around the time … Continue reading →

Posted in Emperor (imperial family), Ise, Shamanic connections | Leave a comment

Ise oracle

Posted on April 5, 2012 by John D.

I’ve come across information on a website that is far from authoritative, so am wondering whether it’s true or not.  The information seems startling, yet I’ve never seen it mentioned elsewhere.  The website in question is full of errors and … Continue reading →

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