Nikko Toshogu; Futarasan Jinja; Kamigamo Shrine; Shimogamo Shrine; Uji Shrine; Kasuga Shrine; Kumano Sanzan (Hongu, Hayatama and Nachi Taisha); Itsukushima Shrine; Sonohyan Shrine and Sefa Utaki. What do they all have in common – they are all World Heritage sites. … Read the rest
Category: General (Page 22 of 25)
Yes, it’s that time of year again… banks of pinkish cloud covering hillsides; cameras intrusively close to unfurling blossom; parks packed with drunken revellers more interested in karaoke than cherry. Here in Kyoto we have many special cherry blossom … Read the rest
Michael Saso, professor emeritus at the University of Hawaii, has written simply yet succinctly of the nature of religion in East Asia. Substitute ‘Shinto’ for Daoism in the passage below, and you pretty much have Japan instead of China.
Is … Read the rest
An article in the Huffington Post below has some interesting things to say about the response to the tsunami and earthquake on 3/11 last year. The paradox of Japanese declaring themselves to be not religious yet behaving in a religious
Today is the official launch of my new book, In Search of Japan’s Hidden Christians (Tuttle). In celebration I thought I’d write something of the Shinto connection. Some may be surprised to find that there is one, because the Hidden … Read the rest
Today’s Huffington Post carries a news item on preparations for the one-year anniversary of the tsunami. The number of shrines damaged in the disaster is quite startling: roughly 5% of the country’s total.
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Shinto Priests Prepare To Hold Commemoration … Read the rest
With the anniversary of the devasting tsunami of nothern Japan coming up on 3/11, the BBC have issued a programme which will be available for the next 30 days as a podcast…
http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/worldservice/heartsoul/heartsoul_20120302-1722a.mp3
Despite all the hard work, scenes of … Read the rest