Pico Iyer is a writer with a worldwide following, who has lived in Japan for the past thirty years. He’s won awards and been hailed as ‘arguably the greatest living travel writer’. He’s noted in particular for his sensitivity in … Read the rest
Category: Japanese culture (Page 4 of 19)
Previous postings in this series looked at trees (natural phenomena) and a subshrine of Yasui Konpira-gu in Kyoto which exemplifies the animist strand of Shinto. In this third posting we look at a world-famous individual with beliefs shaped by … Read the rest
Yellow Boat
Kifune Shrine to the north of Kyoto stands in the village of Kibune, which is why many Japanese mistakenly call it Kibune Jinja. The shrine however insists on the proper pronunciation of Kifune – … Read the rest
“Shinto is not a religion. It is a spiritual culture nurtured for centuries by the Japanese people.”
So begins the trailer for a documentary film with the working title of Shinto: Kami no Michi by Polish director Tom Sajewski. His … Read the rest
Green Shinto has written of the meaning of Setsubun before, and covered the bean-throwing rite at various Kyoto shrines (see here). But we have never been to Matsuo Taisha for Setsubun, and this proved to be the most enjoyable … Read the rest
The following is the introductory section of a paper by distinguished scholar Klaus Antoni first published in Asian Folklore Studies, Vol. 47, 1988: 123-136. The article entitled “Yasukuni-Jinja and Folk Religion: The Problem of Vengeful Spirits” can be read … Read the rest
by cinnamonellie, first published on this blog.
Kagami Biraki / 鏡開き is a Shinto custom celebrated annually on the 11th of January and a literal translation of the Japanese term is “Opening the Mirror.”
People usually … Read the rest