This is part of an ongoing series about travelling the length of Japan by train, and consists of passages with a Shinto or spiritual flavour. They are extracted from a longer book version due to be published by Stone Bridge … Read the rest
Category: Origins (Page 1 of 7)
This is Part Five of my journey the length of Japan, from the extreme north of Hokkaido to the southernmost train station in Honshu (Ibusuki). The material is extracted from a longer account to be published in due course. (For … Read the rest
As we approach the mid-winter solstice, it is worth thinking again about Shinto’s sacred tree – sakaki. In a previous posting I put forward a theory regarding the linguistic signficance of sakaki. Now I have settled on a different rationale.… Read the rest
Ino Okifu
It was after speculating about Jofuku and Jimmu that I was startled to find, courtesy of Wikipedia, that I was by no means the first to think that their stories may have overlapped. It turns out that a … Read the rest
Jofuku and Jimmu
Two legendary figures, one Chinese and one Japanese. One on the quest for immortality, the other on the path of conquest. According to tradition, both ended up traversing the Inland Sea … Read the rest
(photos by John Dougill)
Mythological mystery
There are many fascinating mysteries in Japanese mythology, and one in particular has intrigued Green Shinto for years. Why would the heavenly deities choose to descend on Mt Takachiho … Read the rest
(photos on this page by John Dougill)
The following is excerpted from a translation of the sixth chapter of Bruno Lewin s Aya und Hata Bevolkerungsgruppen Altjapans kontinentaler … Read the rest