Mimusubi

09/06/2025

Jinja Honchō had a big debate over whether to hear a report on what had happened over the presidential dispute.

Presidential Election Part 2by David Chart2025/06/102025/06/06 This post continues the account of this year’s May meeting of the Jinja Honchō (神社本庁) Oversight Council (評議員会), as reported in the June 2nd issue of Jinja Shinpō. The first part was posted on Friday, and covers the fi...

06/06/2025

Jinja Honchō have just elected a new president. It took a while, but not as long as last time.

Presidential Election Part 1by David Chart2025/06/062025/06/05 It’s time to write about the presidential election. Not the one in South Korea — if you are reading this blog, you want to know about the one at Jinja Honchō (神社本庁). I will actually be writing about the whole “Green Leaves...

02/06/2025

Shinto wedding ceremonies are relatively new and, possibly as a result, vary between jinja.

29/05/2025

The timber for the Grand Renewal at Isë Jingū comes from particular forests.

Forests for Jingūby David Chart2025/05/302025/05/28 The Spring 2025 issue of The Imperial Family (皇室) had a substantial article on the forests from which the wood for the Shikinen Sengū (式年遷宮) at Isë Jingū (伊勢神宮) will be harvested. There will be a lot of articles in this maga...

26/05/2025

The sacred forests at jinja play a role in preserving biodiversity.

22/05/2025

Discussions on cashless offerings continue.

Cashless Offeringsby David Chart2025/05/232025/05/20 Recently, there have been a couple of articles in Jinja Shinpō about the digital transformation, and specifically cashless offerings. The first, in the 5th May issue, reported a study group held by Saitama Prefectural Jinjachō. This group had fo...

19/05/2025

Is it possible to think about Shinto in English?

16/05/2025

And so it begins…

12/05/2025

A priest has started an English-language Substack about Shinto.

Grooving with Kamiby David Chart2025/05/132025/05/10 A Shinto priestess based in Osaka has just started an English-language Substack, Grooving with Kami. At the time of writing, it only has one substantial post, from last week, but it looks as though it should be an interesting perspective on Shinto...

08/05/2025

There are manga about a lot of subjects in Japan.

05/05/2025

Details on this year's new priests have been published.

New Priests 2025by David Chart2025/05/062025/05/03 The 28 April issue of Jinja Shinpō included the annual article about the employment of newly qualified priests. I have been writing about these since 2017. One notable change this year was a substantial fall in the number of people qualifying as pr...

01/05/2025

Who owns jinja?

Who Owns Jinja?by David Chart2025/05/022025/05/01 A few days ago, one of my patrons asked me who owns jinja, and while I gave them a short answer then, I promised a longer answer on the blog, because I thought it would probably be more broadly interesting, This is that answer.  It depends on the ji...