Many aspects of Japanese culture are closely tied to Shinto, and it turns out that omiyage (Japanese souvenirs) are a case in point. In Japan Today a cultural anthropology professor sees the custom of giving omiyage as unique to Japan, … Read the rest
Category: Japanese culture (Page 18 of 19)
uk finance.com has recently come out with an article about how dirty money is. Nice irony for a financial website. Especially so in view of the banking crisis and the Cyprus disaster. It turns out that it’s all filthy lucre, … Read the rest
Nakedness used to play a vital role in Japanese festivals and fertility rites. Under the influence of the sex-obsessed cultures of the West, it has been sadly downplayed or even thought shameful by some. But the so-called Hadaka Matsuri (Naked … Read the rest
An interesting poll has just come out about attitudes to immigrants with Japanese blood. “80% of Japanese welcome foreigners of Japanese descent'” shouts a headline in the Japan Times. It’s framed as if it constitutes a new openness to … Read the rest
“I am in favor of animal rights as well as human rights. That is the way of a whole human being.”
― Abraham Lincoln
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Wherever you look in Shinto, there are animals. Komainu and shishi lions stand as … Read the rest
Is Shinto animism plus ancestor worship? Or is it ancestor worship plus animism?
There’s a big drive these days to pass Shinto off as a nature religion, but wherever you turn you’ll find the ancestral aspect can’t be ignored. Look … Read the rest
Mystery circles
Yesterday I went on a crop circles tour which led me to reflect on the nature of intuition. The general feeling on my tour was that the number and complexity of crop formations mean that some if not … Read the rest