The first Sunday in April sees the Kanamara Festival in Kawasaki take place. This year by a curious coincidence it falls on the same weekend as Easter. In fact, it’s not really a coincidence at all, as Christianity took … Read the rest
Category: Kanto (Page 5 of 6)
The beginning of a new year in Japan is a time for many purifying events to signify a fresh start, free of the spiritual pollution accumulated in the past year. Japan Today carries an article today highlighting the event … Read the rest
I once asked a Korean woman about shamanism there. ‘Oh, you mean fortune-telling,’ she responded. It sometimes seems that Shinto is viewed in similar fashion by many of the young people who flock to shrines for ‘enmusubi‘ … Read the rest
Babies take part in the “baby-cry sumo” competition at the Irugi Shrine in Tokyo on Sunday. (AFP)
Having a bawl: Sumo wrestlers grapple with cry-babies
SEP. 22, 2014 Japan Today AFP TOKYO —
Japanese parents watched with glee on Sunday … Read the rest
The ‘Power Spot’ boom in Japan has been going for some years now in Japan and shows no sign of abating. It involves travel to places with special energy, many of which are Shinto shrines. You’ll often see queues … Read the rest
The following is adapted from a paper by John Breen entitled ‘A brief history of Amaterasu in Tokyo’. (For those living in Kyoto, he’ll be giving a talk next Tuesday, Feb 25, on ‘Amaterasu’s progress: on Ise, its priests … Read the rest
Ueno Park in Tokyo is famous for several reasons. It houses many of the country’s top museums. It has a zoo. Its cherry blossom parties are legendary. And it was the site of a decisive battle in the … Read the rest