In the past five years, due to the rise in tourism there have been tremendous changes in Japan’s traditional culture. Aspects of the culture that were insular and hard for foreigners to fathom are increasingly opening up and advertising in … Read the rest
Category: Tohoku (Page 2 of 3)
The following article from the Japan Times is notable for a number of reasons. Above all it shows how Shugendo is opening up to outsiders in dramatic fashion: rental clothing from a tourist office, and advertisements in English would have … Read the rest
Sacred island in disaster-hit Miyagi becomes idyllic climb spot
By Maaahiko Ishikawa, Asahi Staff Writer, August 14, 2017
ISHINOMAKI, Miyagi Prefecture–A mountain hit by landslides due to 2011 earthquake and tsunami disaster is fast becoming a “holy place” for climbers … Read the rest
Green Shinto has carried many reports about how shrines act as the custodians of tradition, while at the same time trying to appeal to a younger generation with anime, manga, New Age power spots and other gimmicks. However, news from … Read the rest
Japan Today carries a report on an interesting Deer Dance in Tohoku which took place at the weekend. I’ve never seen this myself, but it’s suggestive of the kind of deer shamanism practised in the northern hemisphere (Siberia and … Read the rest
What is it about rock temples? Some of the most stunning spiritual sites are those that perch on cliffsides in China and Burma. Tohoku too boasts the wonderful Yamadera. And on my recent World Heritage trip to the Deep … Read the rest