More glimpses of unfamiliar Japan

Gongendo Shrine is a Shinto shrine on Ishigaki Island in Okinawa Prefecture. It is claimed that Okinawa is part of Japan, and it is also...

Kirishima Jingu is a large Shinto shrine on the lower slopes of the Kirishima Mountains, a group of volcanoes in northern Kagoshima. ...

Last week while across the river heading to pick up some firewood I was surprised to see some villagers from the little hamlet in a proc...

Mikoshi are sacred palanquins or portable shrines used for transporting kami most often seen during matsuris when the kami are paraded...

As well as the main ceremony at the Shunki Taisai there were several other ceremonies going on during the day. In one of the secondary shrin...

Yesterday was the Grand Spring Festival down in Tsuwano at the Taikodani Inari Shrine. Before the main ceremony could begin the miko assiste...

Here are a few more zuijin from shrines around the Kunisaki Peninsular. For an explanation of what zuijin are, see this earlier post. This i...

Zuijin is the common name given to pairs of statues found guarding some shinto shrines, usually in their own gateways called zuijinmon. Zuij...

Iwashimizu Hachimangu, Kyoto. Miko, commonly translated as "shrine maiden" in English, can be seen at many shrines in Japan. Iw...