Kami, shrines, matsuri, and Shinto rites in Japan and abroad.
An article joins this feed when it matches these terms. Each one is also a search of its own.
When I went abroad and looked back on my life so far, I felt that Japanese culture and Christianity are closely connected. (I haven't organized my thoughts well yet, but I'll write them down for now.) Things considered 'virtues' in…
The holy shrine of Hinglaj Mata is located in Balochistan, Pakistan, inside Hingol National Park. Situated in the Lasbela region near the Hingol River, the shrine lies approximately 190 kilometres from Karachi. Also known as Hinglaj Devi and Nani Mandir, this…
In 1909, Umar Yamaoka left Japan for Mecca to perform Hajj, becoming the first Japanese pilgrim known to have completed the journey. His trip was an important chapter in the early history of Islam in Japan. Yamaoka travelled alongside Abdurreshid Ibrahim,…
The Al-Abbas Holy Shrine in Karbala has begun installing the “Fatimid House of Sorrows” inside the courtyard of the shrine of Abu al-Fadl al-Abbas, in preparation for commemorating the martyrdom anniversary of Lady Fatima al-Zahra (peace be upon her). The…
Standing directly in front of Shikinaen Garden in Maji, Naha City, is Ryukyu Shikina-in. With its grand Ryukyu red-tile roof, water basin, and golden shibi (ridge-end tiles) catching the Okinawan light, this temple is a new place of prayer born…
Japan’s gurdwaras serve as places of worship and community gathering for members of the Indian diaspora, welcoming people across religious backgrounds through prayer, fellowship, and langar, the traditional Sikh community kitchen. One of the country’s oldest Sikh shrines is in…
I was ignorant and thought that Goshuin (temple/shrine seals) and Gojo-in (castle seals) were the same thing. If you think about it for a second, it's obvious that the seals for temples and shrines, which are objects of faith,…
About 1500 years ago. A single Buddhist statue arrived at the Japanese imperial court from across the sea. A Buddha shining in gold. A ritual never seen before. A teaching never heard before. If we saw that today, we would immediately…
Last time, we looked at the path that Buddhism, born in India, took through China and the Korean Peninsula before arriving in Japan. Here, we notice something interesting.In Japan, there was a belief in Kami even before Buddhism was…
A long time ago, my grandmother passed away at the age of one hundred. As far as I knew, she was as ordinary as any Japanese grandmother could be. Deeply devout, she lit incense at the family Buddhist altar every…