Ian Ropke writes, Shinto is Japan’s original religion and today it maintains a strong position next to the country’s other main religion: Buddhism. It is interesting to note that nearly all Japanese do not even know what the word Shinto means. The word Shinto comes from the Chinese characters: god and path. Elegantly translated Shinto means The Way of the Gods. Today, if you … [Read more...]
Karasu Sumo at Kamigamo Shrine on September 9
John Dougill writes, Priests hopping and cawing like crows. Seven year old kids doing sumo. What’s that all got to do with Shinto, you may wonder? Kamigamo Jinja is Kyoto’s greenest shrine and probably the oldest. It was established by the Kamo clan long before Kammu founded the capital in 794. One of the clan, according to legend, helped guide Emperor Jimmu across Kii … [Read more...]
John Dougill’s Green Shinto
Our friend, the historian/poet John Dougill, has launched his own website, Green Shinto, and it looks like a cracker! I know personally that strolling round a shinto shrine with John at your side amiably explaining what everything means, is a very educational experience. Now his expert knowledge of Shinto belief and tradition is available to a far wider audience: Green Shinto … [Read more...]
Ted Talks
Academic Beers with Ted Taylor When you describe Kyoto, you couldn’t skip them; pure water, old wooden house in a row, and food culture. This is beer whose mother is the honorable tradition in Kyoto, and whose father is beer boasted of by Germany. A new historical chapter is recorded in our culture. From the KANBAIKAN craft beer label. A few months ago there was a big … [Read more...]
