Honored to be one of seven faculty members awarded the Tohoku Gakuin University’s Outstanding Faculty Member for Educational Achievements in 2022.
2022年度東北学院大学教育功績優秀教員として表彰された７名の教員の一人です。学生に感謝いたします。
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See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil, and… 見まず聞かず言わず, そして…
The three monkeys at Toshogu Shrine in Nikko are famous.
But at Jotokuji temple 常徳寺 in Shikamachi, Ishikawa prefecture, there are four monkeys on the bell tower roof.
Walk to school 通学
This pair of fiberglass schoolboy safety flag holders were photographed at a heavy-traffic intersection in Shirakawago, Gifu Prefecture. Wearing bright yellow coats and boots, a bright red hat, and sporting school bags slung across their backs, these statues resemble many first year elementary school students in Japan, who for safety dress to be seen by motorists. Before crossing the street on their way to school, children take a flag from one holder, and then proceed to cross the street holding it high. Having crossed the street they place the flag in the opposing statue, readying it for their return home. On the top of the statues’ heads is a slot where the flags had once been. And the writing on their chests says who donated the statues, a Mr. Matsuyama Taro. Weathered by years of service and with their flags now gone, the one boy, who lost a hand and broke off from the concrete base, is literally on his last legs. Gokurosan.
Prayers for safe driving 交通安全祈願
People in Japan may call for divine protection when driving or operating a vehicle. Here are some vehicles with various protective devices.
Fieldwork Flashback: Asking for directions
While doing fieldwork in the early 2000s, lost and in need of assistance. Although weathered, the officer remains steadfast in service toward community safety.
Conference presentation 学会発表
On August 4, 2022, I presented online for the Japan: Pre-modern, Modern, Contemporary 9th International Conference (hybrid) hosted by the “Dimitrie Cantemir” Christian University, Bucharest. Participating in a panel titled “Craft, Leisure, and Sport in Modern and Contemporary Japanese Religions” I presented under the title “Butchering Cuties: The Violent Religious Symbolism Found on Votive Tablets from Pilgrimaging Anime Fans.” I wish to extend my deep gratitude to the organizers and to my fellow panel members.
ハイブリッドで開催された第9回国際学術大会「Japan: Pre-modern, Modern, Contemporary: A Return Trip from the East to the West, Learning in, about and from Japan」（於 “Dimitrie Cantemir” Christian University, Bucharest）にて「Butchering Cuties: The Violent Religious Symbolism Found on Votive Tablets from Pilgrimaging Anime Fans」というタイトルで2022年9月4日に発表しました。
The abstract for my presentation follows:
Butchering Cuties: The Violent Religious Symbolism Found on Votive Tablets from Pilgrimaging Anime Fans
It has become commonplace for the artists producing anime (animation) to draw upon real-world places and scenery. As a cultural by-product, fans search out and travel to the locales that function as the
inspiration for an anime’s setting. Fans often refer to this activity as seichi junrei 聖地巡礼, literally
sacred-site pilgrimage, investing it with a degree of socio-religious significance.
Beginning with a game that later developed into an anime series, Higurashi-no-naku-koro-ni ひぐらしのなく頃に (hereafter, Higurashi) exemplifies how an anime can generate a pilgrimage. Higurashi’s
pilgrimage emerged around 2007 in conjunction with its first television airing. Fans started visiting the
modeled village of Shirakawa, Gifu Prefecture, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site known for its
rustic and nostalgic atmosphere. Similar to fans at other anime pilgrimage sites, Higurashi fans gathered
at a real-world Shinto shrine located in Shirakawa, where they began dedicating wooden votive tablets on
which they penned prayers to and illustrations of the Higurashi characters.
Such fan activity may be welcomed by communities hoping to increase their tourist draw and invigorate their local economy, but the fan presence at Shirakawa was not well-received by locals. The reason perhaps lies with the Higurashi storyline which follows a group of students who become entangled in a run of mysterious murders. Murders that are depicted in the series with bloody brutality. While most
fans illustrated their votive tablets with a cute and innocent likeness of the Higurashi’s characters, a
number of fans chose to deliver images of those same characters in their psychotic and butchering alter
ego. In this paper, I will focus on these darker artistic renderings and associated motifs in an effort to
elucidate the nature of religious devotion offered by fans to the Higurashi world.
Questionnaire: Nature related beliefs アンケート：自然への考え
This is a questionnaire given to university students. 大学生に対するアンケート.
Do you agree with the following: あなたの意見は、次のような考え方と一致しますか.
Question 問い
- Deities reside in mountains and rivers, trees and plants and the like. 山や川、草や木にはカミが宿っている.
- If you do not purify (bless) automobiles, boats, airplanes and the like an accident may occur. 自動車や船、飛行機などはお祓いをしないと事故が起こる.
- A rice deity resides in the rice plant. 稲には稲のカミがいる.
- A rice deity resides in the rice paddy. 田園には田のカミがいる.
- Mistreating or killing animals causes supernatural retribution. 動物をいじめたり殺したりするとたたりがある.
- Not giving prayers and offerings to the dead causes supernatural retribution. 亡くなられた方（死者）の霊魂に供養しないとたたりがある.
- Nature has a “life” and is alive. 自然は「いのち」をもって生きている.
- Everything on earth exists for human use (to serve humans). 地球上の全てのものは人間に利用されるためにある.
- People are one part of nature. 人間も自然の一部である.
Survey of 54 Tohoku Gakuin University undergraduates (June 7, 2022)
2022年6月7日のアンケート（東北学院大学）回答者54名
回答 Answer:
- 57%
- 22%
- 43%
- 35%
- 80%
- 70%
- 85%
- 0%
- 65%
Survey of 52 Tohoku Gakuin University undergraduates (May 5, 2017)
2017年5月5日のアンケート（東北学院大学）回答者52名
回答 Answer:
- 62%
- 29%
- 42%
- 40%
- 85%
- 69%
- 81%
- 2%
- 67%
Survey of 68 Kanazawa University undergraduates (October 10, 2012)
2009年10月10日のアンケート（金沢大学）回答者68名
- 85%
- 41%
- 59%
- 59%
- 94%
- 87%
- 97%
- 0%
- 75%
*Questions 1-9 are based on another researcher’s questionnaire. Unfortunately, I have misplaced that researcher’s name and findings. I will post that information as soon as I find it.
While for many of the questions we may be seeing an overall decrease in affirmative responses, we can observe an enduring respect for nature (Q8) and a recognition that the respondents feel that they are linked to nature (Q9) despite an ongoing distancing from agricultural activities.
Questionnaire: Love for anime characters キャラクターへの感情
This is a questionnaire given to university students. 大学生に対するアンケート.
Do you agree with the following: あなたの意見は、次のような考え方と一致しますか.
Question 問い
It’s possible to have a strong attraction to anime characters bordering on love.
アニメ・ゲームなどのキャラクターに大きな魅力として感じ、恋に近い感情を抱くことはあり得る.
Poll: Student screen time & online usage 大学生のオンライン活動アンケート
Questionnaire: Religious belief アンケート：宗教・信仰について
This is a questionnaire given to university students. 大学生に対するアンケート.
2022年のアンケート（東北学院大学学部生）回答者35名 男性22名 女性32名
Survey of 54 Tohoku Gakuin University undergraduates (2022) 22 male & 32 female respondents
| M = male F = female M/F = combined | M | ー | F | ー | M/ F | ー |
| Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | |
| ① Do you have a religious belief/faith? あなたは「信仰」をお持ちですか？ | 18% | 82% | 16% | 84% | 17% | 83% |
| ② Do you have a religion? あなたは「宗教」をお持ちですか？ | 32% | 68% | 16% | 84% | 22% | 78% |
| ③ Do you believe in existence of kami (gods)? あなたは「神」の存在を信じますか？ | 55% | 45% | 59% | 41% | 57% | 43% |
| ④ Do you believe in the existence of the soul after death? あなたは「霊魂」の存在を信じますか？ | 50% | 50% | 59% | 41% | 56% | 44% |
| ⑤ Do you believe in yūrei (ghosts)? あなたは「幽霊」の存在を信じますか？ | 55% | 45% | 66% | 34% | 61% | 39% |
2017年のアンケート（東北学院大学）回答者44名
Survey of 44 Tohoku Gakuin University undergraduates (2017)
回答 Answer: はい Yes / いいえ No
① 9% / 91%
② 9% / 91%
③ 75% / 25%
④ 70% / 30%
⑤ 73% / 27 %
2016年のアンケート（東北学院大学）回答者26名
Survey of 26 Tohoku Gakuin University undergraduates (2016)
① 4% / 96%
② 12% / 88%
③ 69% / 31%
④ 73% / 27%
⑤ 73% / 27 %
2009年のアンケート（金沢大学）回答者156名
Survey of 156 Kanazawa University undergraduates (2009)
① 25% / 75%
② 31% / 69%
③ 51% / 49%
④ 60% / 40%
⑤ 51% / 49%
2008年のアンケート（金沢大学）回答者105名
Survey of 105 Kanazawa University undergraduates (2008)
① 28% / 72%
② 33% / 67%
③ 42% / 58%
④ 66% / 33%
⑤ 56% / 43%
| Affirmative response tallies | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Q5 |
| | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 2022 Tohoku Gakuin Univ. 35 respondents | 17% | 22% | 57% | 56% | 61% |
| 2017 Tohoku Gakuin Univ. 44 respondents | 9% | 9% | 75% | 70% | 73% |
| 2016 Tohoku Gakuin Univ. 26 respondents | 4% | 12% | 69% | 73% | 73% |
| 2008 Kanazawa Univ. 156 respondents | 25% | 31% | 51% | 60% | 51% |
| 2008 Kanazawa Univ. 105 respondents | 28% | 33% | 42% | 66% | 56% |
Book Review for “Emoticons, Kaomoji, and Emoji: The Transformation of Communication in the Digital Age”
A book review by Zibi Huang for Elena Giannoulis’s and Lukas R. A. Wilde’s Emoticons, Kaomoji, and Emoji: The Transformation of Communication in the Digital Age in which I have published “From Digital to Analog: Kaomoji on the Votive Tablets of an Anime Pilgrimage”. My article focuses on the Higurashi-no-naku-koro-ni (ひぐらしのなく頃に) fan tablets.
Needles put to rest 針の安らぎの場
A memorial service for needles (針供養 hari kuyō) is held annually on February 8th at the Egaraten Shrine (荏柄天神社), located in Kamakura, Kanagawa prefecture.
Mostly women, but some men too, bring bent, rusted, broken, and otherwise exhausted needles to the shrine. After priests perform Shinto prayers (祝詞 norito), several blocks of tofu (bean curd) are placed before the assembled crowd. Then the participants bring forth their needles and prick them into the soft surface of the tofu, offering a final, soothing repose. Pressing their palms together in silent prayer, the shrinegoers express gratitude to the needles, who have sacrificed their tiny steel bodies to assist in the work of housewives, seamstresses, kimono makers, and hobbyists.
Climbing Mt. Fuji anytime soon? Forecast the weather yourself!
I have never climbed Mt. Fuji; I have only seen it from afar. I heard that the experience of climbing the mountain is quite exhilarating. When I was researching divination in Japan I came across an article explaining omens¹. And in a footnote to the article, which referenced a separate book on folklore², was a sampling of the different cloud formations on Mt. Fuji with their respective weather conditions. Continue reading
Kanagi Town 金木町
A look back at the town of Kanagi 金木町 in Aomori prefecture, now Goshogawara City 五所川原市(photographed in 2005, early morning). The town is known as the birthplace of Tsugaru-jamisen 津軽三味線 (Tsugaru style shamisen music) and as the hometown of the well-known author Dazai Osamu 太宰治 (1909-1948).
Buddhist sermon 報恩講
Tōkushōji 徳性寺, a Jōdoshin sect temple, is located in Kaga City, Ishikawa prefecture. The following images show the annual hōonkō 報恩講 (Buddhist sermon lecture).
The Faithful’s Graffiti: Senjafuda 参拝者の千社札
Visitors to shrines and temples sometimes commemorate their visit by pasting a paper bearing their name (千社札 senjafuda) on the shrine and temple buildings and gates. Some shrines and temples treat this as a form of graffiti and warn against it. Nonetheless, the faithful seemingly do so as to receive some efficacy and as a way to say, “I was here.”
Here are some photos from the famous Eiheiji (永平寺) Buddhist temple in Fukui prefecture of a shrine covered with senjafuda.
Graffiti? Or a symbol of devotion?
New article: “To be Seen, not Just Read”
Title:
“To be Seen, not Just Read: Script Use on the Votive Prayer Tablets of Anime, Manga, and Game Fans”
Abstract:
This article proposes one social explanation for the occurrence of graphic variation in contemporary written Japanese by examining a heretofore unexamined context of writing. Embracing the material culture approach, I explore the ema (votive prayer tablets) dedicated at Shinto shrines by fans of popular culture media productions (Sengoku Basara 戦国BASARA, Rakudai Ninja Rantarō 落第忍者乱太郎, Natsume Yūjinchō 夏目友人帳). Fans pen text on the ema that follows aesthetics of manga as well as online communication, incorporating features that are usually limited to print and online writing. Analyzing upwards of 2,000 ema from three shrines, this article proceeds to dissect a writing style composed of a mix of syllabaries and symbols using ‘thick description’ to evince the emotion behind fans’ calculated efforts to construct text that is not simply to be read, but to be seen. Seeking to answer the question of what fans attempt to achieve by writing on the ema in the way that they do, I will reference folklorist Elliott Oring’s ‘appropriate incongruity’ to put forth an argument that fans, harnessing a sense of play and endeavoring to animate the text on the ema, intimate by means of the visual presentation of writing-restricted variation a questioning of the perceived division between the two-dimensional and three-dimensional worlds.
“To be Seen, not Just Read: Script Use on the Votive Prayer Tablets of Anime, Manga, and Game Fans” Japanese Studies, 2022, pp. 1-22.
Link to journal:
Gokayama gassho-zukuri 五箇山合掌造り
Part of the area known as Gokayama (Toyama Prefecture), the village of Suganuma is a registered World Heritage Site. It is known for its traditional gassho-zukuri style roofed buildings. The steeply angled roofs, designed to let the snow fall off, resemble the shape taken by the arms when the palms of the hand are brought together for prayer. Here are some photographs during the month of January.
世界文化遺産 菅沼合掌造り集落.
New article: Sailor Moon Pilgrimage セーラームーン聖地巡礼
I have written an article examining the votive prayer tablets dedicated at Azabu Hikawa Shrine in Tokyo. The shrine which featured in the manga and anime series Sailor Moon drew the attention of fans who began a “pilgrimage.” Through an exploration of the tradition carried on by fans of dedicating Sailor Moon votive prayer tablets, the author suggests considering the importance of visuality in the process in which Sailor Moon characters become cultural icons.
Article: “Fan Created Tradition: The Votive Prayer Tablets of the Sailor Moon Pilgrimage” Tohoku Gakuin University Faculty of Liberal Arts Review, No. 187, 2021, pp. 43-60. PDF
“Kamichu!” Votive Prayer Tablets 『かみちゅ！』絵馬
The anime Kamichu! is the story of a junior high school girl who one day suddenly becomes a goddess. The Misode Tenmangu Shrine (Onomichi, Hiroshima Prefecture) was pictured in the anime and became a fan pilgrimage site. Here are some selected votive prayer tablets (痛絵馬 itaema) dedicated by fans at Misode Tenmangu Shrine.
Survey date: April 27, 2008
Number of dedicated votive prayer tablets: 1198
調査：2008年4月27日
奉納した絵馬：合計1198枚
JapanFolklore 