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.

A shrine’s traffic safety sticker on the Japan Automobile Federation’s road service vehicle.

A shrine’s traffic safety sticker on a kindergarten bus.

A collection of traffic safety stickers

A shrine’s traffic safety sticker on a farm tractor.

A prayer for business prosperity painted on the back of a truck.

On a Shinto priest’s personal automobile, a Tengu mask, Okinawan Shisa statues and other amulets.

Doraemon.

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%

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.

As the festival ends, elementary school students stop to pray at the shrine on their way home.

Miko (Shrine maiden).

Ume (plum) tree blossoms.

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).

A shrine’s horse statue.

Street light with festival decorations.

Main street.

Unshō Temple 雲祥寺.

Statues of Jizō Bodhisattva 地蔵菩薩, a popular Buddhist saint who acts as a guardian of children and the patron deity of pregnant women.

Statues of Jizō Bodhisattva offered in memorial to the departed.

Phone booth elevated to compensate for heavy snowfall.

Dazai Osamu’s home, previously an inn, now a museum. When originally built, it offered a commanding view of the surrounding countryside from its second story (as most homes and businesses were single story structures).

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 temple gate decorated with paper lanterns.

Wheeled walkers parked in the garden.

Opening the door to the main hall.

A row of offering baskets handcrafted from plastic colanders and bamboo rods.

Collecting offerings.

The priest guest lecturer gives his sermon.

Shōjinryōri 精進料理, no meat or fish.

Banquet.

Behind the scenes, cooking and cleanup in the kitchen.

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?

Workshop presentation ワークショップ発表

On January 24, 2021, I presented at the online VIII – International Research Workshop “Mutual Images” hosted by Ryukoku University Kyoto. The workshop theme was “Japan Pilgrimages: Experiences and motivations behind cultural and spiritual peregrinations from and to East Asia.” My presentation title was “Ghostly Musings: When Anime Fans Traverse into the World of Natsume’s Book of Friends.”

I extend my deep gratitude to the organizers and to my fellow participants.

オンラインに開催された第8回国際学術会議「Mutual Images (ミューチュアル・イメージズ)」（於 龍谷大学）にて「幻を追う思いー『夏目友人帳』の世界に渡るファンたち」というタイトルで2021年1月24日に発表しました。

Tomb of Christ キリストの墓

Bus stop in front of “Christ Park” Shingo Town, Aomori Prefecture.

No buses on Sunday.

The grave of Christ in association with Coca-Cola.

“Christ’s home Shingo.” “Be careful of fires.”

Christ’s grave (background) and that of his brother named Isukiri (foreground).

A Journey to Koyasan 高野山への旅

Palm reader 手相

Salvation sale 掛け軸売り場

Absence 欠席

Public Lecture 公開講座 「心のケアの多様性―東北地方の巫女(シャマニズム)をめぐって」

2019年11月28日に東北学院大学教養学部が開催する「大人の教養倶楽部」の第11回の公開講座の講師につとめました。本年のテーマである「多様性の教養学、あるいは教養学の多様性」に合わせて「心のケアの多様性―東北地方の巫女(シャマニズム)をめぐって」の題目で、心のケアのスペシャリストとして東北地方の地域社会を支えてきたイタコやカミサマという巫女の成巫過程と仕事の内容について講演しました。Link

Quelling the flames

The Mizu-kake Fudo-son 水掛不動尊 at the Hozenji Temple 法善寺 in Osaka, where petitioners throw water on the moss covered stone statue of the Buddhist fire deity, Fudō Myō-ō (不動明王).

 

Yamanokami Shrine 山神社

The mountain goddess enshrined at Yamanokami Shrine in Miyagi Prefecture’s Misato Town is known far and wide for her efficacy in relation to childbirth. Women have long come to the shrine to borrow a tiny pillow which they take home to ensure an easy and uneventful, that is safe, delivery of their baby. They return the pillow after their child has been born. Many believe that the color of the pillow (red, white, and blue) correlates to the sex of the child, but the priest explained that from the perspective of the shrine the color has no such meaning. The display of phallic offerings in the anterior of the main building attests to the shrine’s strong connection to fertility. Alongside those is another point of interest, a stuffed bear, which is a curious but amusing artifact. During the summer, many visitors come to take a stroll through the multicolored hydrangea in the garden.

Tiny pillows are dedicated on top of the offertory box.

Hello Kitty Religious Goods ハローキティと宗教

Department store display for Sanrio’s Hello Kitty goods. Shinto-like elements: 1. Back display in the shape of votive prayer tablet (絵馬 ema) with a Shinto shrine bell to ring when making a prayer  2. Hello Kitty doll costumed as a shrine maiden (巫女 miko)  3. Small case with image of Hello Kitty as shrine maiden performing a purification ritual  4. Pen case for success in studying and passing exams  5. Votive prayer tablet for writing a wish

Rain maiden 雨で待つ巫女

Daruma Temple だるま寺

The Daruma Temple in Shiga Prefecture

Kanda Myojin Shrine 神田明神

Paper lanterns offered in prayer

See much, hear much, but speak little 多く見、多く聞き、而して少し語れ