People in Japan may call for divine protection when driving or operating a vehicle. Here are some vehicles with various protective devices.
Prayers for safe driving 交通安全祈願
Belief
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: 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.
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?
Stone sentinels 静番人
Tomb of Christ キリストの墓
A Journey to Koyasan 高野山への旅
Intensive Course at Kwansei Gakuin University 関西学院大学の集中講義
I have just completed an intensive course at Kwansei Gakuin University’s Graduate School of Sociology (Folklore and Anthropology Department) from February 24th thru the 28th. Over the course of fifteen lectures, the graduate students and I explored various topics under the broad themes of Japanese shamanism, Japanese rural society, Rites of passage, and Anime pilgrimages. My gratitude goes out to Prof. Shimamura Takanori for his kind invitation for me to lecture, as well as the graduate students who untiringly engaged with me throughout the 6 hour lecture days.
2月24日から28日までの関西学院大学社会学研究科（民俗学と人類学）での集中講義が無事に終わりました。 講義の中で日本のシャーマニズム、日本の農村社会、通過儀礼、アニメ聖地巡礼、ディジタル・フォークロアなどの幅広いトピックに関して講義をしました。 関西学院大学の島村恭則先生、そして大学院生の皆さまに大変感謝しております。
Palm reader 手相
Salvation sale 掛け軸売り場
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
Repose for Tea Whisks 茶筅供養
Bamboo tea whisks, known as chasen 茶筅, are delicately crafted tools which produce many a fine cup of tea. On occasion, memorial services are given to those whisks who have retired from service. In Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture on June 4, 2010, I witnessed as a small group of devotees to the art of making tea bid farewell to their whisks which were sent off through a ritual burning.
A sign announces the memorial service for tea whisks.
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.
Takayama Inari Shrine 高山稲荷神社
A trek to the Takayama Inari Shrine in Tsugaru City, Aomori Prefecture reveals hundreds upon hundreds of stone, ceramic, and wooden statues of foxes. Once worshiped in homes and businesses for success and prosperity, they are now amassed in silence, sentinels to the passing of time.
New Article: Votive Prayer Tablets 小絵馬
I have written an article offering a detailed analysis of one shrine’s koema 小絵馬, small wooden prayer tablets. The article additionally provides a history of the research on koema that have focused not on illustrated prayers (as was traditional), but rather on written prayers, which is the form that predominates today. The article can be found in the Journal of Human Informatics which is published annually by The Institute for Research in Human Informatics at Tohoku Gakuin University. PDF link
Article: “A Comprehensive Survey of Small Votive Prayer Tablets” Journal of Human Informatics (人間情報学研究), Vol. 24, 2019, 15-34.
JapanFolklore 