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.
See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil, and… 見まず聞かず言わず, そして…
Material Culture
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.
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.
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).
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
Mutsu day and night むつの昼夜
Scenes from the city of Mutsu in Aomori prefecture.
Stone sentinels 静番人
“When They Cry” Votive Prayer Tablets 『ひぐらしのなく頃に』絵馬
Selected votive prayer tablets (痛絵馬 itaema) from the anime Higurashi no naku koro ni (English title: When They Cry) dedicated at the Shirakawa Hachiman Shrine in Shirakawa, Gifu Prefecture.
Survey date: November 23, 2007
Salvation sale 掛け軸売り場
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.
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 