More glimpses of unfamiliar Japan

Last night was one of my favorite matsuris. It was the Kids kagura matsuri in the nearby village of Ichiyama. We've been every year for ...

This short video was shot 2 weeks ago on the small island of Iwaishima. It shows the beginning of the Kannmai matsuri, as 2 rowboats, acc...

Monkey Raid Sitting at my computer yesterday I heard a rustle in the persimmon tree just outside the screen door. An adult monkey had jump...

Inari shrines are immediately recognizable by their "tunnels" of vermillion Torii. Inari is primarily the kami of rice harvest, bu...

Harvesting pearl millet right now. When I was a kid, millet was what you gave to the budgie! Later I discovered a health-food cookbook from ...

This is an Iwami kagura mask of Susano. Sometimes spelt Susanoh, sometimes Susano-O, sometimes Susano o mikoto. Susano appears in several ka...

Japanese Historians and the National Myths, 1600-1945. The age of the Gods and Emperor Jinmu. John S. Brownlee UBC Press ISBN 9 780774806459...

The population of the village has doubled in the past few days. This is O Bon, somewhat similar to the Mexican Day of the Dead, the time tha...

When we have visitors and it's hot, instead of heading to the beach to cool off we usually head to a waterfall. There are a lot of water...

In contemporary Japan there is a hard distinction between shrines and temples. Shrines are shinto, and temples are buddhist. This distinctio...