More glimpses of unfamiliar Japan

These are 2 slightly different versions of the Tajkaro mask, one with a moustache, one without. He appears in the Iwato story, wherein Amate...

A Genealogy of 'Japanese' self-images. Eiji Oguma Trans Pacific Press ISBN 1-876843-04-7 435pp Of all the myths propagated about Jap...

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...

Driving along Route 9 as it passes through the town of Nima one is struck by a strange site;- 6 glass and steel pyramids rising out of the h...

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...