This is a Kumade (although if I understand correctly, Kumade may just mean “rake” in Japanese). It is one of the many artifacts one can get for New Year’s in Japan. My mother-in-law got it for us, now I wonder where we’ll manage to store it to catch

  A little more than a year ago, I visited Kibitsu Jinja in the Okayama Prefecture.     Truth is that we didn’t spend much time there (and I left the few information I collected there back in France) so I don’t really have much to say about it at

    One thing I like about Shintō shrines is that they really come in all shapes and especially sizes. Ranging from huge mountainside shrine complexes like Konpirasan to this very small shrine in my neighborhood. I particularly like the plastic chair in front of it.  

  So, a few days ago I told you that I was done with telling you about New Year in Japan until next year. Well, I was wrong. I had forgotten about Dondo Yaki. What is this? Dondo Yaki? Well, it’s actually quite simple. See, for New Year’s, houses are

    This is a wooden horse from Konpirasan a.k.a. Kotohira-gū. Of course, it is a sacred horse (it belongs to the Kami) I just wonder whether it is more or less sacred than the real horses that live there too.  

  In Zentsūji, you don’t only find the Shingon temple of the same name. Just like anywhere else in Japan, you’ll also find small Shinto shrines here and there:     This particular shrine is dedicated to a Kami of fertility.    

  The final act of that day (May 21, 2009) was spent in the village of Kotohira where we visited the Konpirasan, a large Shinto shrine built on the mountain. Definitely the most beautiful thing I have seen during that first trip to Japan, and still one of my favorites

  I resume here the tale of my first trip to Japan that took place in May 2009. As previously mentioned, we’ll have to be a bit patient before I start telling you about last week’s trip. However worry not, it will be the next thing on this blog, my

  Iwaseo Hachiman-gū in Takamatsu is a special temple to me. It has nothing special in appearance, it looks like many other Shintō temples all over the country, although it is one of the main ones in Takamatsu if not the main one. It’s special to me for two reasons,