Category: Japan
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Shinto, by Ian Reader
This book, in the series Simple Guides, is, as you would expect, a simple guide to Shinto. It is very short, and took me about an hour to read, and thus can only hope to cover a basic outline of Shinto. However, if you know nothing about the religion, that’s exactly what you need to…
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Politically Stable
Japan has had four prime ministers in my daughter’s lifetime. My daughter is not yet two. This might not sound like a politically stable society, but have you heard about riots in Japan? Street protests? Internet campaigns to impeach the Prime Minister because he was born in Mombasa? This is, I think, true political stability.…
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Further Immigration
Yesterday I got a letter from Japanese immigration asking for some more information for my permanent residence application. One thing they wanted was, basically, directions to my house, in case they wanted to pop round. Now, it is fundamentally reasonable that they might want to pop round. I believe it’s virtually standard practice when applying…
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Permanent Residence Application
Today I applied for permanent residence in Japan. It didn’t actually take that long; I needed about a dozen pieces of paper, most of which were issued by the local ward office, and a simple application form. A lot of the simplicity is because I’m applying on the grounds of being married to a Japanese…
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Okunitamajinja
The second of the Kokugakuin shrine visits on the 5th was to Okunitamajinja. This is the Soja for Musashi no Kuni. The Soja was a shrine set up near the seat of government with the kami of the most important shrines in the province (or kuni) so that the provincial governor could easily honour the…
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New Diary Entry
I’ve added a new diary entry.
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Shinto Controversies Course — 6th Lecture
The sixth lecture of the Shinto Controversies course at Kokugakuin was held yesterday. This time, Professor Okada only barely got on to the controversy part, because explaining the background took most of the lecture. Fortunately, the controversies involved are easy to understand once you understand the background, so while it would have been nice had…
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Fudatenjinja
Every year the Kokugakuin Shinto course organises a formal shrine visit for the students on the course. This is optional, partly because it isn’t covered by the course fee, but also because it involves an extra day coming to Tokyo. Since some people apparently travel enormous distances to attend the lectures, the extra thing should…
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Shinto Controversies Course — 5th Lecture
Today was the fifth lecture in the Kokugakuin Open College Shinto course. According to Professor Okada, this lecture was a sort of summary of the first half of the course. He’s been considering the structure of Shinto in the classical period, and this time he was discussing the role of the Emperor in religious observances.…
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Shinto Controversies Course — 4th Lecture
Today (and I think I might just get this article finished today) I went to the fourth of the Shinto controversies lectures at the Open College at Kokugakuin University. Again, the lecturer was Professor Okada. This time, he was talking about the origins of Shrine Shinto, and its basic characteristics in the classical period. The…