A variety or rituals and rites are performed at Shinto shrine throughout Japan each year.  Many are associated with good luck, good health, prosperity and longevity.  Two such rites can be witnessed in Tokyo at the Torigoe Shrine on June 30th and July 1st. Chinowa Kuguri This tradition of passing through a straw or reed […]

A trip to the Kameido Wisteria Festival found all of the usual attractions of a matsuri (festival) in Japan; abundant food stalls, good weather and  plenty of people but Mother Nature had other ideas when it came to cooperating with the wisteria blooms.  Only a few of the wisteria vines were blooming and I would […]

Many visitors to Japan can’t tell the difference between a shrine and a temple and they often use the terms interchangeably. Using the terms temple and shrine interchangeably is the same as using the terms church and synagogue interchangeably.  Two primary religions are practiced in Japan, Shinto which is practiced at a shrine and Buddhism, […]