Women used to have political power in Japan
Gender equality is ongoing. However, for some reason, I have heard that men always have a dominant social structure in humankind, and that no country has any exception. It seems that women had once political power in Japan. I once…
A torii in the lake
The torii is the gate of the shrine and means the entrance to the sacred area. There is a very big torii gate in Heian Jingu in Kyoto. In Miyajima of Hiroshima Prefecture, which island is wholly a secred area,…
A strange needle-leaf tree, nagi
Trees can usually be divided into broad-leaf and needle-leaf. The tree in this photo looks like a broad-leaf , but it is actually a needle-leaf. Broad-leaf trees usually have a leaf with a central vein, but this leaf does not. Nagi, the scientific…
Does happiness mean either that your wishes come true or that you give up your wishes?
Previously, I mentioned that Shinto shrines and Buddhism temples look very similar at first glance. However, they essentially seem to be the exact opposite. Since ancient times in Japan, people thought that when a drought or disaster occurred, it was…
Animals in shrines as messengers from the god
Shrines are facilities of the Shinto religion. Based on the worship of nature, every shrine has a kind of “God’s messenger” animal. The ancients believed that the harvest and natural disasters were caused by the power of the god. The…
Why don’t you experience the ancient forest in Nara
The power of human development is enormous and has had a negative impact on the natural environment throughout the world. In Japan, people originally lived hunting in the forest, then thousands of years ago they settled down and began cultivating…
Japanese people think that everyone becomes God after death by no means
The Shinto religious facilities called shrines (jinja) worship God. God is usually the person who died. Originally, the shrines that have continued since ancient times enshrine the ancestors of the local people. People in the old days thought that the…
History and difference between shrines and temples
When you come to Japan for sightseeing, you often visit historical facilities related to religion. There are some Christian churches, but many of them are new. Most of the old buildings you see for sightseeing are shrines and temples. Both…
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