Shamanism in Japan: a beginner’s guide

Talking about shamanism may seems some easy task, and some images immediately pop to mind…

Who are the blind shamans? The last itako of Tohoku

Meeting an itako: Matsuda-san #2

I could met Matsuda san a second time in the summer 2014, the 31stJuly after the Osorezan Taisai…

What’s kegare?

A polluting person is always in the wrong. He has developed some wrong condition or simply crossed some line which should not have been crossed and this displacement unleashes danger for someone

Mary Douglas, Purity and Danger. An Analysis of Concepts of Pollution and Taboo

Mokuren, Buddha and the world of the dead

Itako are symbols of the popular, folk-religion; they have loose ties with…

What are Oshirasama

We said many times that itako are popular for the kuchiyose, the calling of the dead. However, the locals are still familiar…

Meeting an itako: Aoyama-san

A different practitioner

New Religions in Japan

We are back to something very dear to my study, religions and shamanism in Japan. Shamanism in contemporary Japan is a topic of interesting researches expecially among anthropologists and sociologists, and it is now widely connected to the developments of the so-called New Religions…

The kamisama of the Mountain: Iyo-san

The second kamisama I could meet was an older woman who lives with her daughters in the…