Shinto
Kami, shrines and torii; purification, priests, and the calendar of matsuri, the festivals that still shut whole cities for a week, from Gion to Nebuta to Awa Odori.
Part of Japan
38 moments in this segment.
- - Suzu. 17th century, Japanese, Metropolitan Museum of Art open-access; digitised reproduction of the original artefact.
- - Sacred Dances Offered at Meiji Shrine, 1931. Silent Ministry of Education film recording eight ritual dances chosen from across Japan and performed at Meiji Jingu on 4 November 1930 for the shrine's tenth anniversary, including Chichibu-bayashi, Saeki kagura and the Tsuwano heron dance.
- - Cherry blossoms akayu 2005-04. hanami cherry blossom Japan park. Photo of cherry blossoms in Eboshiyama Park, Akayu, Nanyo City, Yamagata Prefecture, Japan. I took this photo with a digital camera in April 2005.
- - Cherry blossoms in Mitsuzawa-park at Yokohama Japan. hanami cherry blossom Japan park. Cherry blossoms in Mitsuzawa-park at Yokohama, Japan.
- - Cherry Blossom Picnic. hanami cherry blossom Japan park. People enjoying the Cherry Blossoms in Kakuzan Park, Tsuyama. Taken by me on 9th April 2006. To be added to Tsuyama, Japan entry.
- - Ennogyojayama. Gion Matsuri festival float Kyoto. Ennogyojayama
- - Torii gate in Shinto Shrine-Tokyo-Japan. torii gate Shinto shrine Japan photograph. Torii gate and small shrine in Chion-ji, Kyoto
- - Futami okitama shinto shrine gate. torii gate Shinto shrine Japan photograph. Futami okitama shinto shrine gate
- - Shukugawa Park in spring. hanami cherry blossom Japan park. Cherry blossoms in full bloom at Shukugawa Park, Nishinomiya City, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan
- - Wada-inari-jinja1 torii. torii gate Shinto shrine Japan photograph. Wada Inari-jinja, - located in Shakujii-machi, near Shakujii-kōen Station South exit, Nerima ward, Tokyo, Japan.
- - A cat in Fushimi Inari Shrine (11331139384). Fushimi Inari-taisha. I saw a lot of cats in Fushimi Inari Shrine. All of them are so adorable! 伏見稲荷でたくさんの猫ちゃんに出会いました。みんなかわいかった！ [ Nikon D4, Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 85mm f/1.4G, f/1.4, 1/80sec, ISO8000, Lightroom 5 ]
- - The 61st Ise Shikinen Sengu: Complete Record. Feature-length record of the 61st rebuilding of Ise Jingu, culminating in the 2013 Sengyo ceremony transferring the deity to the new sanctuary.
- - Iwami Kagura: Behind the Votive Dance. Ashita e no Tobira episode on a kagura troupe in Gotsu, Shimane, following young dancers preparing the votive performances for the autumn shrine festivals.
- - Meiji Jingu (24727530638). Meiji Shrine. Meiji Shrine in Tokyo
- - 20181110 Fushimi Inari shrine 11. Fushimi Inari-taisha. A shrine at Fushimi Inari-taisha in Kyoto, Japan.
- - Canopy of trees at Meiji Shrine. Meiji Shrine. A view of the forest canopy, looking straight up, in a forested area of Meiji Shrine.
- - Misoma Hajime Sai: Felling the Sacred Trees in Kiso. Record of the 2005 Misoma Hajime Sai at Agematsu, the formal Shinto rite in which the cypress for Ise's inner sanctuary vessels is felled in the Kiso forest.
- - Blossom and Tourism in Edo-Period Shinagawa. Shinagawa History Museum curator presents an exhibition on Edo-period hanami, showing that Gotenyama's cherries were a mixed planting timed for staggered bloom, unlike today's uniform Somei-Yoshino.
- - The Aomori Nebuta Festival in the 1960s and 1970s. Rediscovered amateur footage showing older Nebuta float-running formations and construction methods, broadcast by ATV Aomori with commentary from Nebuta makers.
- - Keeping Oide Morihachiman Kagura Alive Through the Pandemic. Sendai City Museum of History and Folklore record of a designated intangible folk cultural property, following the parishioners and preservation society through cancelled festivals.
- - Kamiarizuki: The Gods Gather at Izumo Taisha. Film of the Izumo rites of the tenth lunar month, when the eight million kami are said to convene at Izumo Taisha under Okuninushi to decide human fortunes and marriages.
- - The Yamahoko Float Rituals of the Kyoto Gion Festival. Official documentary record of the Gion Matsuri float rituals, a designated Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property inscribed by UNESCO in 2009, tracing the festival back to the Heian-era goryo-e.
- - Kanda Matsuri: The Shinkosai Procession Departs. Footage of the hatsurensai, the departure of the Kanda Myojin phoenix palanquins for the shinkosai procession, opened by kiyari work-song chanting.
- - The Fish Market Mikoshi Returns After Twenty Years. Record of the Uogashi Suijinja mikoshi carried at Kanda Matsuri for the first time since 2003; the shrine was founded by the Nihonbashi fish market's originator after Ieyasu entered Edo in 1590.
- - Ise Jingu subshrine. Ise Grand Shrine. Ise Jingu subshrine
- - The First Woman Nebuta Master. Nippon TV documentary following Asako Kitamura, who broke 300 years of exclusively male Nebuta making, competing for prizes against her master-ranked father while raising a first child.
- - Awa Odori's Rupture: Veteran Troupes Shut Out. TV Asahi report on the 2023 Awa Odori, where long-established ren were excluded from the main venues after premium seating was introduced, and protested in an unlit park instead.
- - Building a Nebuta Float. Aomori City filmed the making of a large Nebuta over seven weeks, following paper application, ink outlining, wax drawing, colouring and mounting on its base.
- - Kanda Matsuri 2025: A Hundred Mikoshi Enter the Shrine. 4K record of the miyairi day, when around 100 neighbourhood mikoshi from 108 parish associations are carried into Kanda Myojin, closing one of Japan's three great festivals.
- - What Happens to the Old Shrine: Ise's Rebuilding Every 20 Years. Tokai TV report on the Shikinen Sengu, a 1,300-year-old cycle begun in 690 in which the shrine buildings are entirely rebuilt over eight years, and on where the dismantled timber goes.
- - The Kamimukae Rite and Dragon-Serpent Worship at Izumo. Shinto priest of Katsuragi Mitoshi Jinja explains the kamimukae rite that opens the Kamiari festival and the ryujashin serpent deity welcomed ashore at Inasa beach.
- - Nebuta Master Hiroo Takenami Builds Three Floats. Aomori Asahi interview with the seventh-generation Nebuta master taking on three large floats for the first time in thirteen years, and his plans for training successors.
- - The 63rd Ise Shikinen Sengu: The Sacred Timber. Official Ise Jingu film of the opening rites of the 63rd twenty-year rebuilding cycle, including Yamaguchi-sai, the felling ceremony in the Kiso forests and the hauling of the sacred timber.
- - Okihiki: Townspeople Haul the Timber to Ise. Chunichi Shimbun film of the first Okihiki processions, in which 72 neighbourhood associations drag the new shrine timber to the Outer and Inner Shrines to cries of enya.
- - 2026-06-29 kyoto-fushimi-inari torii-romon night. Fushimi Inari-taisha. A large vermilion torii gate frames the Rōmon gate of Fushimi Inari Shrine in Kyoto after dark.
- - Gion Matsuri 2026: The Saki-matsuri Float Procession. Kyoto Shimbun 4K record of all 23 floats in the 17 July 2026 procession, including the shimenawa-cutting by the chigo boy and the tsujimawashi corner turns.
- - Gion Matsuri: The Ato-matsuri Procession Through Kyoto. Kyodo News report on the second Gion Matsuri procession, in which eleven floats travel the reverse route through central Kyoto on 24 July.
- - Awa Odori 2026: The Final Night Sodori. Shikoku Broadcasting footage of the massed sodori dance closing the last night of the Tokushima Awa Odori at the Minamiuchimachi enbujo.
