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Exploring the River of the Dead, and Rivers of Death-and-Disease ideas and...
Kusatsu Onsen Sainokawara Park, Gunma Prefecture Source: Wikimapia In folklore, there is a famous River of the Dead called Sai-no-kawara, (there are actual varying physical locations in Japan), the...
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The Sacred Sword of the Ise Grand Shrines to be renewed
The hilt of the sword Sugarino-Ontachi features ibis tail feathers Photo: The Yomiuri Shimbun New ibis feathers to be used on sacred sword hilt The Yomiuri Shimbun (Jan. 24, 2013) Tail feathers of...
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Tales of Mystic Mountain: The Legend of the Levitating Monk of Mt Horai-ji
Horaiji Temple on Mt Horaiji (鳳来寺 東照宮) It is said that 1,300 years ago, on the peaks of Mt Horai lived an ascetic monk and hermit called Rishu. According to temple tradition, Rishu founded the Horaiji...
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Ancient Chinese arrowhead found in Japan
Credit: Okayama City properties division UPI, Jan. 24, 2013 OSAKA, Japan, Jan. 24 (UPI) — Archaeologists say an ancient Chinese arrowhead unearthed in Okayama City in Western Japan is the first of its...
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On the trail of the torii’s origins
Shime torii: just two posts and a shimenawa Shinmei torii Ise torii – a shinmei torii with a kasagi pentagonal in section, a shimaki and kusabi Myojin – kusagi and shimaki are curved upwards Kasuga...
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Archaeologists unearth deeper Japan-Korea historical ties through weapons
By Cherrie Lou Billones / February 1, 2013 The Japan Daily Press Two recent events suggest that the Northern Japanese may have had some sort of trade relations with Koreans as early as the stone...
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Researchers Investigate Hashihaka Ancient Tomb
SAKURAI, JAPAN – FEBRUARY 20, 2013: In this aerial image, the Hashihaka Ancient Tomb is seen on February 20, 2013 in Sakurai, Nara, Japan. The tomb, some researchers believe Queen Himiko’s, is open...
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In the news: British Museum acquires 15-m-hand-painted scroll giving a scene...
One wonders how such a valuable historic scroll could have slipped out of Japan and past the Japanese government official who rubber-stamped the export license permitting its exit from Japanese shores...
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Earliest fish stews were cooked in Japan during last ice age, experts say
Earliest fish stews were cooked in Japan during last ice age, experts say – Apr 11, nbcnews.com In the chilly final years of the last ice age, hunting communities in Japan may have served up warm fish...
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Mt. Fuji’s ancient sacred status gains World Heritage stamp of recognition
Cultural asset: Mount Fuji is seen from the Miho-no-Matsubara pine grove in the city of Shizuoka. | CULTURAL AFFAIRS AGENCY/KYODO “Fuji has been revered as a sacred mountain since ancient times. In the...
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Second-century ritual mask uncovered among warrior artifacts in the ruins of...
A wooden mask fragment, left, unearthed from the Daifuku archaeological site, is shown in Sakurai, Nara Prefecture. On the right is an artist’s rendition of the mask as it would have appeared whole...
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An archaeological galore on display at a traveling exhibition
These “haniwa” clay figurines and sculptures, on exhibit at the Edo-Tokyo Museum, were excavated by the Imperial Household Agency. The figurine shaped like a human head, foreground, is from the Daisen...
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Descendants of Edo “Four Greats” to gather together for heritage...
Nakahama “John” Manjirō (Photo: Wikimedia Commons) Families of Edo’s big names to tell all The present-day descendants of four renowned movers and shakers of the late Edo period (1603-1867) are set to...
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Stone age and ancient tumulus age relations with the Korean peninsula...
Archaeologists unearth deeper Japan-Korea historical ties through weapons Japan Daily Press, FEBRUARY 1, 2013 by CHERRIE LOU BILLONES Two recent events suggest that the Northern Japanese may have had...
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Kusa and Kusanagi: A word about “grass” and the “Grass-cutter” sword
Depicted above in the Indian votive stupa carved in relief: Offering of Kusa Grass by Sotthiya the Grasscutter to Siddhartha (Buddha Sakyamuni), Kusana period ca. second century CE, 101 CE – 200 CE...
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The adoration of the sword: ‘Kusa-nagi’ grass-cutter conquering sword and...
The Serpent With Eight Heads, French ed. 1897（Meiji 30） Photo: KUFS The sacred sword called the ‘kusanagi-no-tsurugi’ has been written about in both academic and popular literature a great deal (for...
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The Japanese rain-doctor(wizard), Sekison rain-stones and white and black...
Pictured above: Mt. Oyama or Afuriyama or Afurisan, “Rainfall-inducing Great Mountain” (Source of photo: Wikimedia Commons) The Japanese rain wizard or sorcerer The Japanese shaman of the Yayoi period...
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Origins of ‘dragon blood’ or cinnabar use in Japan and the possible origin of...
The Meaning and History of ‘Dragon’s Blood’ Cinnabar, a powdered mineral pigment also known as Dragon’s blood The symbolism of cinnabar or dragon’s blood according to The Symbolism of cinnabar or...
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6th~early 8th century Yokoana Catacombs of Japan
Yoshimi Hyakketsu Yokoana Kofun, Saitama Prefecture Photo courtesy: Saitama Prefectural Libraries While Early and Middle Kofun burial mounds were mostly stone-lined chambers placed into the top of the...
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Boy’s treasure found to be ancient mirror fragment
NHK — Oct 09 via newsonjapan A small object found by a boy in a park in the western Japanese city of Kobe has turned out to be a fragment of an ancient bronze mirror that is designated as a national...
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