Global Family Site

Opinion

news highlight
Spiritual Asia (21): Shrines and Matsuri sustain Japanese communities
Spiritual Asia (21): Shrines and Matsuri sustain Japanese communities SEOUL, June 27 (AJP) - The second gateway to understanding Japanese Shinto is the shrine, or jinja. Shinto began with a sense of the sacredness of nature. At its roots was the belief that a divine presence dwelled in mountains and seas, forests and rivers, rocks and waterfalls, the sun and the wind. But for the sacredness of nature to enter people’s daily lives, there had to be a place where it could be remembered, enshrined and encountered repeatedly. That place was the sh June 27, 2026