Japan is often deemed as a non-religious country, though this is a cliche and it’s far from the truth. Having spent the past few weeks flicking through ‘The Spirit of Japan – Festivals, Ritual’s & Everyday Magic‘ I have come to learn that there are many spirits, demons, and elements of magic woven deep into the fabric of Japanese folklore, some of these effigies still populate roadsides and are part of Japanese rituals to this very day.
Sean Michael Wilson & Fumio Obata
Written by and Sean Michael Wilson and illustrated by Fumio Obata, ‘The Spirit of Japan – Festivals, Rituals & Everyday Magic’ is an informative history and guide to Japanese folklore, spirituality, beliefs, and rituals that will be released shortly in June 2021.
Sean Michael Wilson is a writer living both in Scotland and Japan. He is a highly published author with over twenty books published by a variety of UK, USA, and Japanese publishers.
Fumio Obata is an illustrator and animator whose work (which has been published in eight languages) and style is heavily influenced by both Japanese and European aesthetics.
The Spirit of Japan
Japan is buzzing with magical festivals, practices, and rituals – from marking the liminal new year with the burning of last year’s possessions to greeting the return of spring and the beautiful cherry blossoms with a smile. Greeting new life, making offerings to the old, and exiling demons by throwing soybeans are all examples of the intriguing traditions of Japan.
Though some of these cultural practices may be seen as mundane or normal, they each express something rather sublime and numinous. Japanese rituals perform a powerful role in aiding people to harmonise with nature, seasons, aging, time, and death. These fascinating ceremonies, celebrations, and rituals bring a little bit of everyday magic into our everyday lives
This beautifully illustrated, hardback book includes a lovely red ribbon placeholder alongside realms of information upon the value of magic in everyday lives, new year rituals, bean throwing, ancestors, roadside shrines, funeral and death rituals, fortune charms, spring rituals, fireworks, land cleansing rituals, rituals and shrines in temples, recent foreign festivals in Japan, and other various information alongside a lengthy bibliography and guide to further reading.
Purchasing & Pricing Information
The Spirit of Japan – Festivals, Rituals & Everyday Magic is available for pre-order (prior to June 2021) directly from Liminal 11 and retails at only £11.99.
To Summarise
I love delving into the history, beliefs, and traditions of other countries and cultures so I personally found ‘The Spirit of Japan – Festivals, Rituals & Everyday Magic’ to be rather a good read and would certainly recommend this book to those who would be interested in learning about alternative beliefs, cultures, religions, traditions and such-like as it is hugely informative and also very interesting!
For further information upon ‘The Spirit of Japan – Festivals, Rituals, & Everyday Magic’ or alternative Liminal 11 publications visit https://liminal11.com
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Product Rating
Disclosure: I was sent the above product for the purpose of this post however all opinions are my own.