Osaka Tenjin Matsuri Festival: Opportunity to Participate In The Cosmos

I felt the world re-enchanted and a reconnection to sacred time when I was transported out of mundane time by participating in the Tenjin Matsuri Festival in Osaka July 24-25. A festival that is considered one of the top three festivals in Japan and has been held at the Temmangu Shinto Shrine for over 1,000 years, it allows young and old to cut through the one-dimensional rationality that dominates our consumer society and momentarily restore the sacred connection to the cosmos.

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This Domestic Goddess is Really Hot This Osaka Summer

They warned me that it gets hot in Osaka during the July and August months. They were not kidding. It is hot, HOT, HOT and humid, and we have figured out why the Ocean Day Holiday ritual yesterday took place at 4:30 a.m.! Because that's when you go out, or in the evening, avoiding the …

Vegetarian in Osaka: Saboten Mexican in Kitahorie

It can be difficult finding vegetarian of vegan food in Osaka. My husband has been vegetarian for 30 years, and me on and off most of my life and consider myself "mostly vegan." The health benefits just outweigh eating meat again, but sometimes we have been forced to or starve. My poor husband tried eating …

Mono no aware, Japanese Flowers and Living in Accord With Nature

“If I were asked to explain the Japanese spirit, I would say it is wild cherry blossoms glowing in the morning sun!”  — Motoori Norinaga (1730-1801), nativist thinker and poet One of the biggest reasons I love Japan is its cultural connection to nature. From its animistic roots in Shintoism, which came from Siberian shamans …

First Days at Home in Osaka

Before I went back to Denver for bereavement with my dear husband, Steve, we had a whirlwind of activity getting settled in our new home in the Shinmachi district of Osaka. Interestingly enough this was the prostitution district of the city pre-World War II, and tons of U.S. incendiary bombs dropped on Osaka burned the …

Out of the Ashes of Scorpio Comes Rebirth in Osaka

This is the excerpt for your very first post.