This morning in Japan, I got up early to visit 蛇窪神社 Hebikubo Jinja. “Snake Hollow” shrine was founded during the Kamakura period in 1323. The white snake has a close association with Benzaiten, and symbolizes living a life with a pure heart and dedicated to kindness. Since 2025 is the year of the snake, I thought it would be nice to pay my respects. I started by taking advantage of the 撫で白蛇 Nade Shirohebi. I’ll let you translate that one! But this feature of the snake hollow shrine was supposed to bring good fortune and health, so I held my wife in my thoughts since she has been struggling lately. Then I visited the 銭回し Zeni Mawashi and 銭洗い所 Zeni Arai-sho. This is where you bless your money and wash it to purify. The mawashi helps to circulate wealth more freely among people. And the washing cleanses in case there were any ill gotten gains. I guess it is a sort of spiritual money laundering! Of course I brought my 集印帳 shūin-chō and received a nice stamp for the year of the ...
The Dainichi effect happened around midday, but first this morning I went to the 大江戸骨董市 Oedo Antique Market with Peter Crocoll. This market is quite large with many collectibles, art, and weapons. Many people bought and even wore vintage clothing. Peter found a book of 春画 shunga full of erotic woodblock prints as an amusing gift for one of his students back home. From there we made a visit to 美術刀剣松本 Bijutsu Tōken Matsumoto . Peter brought another tsuka from home to be wrapped and restored. You may remember my trip last year when he had his first tsukamaki from Matsumoto. While we were there, a koshirae for a dagger caught his eye. The fittings had a rare decorative 海老鞘 ebisaya and Peter couldn’t resist adding it to his collection. The Dainichi Effect Later, seeking some inspiration, I returned to ponder the copy of Dojo Giga at the bookstore. When I randomly opened the pages, it fell open to Hatsumi Sensei’s painting of 大日如来 Dainichi Nyorai. Dainichi represents the center,...