Cultural Projects & Lectures

Project PhoenixProject Phoenix

In Japan, there is a belief that divinity dwells in all manner of things — the yaoyorozu no kami, the "eight million gods" — and these traditions have been handed down as the folk tales and myths of each region.

Even today, it is said that some 90 million people in Japan take part in hatsumode, the first shrine visit of the New Year, and "prayer" remains woven into daily life and culture.

The Japanese word for prayer, inoru, has its origin in "inoru" written as "declaring one's will" (意宣る). To pray is not to ask the gods for something, but to voice one's own will — "I will do my utmost; please lend me your strength" — a declaration of resolve.

The aim of this project is for each and every one of us living on the earth to have the same thought and wish, even for a single moment. Human values may vary depending on things like our environment or ethnic group, but the desire for the happiness of the earth and the world exists to some extent in everyone's heart.

This project was launched from the desire to create the power to change things for the better by unifying the wish, held sincerely by each and every one of us, for permanent peace on earth.

While "prayer" exists for many religions and peoples, we can achieve something even greater than that. By changing the consciousness of humankind through "prayer", we will create a peaceful and prosperous global society for the generations to come. ── Project Phoenix

Kagura ForumKagura Preservation Forum

On March 11, 2022, at the International Conference Hall of the First Members' Office Building of the House of Representatives, the general assembly of the Parliamentary League for Kagura Preservation (Chairman Nishimura Yasutoshi) and the 6th Kagura Preservation Forum were held.

The forum was attended by 14 Diet members from both houses, including Minister of State Ninoyu Satoshi, together with representatives of the Agency for Cultural Affairs, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, and other related ministries and agencies — a study session on the preservation of kagura with around 70 participants in all.

At the meeting, the Japan Sousei Kagura Federation (Chair Sakaguchi Hisayo) presented Chairman Nishimura Yasutoshi of the Parliamentary League for Kagura Preservation with a petition concerning the Osaka-Kansai Expo, and in response the League resolved to draw up the following implementation plans.

Camps & SeminarsCamps & Seminars

A journey to discover the origins of ancient Japan — tourism in its truest sense, beholding the light. As such a project, the Japan Sousei Kagura Federation holds the Koshi no Kuni Suzumai Camp.

The Land of Koshi (Koshi no Kuni) was an ancient region stretching from present-day Fukui Prefecture to the Shonai area of Yamagata Prefecture. It is said that in those days there was a period when the Sea of Japan coast served as the front gateway to Japan. This region was the entry point for civilization arriving from the Asian continent, with active passage to and from the mainland; it held the most advanced civilization of ancient Japan, and the origins of Japan lay there.

In the world of mythology, too, the region is deeply tied to Izumo: Okuninushi-no-Mikoto is enshrined at many of its shrines, and myth tells that Okuninushi-no-Mikoto was joined with Nunakawahime, the princess of this land, and that from their union was born Takeminakata-no-Kami, the enshrined deity of Suwa Taisha shrine.

In the Land of Koshi, this very origin of Japan, we held practical training camps guided by Omote Hiroaki himself.