If you've been looking at the shi-yaku-jin no hokora FaceBook photo section, you've probably noticed that the hokora and its contents don't look like the photos of many Japanese shintô shrines. There are a number of reasons for this, and they all tie back into the title of this note.

As a folk religion, minzoku NEO-shintô is syncretic and, as practiced here, contains Northern European elements that are not normally found in Japan.

Ritual language is a mixture of Japanese, English and Old Church Slavonic.

The kami enshrined are the local counterparts of Japanese and Slavic spirits.

The ritual practices and life-events celebrated come from both Japan and Northern Europe.

The way offerings are made and what is offered is part Japanese and part Northern European.

Ritual clothing is mainly European for tending the hokora everyday with Japanese styles worn on special occaisions.

And like many folk religions, minzoku NEO-shintô is also very pragmatic — you do what you can with what you have on hand.

The building the hokora is located in is a older middle-American style house located in a Midwestern city. Its interior is laid out according to the usage of the times — no hallways with rooms leading from one to the next.

Short of building a Japanese style shrine, both prohibitively expense and utterly impractical for Minnesota winters, I make do by following a wabi-sabi aesthetic and keep the interior of the hokora simple, modest, and emphasize the natural beauty in the materials of its contents.

Much that goes into the hokora is either obtained locally or made by us or commissioned from local craftspeople. Much of what was made, while based on traditional Japanese designs, has been adapted to current usage and available materials.

We use wheat straw instead of rice straw, pine instead of cedar, and holly instead of sakaki. We adopt, adapt, improvise and move forward.