SEAN MICHAEL WILSON
  • About Sean's Books
  • Latest News
  • Further Info
  • All Books By Title
    • Articles and Essays book
    • A to Z of Anything
    • AX
    • Black Ships
    • Book of Five Rings
    • Breaking the 10
    • Bushido
    • Cold Mountain
    • Comic Book Collection
    • Christmas Carol
    • Cigarette Girl
    • Clear away the Cliches
    • Cross Cultural Studies
    • Demon's Sermon
    • Faceless Ghost
    • 47 Ronin 忠臣蔵
    • Fight The Power!
    • Gardening Mindfulness
    • Goodbye God
    • GFTU 120th Anniversary
    • Hagakure
    • Mamiya's Maps
    • Many Not the Few
    • Minamata Story
    • Morningside
    • Musashi
    • Ninja
    • Ocalan and the Kurds
    • Orwell
    • Parecomic
    • Portraits of Violence
    • Ranald MacDonald
    • Satsuma Rebellion 西郷隆盛と西南戦争
    • Spirit of Japan
    • Story of Lee
    • Sweeney Todd
    • Systems
    • Tale of Genji
    • Tao Te Ching
    • Tokyo + Olympics Guide
    • Wuthering Heights
    • Yakuza Moon
    • Yokai Stories
  • Social Issue Books
  • Books On Japan
  • Original Story Books
  • 日本語 Nihongo
    • 日本語の情報
    • 忠臣蔵
    • 西郷隆盛と西南戦争
    • 東京 +オリンピック
  • Digital/Ebook
    • Comixology, kindle, itunes
    • IZNEO digital website
    • 47 Ronin ebook
    • Articles and Essays ebook
    • Bits and Bobs ebook
    • Book of Five Rings
    • Black Ships ebook
    • Breaking the 10 ebook
    • Bushido ebook
    • Clear Away ebook
    • Cold Mountain ebook
    • Conway Connection
    • Cross Cultural Studies ebook
    • Demon's Sermon ebook
    • Faceless Ghost ebook
    • Fight the Power ebook
    • The Garden ebook
    • Goodbye God? ebook
    • GFTU 120th Anniversary
    • Hagakure ebook
    • Japanese Drawing Room
    • Mamiya's Maps ebook
    • Minamata ebook
    • Morningside ebook
    • Musashi ebook
    • Ninja ebook
    • Orwell ebook
    • Parecomic ebook
    • Portraits of Violence ebook
    • Satsuma Rebellion 西郷隆盛 Ebook
    • Story of Lee ebook
    • Tale of Genji ebook
    • Tao Te Ching ebook
    • Yokai Stories ebook
    • Français ebooks
  • Français, Español, Italiano, 中文 etc
  • Publishers and Distributors
  • Interviews and Articles
  • TV, Radio, Youtube
  • Film Production
  • Lectures & Teaching
  • Sean's Amazon page
  • Sean's books on Lulu
  • Hand Readers Press
  • Various Other Things
    • A History of Mr X
    • Anti-violence strip
    • Basic Income
    • Fountain of Youth
    • Fred Dixon
    • Infograph on comics as art
    • Manufacturing Consent - Illustrated
    • Poems
    • SSCC
    • What did you do in the war daddy?
    • Blogspot page
    • Where i was born
  • Contact メール
  • About Sean's Books
  • Latest News
  • Further Info
  • All Books By Title
    • Articles and Essays book
    • A to Z of Anything
    • AX
    • Black Ships
    • Book of Five Rings
    • Breaking the 10
    • Bushido
    • Cold Mountain
    • Comic Book Collection
    • Christmas Carol
    • Cigarette Girl
    • Clear away the Cliches
    • Cross Cultural Studies
    • Demon's Sermon
    • Faceless Ghost
    • 47 Ronin 忠臣蔵
    • Fight The Power!
    • Gardening Mindfulness
    • Goodbye God
    • GFTU 120th Anniversary
    • Hagakure
    • Mamiya's Maps
    • Many Not the Few
    • Minamata Story
    • Morningside
    • Musashi
    • Ninja
    • Ocalan and the Kurds
    • Orwell
    • Parecomic
    • Portraits of Violence
    • Ranald MacDonald
    • Satsuma Rebellion 西郷隆盛と西南戦争
    • Spirit of Japan
    • Story of Lee
    • Sweeney Todd
    • Systems
    • Tale of Genji
    • Tao Te Ching
    • Tokyo + Olympics Guide
    • Wuthering Heights
    • Yakuza Moon
    • Yokai Stories
  • Social Issue Books
  • Books On Japan
  • Original Story Books
  • 日本語 Nihongo
    • 日本語の情報
    • 忠臣蔵
    • 西郷隆盛と西南戦争
    • 東京 +オリンピック
  • Digital/Ebook
    • Comixology, kindle, itunes
    • IZNEO digital website
    • 47 Ronin ebook
    • Articles and Essays ebook
    • Bits and Bobs ebook
    • Book of Five Rings
    • Black Ships ebook
    • Breaking the 10 ebook
    • Bushido ebook
    • Clear Away ebook
    • Cold Mountain ebook
    • Conway Connection
    • Cross Cultural Studies ebook
    • Demon's Sermon ebook
    • Faceless Ghost ebook
    • Fight the Power ebook
    • The Garden ebook
    • Goodbye God? ebook
    • GFTU 120th Anniversary
    • Hagakure ebook
    • Japanese Drawing Room
    • Mamiya's Maps ebook
    • Minamata ebook
    • Morningside ebook
    • Musashi ebook
    • Ninja ebook
    • Orwell ebook
    • Parecomic ebook
    • Portraits of Violence ebook
    • Satsuma Rebellion 西郷隆盛 Ebook
    • Story of Lee ebook
    • Tale of Genji ebook
    • Tao Te Ching ebook
    • Yokai Stories ebook
    • Français ebooks
  • Français, Español, Italiano, 中文 etc
  • Publishers and Distributors
  • Interviews and Articles
  • TV, Radio, Youtube
  • Film Production
  • Lectures & Teaching
  • Sean's Amazon page
  • Sean's books on Lulu
  • Hand Readers Press
  • Various Other Things
    • A History of Mr X
    • Anti-violence strip
    • Basic Income
    • Fountain of Youth
    • Fred Dixon
    • Infograph on comics as art
    • Manufacturing Consent - Illustrated
    • Poems
    • SSCC
    • What did you do in the war daddy?
    • Blogspot page
    • Where i was born
  • Contact メール
SEAN MICHAEL WILSON
The Spirit of Japan
Picture
The Spirit of Japan: Festivals, Rituals and Everyday Magic
written by Sean Michael Wilson

This a non-fiction text book, not a comic book - but has 20 lovely colour illustrations by Fumio Obata. ​​

978-1-912634-30-9 * £11.99 * 108 pages
​Published 10 June 2021
From the creators of The Garden

AN INTRODUCTION TO EVERYDAY JAPANESE RITUALS AND SPIRITUAL PRACTICES.
​
Japan is sometimes called a ‘non-religious’ country, but this cliché is simply not true! If we look closer, we find that spirits, demons and magic are woven into the fabric of Japanese folklore and their effigies still populate roadsides and rituals to this day.

Japan is alive with magical festivals, practices and rituals – from marking the liminal new year with the burning of last year’s possessions, to smiling at the return of spring in the cherry blossoms. Greeting new life, making offerings to the old and banishing demons with the hurl of a soybean are all examples of intriguing Japanese traditions.
Many of these cultural practices are seen as mundane or normal, but they each express something sublime and numinous. Japanese rituals perform a powerful role in helping people deal with nature, time, seasons, aging and death – bringing a bit of everyday magic into everyday lives.

The Spirit of Japan is an accessible introduction to Japanese spiritual practice, perfect for those who are curious about spirituality or Japanese culture and would like to know more.

Table of Contents:
Introduction: The Value of Magic in Everyday Lives 
New Year Rituals 
Out Demons! Setsubun (節分) Bean Throwing 
Obon (お盆) Ancestors 
Jizo (地蔵) Roadside Shrines 
Funeral and Death Rituals 
Omikuji (おみくじ) and Other Fortune Charms 
Hanami (花見) Spring Ritual 
Hanabi (花火) Fireworks 
Land Cleansing Ritual 
Rituals at Shrines and Temples 
Recent Foreign Festivals in Japan 
Iro Iro (Various Things) 
Conclusion

The book can be pre-ordered from the publisher and will later be available via amazon and groovy bookstores:
​
The Spirit of Japan - Liminal 11

AMAZON US
​

AMAZON UK

AMAZON JAPAN

STERLING DISTRIBUTORS

Below are pages from the book, from various chapters
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
And a nice little bit of magical coincidence: while writing the book I gave a lecture in Bangkok. During the day I was doing a bit of writing for the Spirit of Japan book, which was called at that time 'Everyday Magic'. I looked across the street and saw that the shop directly on the opposite side of the road was called 'Magic Everyday'.
Nice!
Picture
Reviews

"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.

​
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!"
- Review from Rachel Swirl
Sean Michael Wilson - Wilson's Web