In My Next Life, I Definitely Want To Come Back As A Shinto God

Seriously, which would you rather have? Long-faced celibate guys in brown robes or strapping Japanese dudes in fundoshi (see above)? It’s fall festival season here in Japan right now, and it’s the duty of every neighborhood to take the local gods out and show them a good time. Fortunately, Shinto gods do not go in for that fasting and scourging business. They are all about eat (mitarashi dango!), drink (sake and beer, most definitely not in moderation) and be merry (dancing in the streets, shouting WA SHOI)!

That little golden house my local bucks are carrying is the local god’s home-away-from-home. Several times a year, it’s a good idea to remind His Deity-ness of the people and shops and houses in his fiefdom, so this o-mikoshi is carried up and down the streets with much fanfare.

Forget the fasting and burnt offerings – Shinto gods prefer gooey pounded rice balls slathered with sweet miso sauce.

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Would you like to be whisked away to Japan, wherever you are?

It’s the year 1784 and the shōgun rules with an iron fist . . . except within the walled pleasure quarter of Yoshiwara. Inside the Great Gate, samurai law does not apply, and it’s women who pull the strings

“The Samurai’s Octopus…is a truly remarkable book, one that surprised and charmed me at every turn of the page. You’re in for a treat.”
—James Ziskin, Anthony, Barry, and Macavity Award-winning author of the Ellie Stone mysteries

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Jonelle Patrick writes novels set in Japan, produces the monthly e-magazine Japanagram, and blogs at Only In Japan and The Tokyo Guide I Wish I’d Had

In My Next Life, I Definitely Want To Come Back As A Shinto God

Published by Jonelle Patrick

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