Dr. Kaitlyn Ugoretz
@kaitlynugoretz.bsky.social
That chick obsessed with Shinto and #torii gates. ⛩️🔍🗺️
Anthropologist of (Japanese) religion, digital tech, media & pop culture | Lecturer & Assoc. Editor @ Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture | YouTuber @ Eat Pray Anime | Cultural consultant
Anthropologist of (Japanese) religion, digital tech, media & pop culture | Lecturer & Assoc. Editor @ Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture | YouTuber @ Eat Pray Anime | Cultural consultant
This awakened a deep childhood memory in elementary school when I used to lament that I never had enough pocket change for a "Choco Taco" at the ice cream truck. Instant love for the shrine chickens. I hope there is a Chako AND a Tako. 😂
November 5, 2025 at 10:37 AM
This awakened a deep childhood memory in elementary school when I used to lament that I never had enough pocket change for a "Choco Taco" at the ice cream truck. Instant love for the shrine chickens. I hope there is a Chako AND a Tako. 😂
If you can read Japanese or have a dictionary handy, check out this super fun and informative book:
“Jinja no dōbutsu zukan” 神社のどうぶつ図鑑 by Prof. Motegi Sadazumi 茂木 貞純 (Futami Shobō 二見書房, 2018)
And yes, there’s a temple version too!
“Jinja no dōbutsu zukan” 神社のどうぶつ図鑑 by Prof. Motegi Sadazumi 茂木 貞純 (Futami Shobō 二見書房, 2018)
And yes, there’s a temple version too!
October 19, 2025 at 1:54 PM
If you can read Japanese or have a dictionary handy, check out this super fun and informative book:
“Jinja no dōbutsu zukan” 神社のどうぶつ図鑑 by Prof. Motegi Sadazumi 茂木 貞純 (Futami Shobō 二見書房, 2018)
And yes, there’s a temple version too!
“Jinja no dōbutsu zukan” 神社のどうぶつ図鑑 by Prof. Motegi Sadazumi 茂木 貞純 (Futami Shobō 二見書房, 2018)
And yes, there’s a temple version too!
Finally: sea bream (tai) 🐟
Wakeoe Jinja is one of the most Instagrammable shrines I’ve seen. There’s a lot going on. But one consistent theme is the Kami Ebisu & his fishy messenger, the sea bream. This fish is an important offering in Shinto, & Ebisu grants abundance, especially to fishermen.
Wakeoe Jinja is one of the most Instagrammable shrines I’ve seen. There’s a lot going on. But one consistent theme is the Kami Ebisu & his fishy messenger, the sea bream. This fish is an important offering in Shinto, & Ebisu grants abundance, especially to fishermen.
October 19, 2025 at 1:35 PM
Finally: sea bream (tai) 🐟
Wakeoe Jinja is one of the most Instagrammable shrines I’ve seen. There’s a lot going on. But one consistent theme is the Kami Ebisu & his fishy messenger, the sea bream. This fish is an important offering in Shinto, & Ebisu grants abundance, especially to fishermen.
Wakeoe Jinja is one of the most Instagrammable shrines I’ve seen. There’s a lot going on. But one consistent theme is the Kami Ebisu & his fishy messenger, the sea bream. This fish is an important offering in Shinto, & Ebisu grants abundance, especially to fishermen.
Next is: Ox 🐂, rat 🐁, & bullfinch 🦜! 😵
Yamada Tenmangū boasts several animal messengers! The ox & bullfinch r usual for Tenjin, but Kogane Jinja on the grounds dedicated to Ebisu & Daikokuten features the koganezumi (I call it the “money mouse”), a rat that holds Daikokuten’s wish-granting mallet.
Yamada Tenmangū boasts several animal messengers! The ox & bullfinch r usual for Tenjin, but Kogane Jinja on the grounds dedicated to Ebisu & Daikokuten features the koganezumi (I call it the “money mouse”), a rat that holds Daikokuten’s wish-granting mallet.
October 19, 2025 at 1:35 PM
Next is: Ox 🐂, rat 🐁, & bullfinch 🦜! 😵
Yamada Tenmangū boasts several animal messengers! The ox & bullfinch r usual for Tenjin, but Kogane Jinja on the grounds dedicated to Ebisu & Daikokuten features the koganezumi (I call it the “money mouse”), a rat that holds Daikokuten’s wish-granting mallet.
Yamada Tenmangū boasts several animal messengers! The ox & bullfinch r usual for Tenjin, but Kogane Jinja on the grounds dedicated to Ebisu & Daikokuten features the koganezumi (I call it the “money mouse”), a rat that holds Daikokuten’s wish-granting mallet.
Shrinemaxxing in Nagoya 😆 Is this… #ShrineSunday? 🦋
The theme is animal shrines!
First is: Sheep 🐏
Hitsuji Jinja 羊神社 is supposedly one of only two sheep shrines in all of Japan! (the other is in Gunma Pref according to the priest).
The theme is animal shrines!
First is: Sheep 🐏
Hitsuji Jinja 羊神社 is supposedly one of only two sheep shrines in all of Japan! (the other is in Gunma Pref according to the priest).
October 19, 2025 at 1:35 PM
Shrinemaxxing in Nagoya 😆 Is this… #ShrineSunday? 🦋
The theme is animal shrines!
First is: Sheep 🐏
Hitsuji Jinja 羊神社 is supposedly one of only two sheep shrines in all of Japan! (the other is in Gunma Pref according to the priest).
The theme is animal shrines!
First is: Sheep 🐏
Hitsuji Jinja 羊神社 is supposedly one of only two sheep shrines in all of Japan! (the other is in Gunma Pref according to the priest).
The real deal is this btw 👇 There are very few but the lower horizontal beam never just sticks through like that. If Hokusai drew it again today, I’d think it was a genAI hallucinating 😂
September 24, 2025 at 1:47 PM
The real deal is this btw 👇 There are very few but the lower horizontal beam never just sticks through like that. If Hokusai drew it again today, I’d think it was a genAI hallucinating 😂
No one else uses さんさいとりい to talk about this rare form, just another cool but weird Hokusai-ism
Source: 「鳥居」by 谷田博幸 Tanita Hiroyuki (河出書房新社Kawade Shobo Shinsha, 2014), page 190-191
Source: 「鳥居」by 谷田博幸 Tanita Hiroyuki (河出書房新社Kawade Shobo Shinsha, 2014), page 190-191
September 24, 2025 at 1:24 PM
No one else uses さんさいとりい to talk about this rare form, just another cool but weird Hokusai-ism
Source: 「鳥居」by 谷田博幸 Tanita Hiroyuki (河出書房新社Kawade Shobo Shinsha, 2014), page 190-191
Source: 「鳥居」by 谷田博幸 Tanita Hiroyuki (河出書房新社Kawade Shobo Shinsha, 2014), page 190-191
Tbf, not an Edo kanji expert, but I’ve found evidence of 戈 read as さい. The meaning ends up being immaterial imo bc Hokusai, true to form, made this torii up, probably based on a description of 三柱鳥居 that he heard from someone else. He did it w/ four pillars too, it’s just not the right architecture.
September 24, 2025 at 1:24 PM
Tbf, not an Edo kanji expert, but I’ve found evidence of 戈 read as さい. The meaning ends up being immaterial imo bc Hokusai, true to form, made this torii up, probably based on a description of 三柱鳥居 that he heard from someone else. He did it w/ four pillars too, it’s just not the right architecture.
Right?? I rank it up there with the pencil factory shrine. 😁
September 16, 2025 at 2:05 PM
Right?? I rank it up there with the pencil factory shrine. 😁
Someone recently asked me what’s the weirdest #torii I’ve seen outside of Japan. I’m always hesitant to answer bc they often cannot compete (respectfully) with the weirdness of torii found INSIDE Japan! Case in point: Kitakata Ramen Museum and Ramen Shrine in Fukushima prefecture. ⛩️🍜
September 16, 2025 at 1:56 PM
Someone recently asked me what’s the weirdest #torii I’ve seen outside of Japan. I’m always hesitant to answer bc they often cannot compete (respectfully) with the weirdness of torii found INSIDE Japan! Case in point: Kitakata Ramen Museum and Ramen Shrine in Fukushima prefecture. ⛩️🍜
Quite often, when used as signs! Usually there is a little bit of space tho, like this one in Brazil
September 15, 2025 at 6:54 AM
Quite often, when used as signs! Usually there is a little bit of space tho, like this one in Brazil
Today's dilemma: Does this qualify as a torii gate? 🤔
Several restaurants in the Kabuto Japanese Steakhouse chain have #torii gates, but this one is a little... creative. But it has two columns and two horizontal beams so...?
Several restaurants in the Kabuto Japanese Steakhouse chain have #torii gates, but this one is a little... creative. But it has two columns and two horizontal beams so...?
September 15, 2025 at 5:23 AM
Today's dilemma: Does this qualify as a torii gate? 🤔
Several restaurants in the Kabuto Japanese Steakhouse chain have #torii gates, but this one is a little... creative. But it has two columns and two horizontal beams so...?
Several restaurants in the Kabuto Japanese Steakhouse chain have #torii gates, but this one is a little... creative. But it has two columns and two horizontal beams so...?
No, there is not! 😤🙅♀️
September 15, 2025 at 3:50 AM
No, there is not! 😤🙅♀️
I was recently asked, "Don't you think AI like ChatGPT can do your job better than u?" No, no I don't. "Well that's because I don't pay for premium." Lol.
Just a happy lil reminder that AI doesn't know shit. And you can't trust auto summaries.💁♀️
Four #torii gates found in Idaho & counting!⛩️🔍🗺️
Just a happy lil reminder that AI doesn't know shit. And you can't trust auto summaries.💁♀️
Four #torii gates found in Idaho & counting!⛩️🔍🗺️
September 15, 2025 at 2:42 AM
I was recently asked, "Don't you think AI like ChatGPT can do your job better than u?" No, no I don't. "Well that's because I don't pay for premium." Lol.
Just a happy lil reminder that AI doesn't know shit. And you can't trust auto summaries.💁♀️
Four #torii gates found in Idaho & counting!⛩️🔍🗺️
Just a happy lil reminder that AI doesn't know shit. And you can't trust auto summaries.💁♀️
Four #torii gates found in Idaho & counting!⛩️🔍🗺️
A souvenir from the Habib Institute for Asian Studies’s @uidaho.bsky.social #Ghibli themed AsiaPOP! symposium.
They insisted I take it, I swear! 😅 So I said ofc but first I want the signature of everyone who helped make it happen!
They insisted I take it, I swear! 😅 So I said ofc but first I want the signature of everyone who helped make it happen!
September 13, 2025 at 4:59 AM
A souvenir from the Habib Institute for Asian Studies’s @uidaho.bsky.social #Ghibli themed AsiaPOP! symposium.
They insisted I take it, I swear! 😅 So I said ofc but first I want the signature of everyone who helped make it happen!
They insisted I take it, I swear! 😅 So I said ofc but first I want the signature of everyone who helped make it happen!
The theater was packed tonight for Studio Ghibli’s Pom Poko dir. Takahata Isao, 1994)! Lots of good laughs and poignant moments.
Thanks to the Habib Center for Asian Studies & the University of Idaho for hosting the month-long #AsiaPOP event! This week is the main event w speakers (& me!)
Thanks to the Habib Center for Asian Studies & the University of Idaho for hosting the month-long #AsiaPOP event! This week is the main event w speakers (& me!)
September 10, 2025 at 4:39 AM
The theater was packed tonight for Studio Ghibli’s Pom Poko dir. Takahata Isao, 1994)! Lots of good laughs and poignant moments.
Thanks to the Habib Center for Asian Studies & the University of Idaho for hosting the month-long #AsiaPOP event! This week is the main event w speakers (& me!)
Thanks to the Habib Center for Asian Studies & the University of Idaho for hosting the month-long #AsiaPOP event! This week is the main event w speakers (& me!)
Such a pleasure to speak with Prof. Jinyi Li's @becedo.bsky.social bright students at Occidental College today about some of the fun and rewarding things you can do with expertise in Japanese language and cultural studies!
September 9, 2025 at 11:22 PM
Such a pleasure to speak with Prof. Jinyi Li's @becedo.bsky.social bright students at Occidental College today about some of the fun and rewarding things you can do with expertise in Japanese language and cultural studies!
Soooo VMD Corp, for the TSA, searched my bag & tore up my contributor copy of the Rush of Ikorr Stunning Presence deck by @upperdeckent.bsky.social. Why??? I packed it carefully bc this was rly special to me. I was looking forward to showing students tomorrow & filming my unboxing & now I’m crushed.
September 9, 2025 at 4:58 AM
Soooo VMD Corp, for the TSA, searched my bag & tore up my contributor copy of the Rush of Ikorr Stunning Presence deck by @upperdeckent.bsky.social. Why??? I packed it carefully bc this was rly special to me. I was looking forward to showing students tomorrow & filming my unboxing & now I’m crushed.
A small correction to the Smithsonian lesson, the Karyōbinga illustration was actually drawn by me. 😅
August 30, 2025 at 10:10 PM
A small correction to the Smithsonian lesson, the Karyōbinga illustration was actually drawn by me. 😅
Tfw you have to cut a whole case study from your article to make it under the word count 😭 #amwriting
August 25, 2025 at 4:22 AM
Tfw you have to cut a whole case study from your article to make it under the word count 😭 #amwriting
Religion spotted among the aquarium goods at Walmart! Of course I had to get the nikoniko (smiling) Jizō statue for my YouTube background. 😌
August 22, 2025 at 9:29 PM
Religion spotted among the aquarium goods at Walmart! Of course I had to get the nikoniko (smiling) Jizō statue for my YouTube background. 😌
The card game I consulted on as a subject matter expert, #RushofIkorr “Stunning Presence” Deck by Upper Deck, arrived today!!!
Torn between doing an unboxing video for Eat Pray Anime @eatprayanime.bsky.social or opening it all right now like a crazy card goblin. 🤩😭👹 #TCG
Torn between doing an unboxing video for Eat Pray Anime @eatprayanime.bsky.social or opening it all right now like a crazy card goblin. 🤩😭👹 #TCG
August 22, 2025 at 5:32 PM
The card game I consulted on as a subject matter expert, #RushofIkorr “Stunning Presence” Deck by Upper Deck, arrived today!!!
Torn between doing an unboxing video for Eat Pray Anime @eatprayanime.bsky.social or opening it all right now like a crazy card goblin. 🤩😭👹 #TCG
Torn between doing an unboxing video for Eat Pray Anime @eatprayanime.bsky.social or opening it all right now like a crazy card goblin. 🤩😭👹 #TCG
The takeaways:
1) Shinto is much bigger than Japan;
2) Torii gates mean many things to many people; and
3) Rotary has played a part in the globalization of torii. 5/
1) Shinto is much bigger than Japan;
2) Torii gates mean many things to many people; and
3) Rotary has played a part in the globalization of torii. 5/
August 22, 2025 at 12:25 AM
The takeaways:
1) Shinto is much bigger than Japan;
2) Torii gates mean many things to many people; and
3) Rotary has played a part in the globalization of torii. 5/
1) Shinto is much bigger than Japan;
2) Torii gates mean many things to many people; and
3) Rotary has played a part in the globalization of torii. 5/