Produced in collaboration with a group of talented writers, academics, writers, translators, and illustrators, the stories in this book are as diverse as they are intellectually voracious. They run the gamut from the state of religion in Japan today and mythological imagery in anime, to a deep dive into folk dance Iwami Kagura – which has its roots in Shintoism – and how one Buddhist monk has revamped his temple for modern times.

Past readers have noted that our work, which dives into under-examined aspects of Japanese culture, would be of interest to a Japanese-language audience as well. As such, we have included several Japanese-language articles in Volume 03: Gods.

Featuring: Fukudaya, Genshosha, Iwami Kagura Yunotsu Maiko Renchu, Kobayashi Kobo, Koyama Kobo, Otori Shrine, Satoyama Install, WATOWA, Yunotsu Onsen, ZENSO