First, people were awakened at night by a loud rumbling. Dawn broke to reveal its source: a long, narrow ridge of jagged ice that had mysteriously arisen across [Lake Suwa's] surface, meandering like the spiked back of a twisting dragon.
This was the Miwatari, meaning the sacred crossing, which local belief held was left by a passing god of Japan’s native Shinto belief. Its appearance evoked feelings of awe but also reassurance among the residents, who ventured onto the ice to perform a ceremony honoring what they saw as a visitation from the supernatural. In the rare winters when the ice ridge did not appear, the god’s absence was viewed as a warning that the natural world was out of balance....
Only parishioners in their 60s or older remember when the Miwatari was still big enough to make a sound that could wake them at night. The last time an ice ridge formed, in 2018, it was barely six inches tall. “When I was child, the ice spikes rose higher than my height,” said Isao Nakazawa, 81, a retired auto company worker. “We knew when it appeared because it made a sound like a taiko drum, ‘Gon-gon-gon!’”
I've been out there observing our ice dragon, our sacred crossing, all winter for years on Lake Mendota. Here's a photo from January 18th:
I am deeply touched to see it connected to Shintoism. On March 6th, I happened to ask Grok: "If I wanted to become a Shintoist, would that even be possible? How would I do it? Is there a version of Shintoism available to the non-Japanese?"
But, of course, the NYT article is not inspired by nature's divine spirits. The devotion here is climate change.
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"But, of course, the NYT article is not inspired by nature's divine spirits. The devotion here is climate change."
Po-TAY-to, po-TAH-to.
Two religious beliefs.
But the same message: Ominous vobiscum.
...you just start practicing. That's it. It's easier than my acceptance as an ordained minister with the Universal Life Church Ministries of Seattle, Washington or thereabouts. (Really, just online probably...)
Seasonal warning.
The lowest average temperature during Winter at the lake is just 1.5 degrees below freezing, so a year or two without ice should not be surprising, especially since the lake has a hot spring underneath it. And the present 6 year gap is not unique, just very rare.
"you just start practicing"
Grok gave me a lot of advice in that vein — "You could start small: visit a natural site, stack a few stones, and reflect on their “kami”.... Or go deeper with a kamidana and shrine visits. It’s less about becoming a “Shintoist” and more about living Shinto’s way—open to anyone willing to bow to nature’s mystery.... Shinto is all about connecting with the kami—the spirits or energies in the natural world—so your woods are already a perfect setting. You don’t need formal tools or shrines; the forest itself can be your sacred space. Here’s how you can infuse your walk with Shinto practices and mindset, making it a spiritual ritual tailored to your life.....Find a natural “shrine”—a striking tree, a mossy rock, a clearing. Stop there and mimic shrine etiquette: Bow twice (deeply, respectfully). Clap twice (firmly, to call the kami’s attention). Bow once more...."
BTW, I had to chide Grok: "In America, stacking stones is frowned upon. You are not supposed to rearrange anything on the trail."
I've seen stacked stones near hiking trails, but that was 2 BG (before Grok). A local shintoist, or something else?
Nice photos.
The religion is much of the opposition to taking action on climate change. The rest is money.
NOT stacking stones can be its own way of stacking stones. It really depends on the Kami you are honoring. To honor natural beauty is the essence, stone stacks are mere accidents, to take a Thomist point of view.
“When I was child, the ice spikes rose higher than my height,” said Isao Nakazawa, 81, a retired auto company worker.
As a kid, the urban legend we were told was that cracks in Japan went sideways, which I later discovered was false and, for the most part, racist and sexist.
It takes a long time and much hard work to become a Shinto, but if you want to crash a plane into an aircraft carrier you can probably jump the queue.
You should probably watch the "Death Note" movies before summoning any kami.
Also, don't make the Aokigahara Forest your sacred space.
The climate changes every year.
NYT: "On no, it is spring; the globe is getting warmer!"
Aussies: "Sod off, swampy, it is getting colder down under".
I used to live beside a good sized lake and these happened every year as the ice in the bay on which I lived was held firmly in place, but it was adjacent to a twenty mile long sheet of ice that moved when pushed by a steady wind, raising one of these ridges. The first time I saw the ridge, I thought maybe a snow plow had gone by on the lake and raised a bank. I was, what you call in the parlance, a "flatlander," well, it came back every year I lived there.
There was a two year patch of light ice, and I wonder if it didn't have to do with the trillions of gallons of water shot into the stratosphere by that volcano in the Indian Ocean, but this year the ice was back and thick as ever.
On another part of the lake, it stopped freezing over around 1970, the same year that ice breaking ferries went into service, which left patches of open water all of the time, and anybody who has lived on a lake knows that if you have any open water, and the wind comes up, all of the ice is going to get broken up and pushed to shore, but nonetheless, locals blame it on climate change.
Stacked stones often are used as natural markers to show hiking trails, where the trails are indistinct - for example, across scrub or bedrock. Called 'cairns'.
Growing up in the borderland of warm winters, North Carolina, we had ice storms coating the trees (and roads, until 3pm the next day), frost spikes growing inches out of the wet red clay of roadside ditches, frozen lakes and creeks with interesting fracture patterns, frost patterns on car windows, and other phenomena associated with below 32F nights, and sometimes, days. Can't say we made any fuss over the noises of tree branches snapping when ice-covered, but I still recall hating the change of time in the Fall, when I got to walk to the bus stop in the damn freezing suddenly predawn dark and crunch over a lot of icy stuff.
I am putting hearing the unearthly groaning of the melting ice -- the death rattle of the ice pack -- on my bucket list, though I suppose I will probably hear another death rattle before I get around to hearing that one.
Dear Ann, I do not know the Shinto origin stories, but I suspect that the legend is connected with the phenomenom occurring on that particular lake, and that your connection is more tenuous than you hope.
"In America, stacking stones is frowned upon".
Sorry, that is too broad a brush.
In western America many trails are marked by stacked stones, known as "ducks".
"If I wanted to become a Shintoist, would that even be possible? How would I do it?"
I saw a white guy at Meiji Jingu giving it a go, prostrating himself in front of a small tree. That's what happens when you don't look around or consult Grok.
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