Konnichiwa y'all, I'm hoping somebody can help me with this. My sensei is planning on remodeling a new space for our dojo, and among his plans are to set up a kamiza area with all the trimmings. I've been assisting him in his search, and thus far, I've been able to find kamidana on eBay. However, I'm trying to locate other items, such as the shimenawa rope w/ gohei thunderbolt paper strips, and sakaki branches. Those seem to be in short supply stateside as far as I know. Any recommendations I can pass on to my sensei for his perusal would be greatly appreciated.
That's just wrong. You know that don't you? Have you considered contacting some of the practicioners in your area that are going to go to Japan pretty soon? All the teachers I know of seem to get their stuff when they visit Japan. I think somebody could pick something up for your teacher. Or he could just wait until he gets a chance to go.
It sounds like you mean "kamidana" (God-shelf) instead of "kamiza" (seat of honor) Are yall Shinto? If you're not, then you dont need a kamidana. Having a kamidana is not specific to being in the Bujinkan. Most homes and businesses in Japan have a Shinto kamidana. The supplies are sold in the hardware department of big stores. there are some internet suppliers too, but you will have to search for the stuff using kanji. 神棚 http://www.kamidana.com/
Hai, you can blame that on the fact that my dojo is located in Elkton, Maryland, in the heart of Ceciltucky (Cecil County), it does weird things to our crew's limited Japanese. We might be the only ones who can get away with saying "Git-R-Done!" and "Hajime!" in the same sentence
Hello, Thanks for your response. The dojo I train at, Bansenshukai Dojo is actually a Genbukan Ninpo dojo I did mean kamidana, that's what I was getting at. I know I'm not the only person who's confused the two (though I've heard kamidana used just for the shrine, and kamiza to refer to the head of the dojo where the kamidana is located), so thanks for the clarification. Anyways, we are not Shinto (I'm a Christian, but I've read up and am familiar with Shinto), our reasons for having a kamidana are mainly as a point of focus and concentration, as well as to honor our art. Most kamidana in American dojos, to my knowledge, serve such a purpose, and are not necessarily maintained for religious reasons. I have perused the http://www.kamidana.com/ link before...yeah, can't read a lick of it to save my life ^_^ Another one I've looked at is Tozando Kamidana, they have the basic items we're looking for (and it's in English, w00t!) Still, eBay has some items available at a decent price.
