Prior to having hand-on experiences in Japan, I did think that they will set aside old traditions and customs since Japan is an ultra-developed and industrialized country with sophisticated technological advancements. Yet, site-visit to Edo-Tokyo Museum, a museum revealing the history of Tokyo during Edo period, gave me new insights into Japan’s richness in culture as well as how they are systematically maintaining their cultural heritage.

 

The museum has many exhibition areas such as life-size replica of the Nihonbashi, the bridge leading into Edo and small models of towns and buildings from the Edo, Meiji and Showa periods, accessories and lifestyle of people in these periods including their spiritual beliefs. One interesting thing I saw there was a spiritual practice in Edo period that people in that era regarded “Fox” as a God called “Inami Okari” that would help them with agricultural economy and have good harvesting. It is also the patron of prosperity for farmers and merchants, especially those involved in rice production, food stuffs, and fisheries. People had a shrine (shown in the picture) beside their houses, and in the plate on the altar, put “Fried Tofu” as a peace-offering.

 

It could make me get to know that the same as in Myanmar, in ancient times, Japanese society believed in spiritual Gods that derived from traditional myths. And the spiritual belief in Fox is considered as a new value for me which got my interest and impression, at the same time, this value gave me a question, “Myanmar still has interesting spiritual practices and how can we promote them to attract foreigners?”