/jp/ - Otaku Culture

>>46518329
>The John Constantine effect is essentially the term used to describe an author meeting their creation out in the wild somewhere.
That's really interesting, I hadn't actually ever heard of this before, somehow. Really makes you wonder what one can project into being...or perhaps give shape to?
>Sakuya once near an old mansion I won't name the location of, and Mamizou on the streets of Japan.
I'm really curious as they looked like. Did they have like their exact same clothes as in the game? Did they look like humans? Did Mamizou have her leaf on her head?
>The park is an interesting concept, what with the 411 cases and all that, I agree.
And certain entities which may or may not be spirits do get blamed for these cases, and some of them happen in areas that have history of reported paranormal activity. So perhaps it would be best to be careful when dealing with the inhabitants of this one particular nature reserve.
>Plus, the whole "human marries nonhuman; tragedy/hilarity ensues" isn't solely a Japanese thing-it can be found all over the world.
Oh yeah, there are some stories of fae marrying humans. Probably other types of entities from other world mythologies too.
>>46520225
Touhou was a Shinto Revival religion that existed between the First Machine Age and the First Solar Flare Collapse. Compared to other Shinto Revival movements, Touhou was characterized by it's international nature. It is also believe by many scholars to be the first religion to be born natively on electronic media.

The exact doctrines and practices of Touhou are largely lost to time, but it is known that the religion was born out of the works of a prophet and scholar known as ZUN. He produced a series of "video games" (a primitive precursor to Electronicaly Mediated Multisensory Narratives) called "The Shrine Maiden Project". It's estimated that during his lifetime he produced between 25 and 40 of such "video games", detailing the adventures of the two central divine figures of the religion, Hakurei Reimu and Kirisame Marisa. These two deities are thought to represent a kind of union of east asian and western influences. ZUN also produced around 800 pieces of worship music (a staggering amount for the pre-AI First Machine Age) and numerous written works printed on paper (organic material precursor to touchscreens). Followers of Touhou considered ZUN's productivity proof of his divine inspiration.

The highly symbolic nature of The Shrine Maiden Project and lack of formal written instructions of worship have led some scholars to believe that Touhou was simply a syncretic form of Shinto, and The Shrine Maiden Project was a kind of extended canon of Shinto. There is however some evidence that suggests Touhou was a kind of an initiatory religion, with members joining local cults known as "doujin circles". Others maintain that canonized set of worship instructions were written, but lost. It's known that ZUN produced a work called "Neo-Traditionalism of Japan" that has not been found, and some scholars believe this to have contained the core doctrines and rituals of Touhou.

Whatever the case, Touhou apparently contained beliefs and practices divergent from the Standard Shinto of it's time. These include syncretic inclusion of certain western elements and extremely productive cults of idolatry. Doujin circles would produce sacral art, worship music and various types of material idols for their worship. Notable material items left behind by the cults are flat decorative fabrics known as "wall scrolls", small plastic statuettes, fabric idols known as "fumo" and even human-sized idols. Some of these human-sized idols were apparently intended to be worn on humans as a kind of a suit during rituals.

The depiction of various deities and spirits within the Touhou mythology was apparently divergent from Standard Shinto of it's time. Researches have found notable amounts of material that depict the various spirits involved in very mundane activities. This has been interpreted as symbolizing a kind of belief in the sacred nature of everyday life and activities. Great number of very sexually explicit material depicting the deities and spirits have also been found. It's believed that followers of Touhou had a very positive view of sexuality, but some of the material is of such nature that it might have been produced by opponents of the religion as a kind of an insult.

It's thought that these positive depictions of everyday life and sexuality contributed heavily to the popularity of the religion. The degradation of natural enviroments during the First Machine Age also made Standard Shinto practices more difficult, which is thought to have driven some Shinto worshippers into Touhou.

Popularity of Touhou apparently peaked a few decades after the passing of prophet ZUN. The First Solar Flare Collapse however largely destroyed the religion as much of Earth's and Moon's electronic infrastructure was destroyed.

>>21999792
well, the realm of the beasts is one that is pretty much getting fucked over from keiki when you think about it

I'm glad ZUN remembered how to compose good music when he made the cake's theme