
Miko in a breast comparison diagram – interesting (below). It would probably be asking for too much to have more sizes represented, but we can dream… The above image may a just be a placeholder to preserve the relative decency of the front page, but it too is rather interesting, giving the obscure names of the various parts of miko anatomy.
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It seems that a salaryman (48), who used by his own admission at least two months wages in his devotions at famed Lucky Star shrine Washinomiya, is far from alone in such zealous devotion to the new divinities of our age. Still, supporting a shrine may be a marginally preferable use of his funds to playing pachinko, or buying certain OVA at ¥10,000 plus per hour…
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A 13-year-old girl was found with her hands and legs bound and left in a shrine toilet, we hear. She was discovered by a passerby who promptly summoned police; she was, fortunately, yet unharmed.
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Lucky Star twins Kagami and Tsukasa Hiiragi have secured their own festival in commemoration of their birthday (7th of July), and an event on an impressive scale it is too. Naturally enough, the event takes place in 鷲宮町 / Washimiya, Saitama, and the now apparently given over to Lucky Star 鷲宮神社 / Washinomiya Shrine features heavily. Lucky Star Shinto, anyone?
Here is some English commentary on a rather good event report (and plenty of pictures of Lucky Star Shinto, as well as merchandising, in operation):
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The final in this general miko gallery series, I expect you are all ready to convert to Shinto by now.
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The penultimate miko gallery, displaying yet more outstanding shrine maidens.
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Another gallery of fine miko, including a rare glimpse of Hatsune Miko.
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The second part of the miko gallery series, there should be little discernable difference in quality between this and both previous and subsequent galleries.
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The miko, the consecrated shrine maiden of the Shinto faith who attends the needs of the gods, is a staple archetype of both mainstream Japanese culture, and of 2D visual culture, whether serving as a symbol of dutiful virgin innocence, or, more appealingly, as a potent sorceress battling supernatural foes. Cutting such an appealing figure in either case, it is no wonder that artistic representations of them abound so.
Here, a formidable array of delightful miko has been prepared for your perusal, so many in fact that I have split the series across a number of galleries. There are no thematic separations made between the galleries, so you should hopefully find them all equally pleasing.
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The rather nice image above is of Konata and Kagami depicted as traditional Shinto deities Fujin (god of wind) and Raijin (god of lightning) – Konata is Fujin, wielding a bag from which the primal winds gust forth, Kagami is Raijin, ready to beat her drums to create thunder, and a traditional illustration of the pair is shown below; much less likely to inspire devotion in the modern world than the above, I’m sure you’ll agree. Via WarenChan.
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