Miko - Contemporary Miko

Contemporary Miko

Modern miko are often seen at Shinto shrines, where they assist with shrine functions, perform ceremonial dances, offer omikuji fortune telling, and sell souvenirs. Kuly describes the contemporary miko: "A far distant relative of her premodern shamanic sister, she is most probably a university student collecting a modest wage in this part-time position."

The ethnologist Kunio Yanagita (1875–1962), who first studied Japanese female shamans, differentiated them into jinja miko (神社巫女 or "shrine shamans") who dance with bells and participate in yudate (湯立て or "boiling water") rituals, kuchiyose miko (口寄せ巫女 or "spirit medium shamans") who speak on behalf of the deceased, and kami uba (神姥 or "god women") who engage in cult worship and invocations (for instance, the Tenrikyo founder Nakayama Miki).

Researchers have further categorized contemporary miko in terms of their diverse traditions and practices. Such categorizations include blind itako (concentrated in north and east Japan), mostly blind okamin (north and east Japan), blind waka or owaka (northeastern Japan), moriko (north and east of Tokyo), nono (central Japan), blind zatokaka (northwest Japan), sasa hataki who tap sasa ("bamboo grass") on their faces (northeast of Tokyo), plus family and village organizations. Others have divided miko or fujo by blindness between blind ogamiya (尾上屋 or "invocation specialist") or ogamisama who perform kuchiyose and spirit mediumship and sighted miko' or kamisama who perform divination and invocations.

In the eclectic Shugendō religion, male priests who practiced ecstasy often married miko. Many scholars identify shamanic miko characteristics in Shinshūkyō ("New Religions") such as Sukyo Mahikari, Oomoto, and Shinmeiaishinkai.