AN OFFICIAL INITIATIVE OF THE JAPAN CULTURAL HERITAGE ASSOCIATION
Cultural ambassadors selected and appointed by the Japan Cultural Heritage Association
Discover Shinto as a spiritual source of Japanese culture, then bring its wisdom into daily life to make each day richer and more joyful.
Photograph: illustrative activity image.
RECRUITMENT 2026
The first-intake social media review will run through October 28, 2026. Applicants who pass will be invited to second-stage online interviews on a rolling basis.
Third-stage final selection is planned for the latter half of November 2026, bringing together applicants who pass the second stage from both intakes.
Selection dates may change depending on application volume.
APPOINTED BY THE ASSOCIATION
Official ambassadors are cultural communicators selected and appointed by the Japan Cultural Heritage Association. This does not indicate endorsement by all shrines or public authorities, or affiliation with an individual shrine.
The Miko Ambassador program is part of the Japanese Cultural Heritage Project organized by the Japan Cultural Heritage Association. About the Japanese Cultural Heritage Project
The Japan Cultural Heritage Association operates the program, makes selection decisions, and appoints ambassadors. First Innovation Inc. provides website production and recruitment administration support within the scope agreed with the association.
Shrine service, teaching, and Miko Kentei qualifications have separate roles and requirements.
About appointment and responsibilitiesAMBASSADOR ACTIVITIES
Learn about culture and share insights from experience in your own words through social media or other channels. Explore examples of what you could learn and share across six planned themes.
An activity example
An activity example
An activity example
An activity example
An activity example
An activity example
Activities are planned. Examples illustrate possible communication activities and do not guarantee delivery or participation opportunities. Images are illustrative.
Carry living beauty forward.
OUR MISSION
For generations, miko have served before the kami, connecting people, nature, and prayer. Their conduct, attire, and graceful presence embody courtesy, gratitude, and harmony—values long cherished in Japan.
Miko Ambassadors share the beauty of attire and gesture together with the cultural context and spirituality behind them, reaching audiences in Japan and abroad.
Our aim is to help more people encounter Japanese culture and carry its value into the future.
Discover the ambassador role
Japanese beauty held in ritual and gesture.
Approach the culture of seasons, gratitude for nature, and respect for others with care.
Culture becomes personal through experience. Receive its gesture and atmosphere through the body.
Put what you felt into your own words and carry it to future generations and the world.
Every object, material, and gesture carries a story.
THE SOURCE OF JAPANESE CULTURE
We understand Shinto as a spiritual source of Japanese culture. Gratitude for nature, courtesy toward others, prayer, and harmony across differences are forms of wisdom we can bring into life today.
THREE WAYS TO PRACTISE
When gesture settles, breath settles; when breath settles, the heart follows. Feel Japanese culture through the body, practise it in daily life, and carry it forward.
AMBASSADOR PROGRAM
Learn, experience, and apply what you feel to work, home, and relationships—then share it with society in your own voice.
LEARN
Build a foundation in Shinto as a source of Japanese culture, together with the context of miko traditions.
EXPERIENCE
Encounter the atmosphere, prayer, and gestures of living culture through first-hand experiences.
PRACTICE
Bring gratitude, courtesy, and harmony into work, relationships, and everyday life.
SHARE
Use social media and events to share what you felt with audiences in Japan and around the world.
SELECTION FLOW
We consider respect, expression, and commitment—not follower count alone.
Submit the dedicated entry form
Application and public profile review
Share your motivation and vision
Planned in Tokyo in the latter half of November
Appointed by the association; planned start around January 2027
OFFICIAL NETWORK
This is the official information site for the Miko Ambassador initiative led by the Japan Cultural Heritage Association. Visit the association’s official website for its wider work, or use the dedicated overview on this site to understand Miko Kentei and continue to its official examination website.
OPERATING ASSOCIATION
Visit the association’s official website for its mission, activities, news, history, leadership, and organizational profile.
OFFICIAL LEARNING
Learn how the association’s official examination develops understanding through cultural foundations, ritual conduct, etiquette, and miko dance.
Continue to the association’s official website or explore the dedicated Miko Kentei overview on this site.
CULTURE LIVES THROUGH EACH OF US
Culture moves into the future when each of us comes to know it, feel it, and share it. Your voice can create a new encounter with Japanese culture and carry its beauty to future generations and the world.
Apply now
