APPLICATIONS PLANNED · AUTUMN 2026PROGRAM BEGINS: JANUARY 2027

AN OFFICIAL INITIATIVE OF THE JAPAN CULTURAL HERITAGE ASSOCIATION

Become a Miko Ambassador

From knowing Japanese culture
to feeling it.

Discover Shinto as a spiritual source of Japanese culture, then bring its wisdom into daily life to make each day richer and more joyful.

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RECRUITMENT 2026

Recruitment outline

Cohort size: Up to 20 ambassadors (planned)
Applications open: Autumn 2026 (planned)
Program begins: Around January 2027 (planned)
Term: One year in principle (planned)

Check eligibility

Program details and dates may change. Final information will be published on this website.

Carry living beauty forward.

OUR MISSION

Move from knowing Japanese culture to feeling it.

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 do not present miko simply as an occupation or object of admiration. They share the dignity, beauty, and spirituality of a tradition rooted in the source of Japanese culture.

Our aim is to help more people encounter Japanese culture and carry its value into the future.

Discover the ambassador role

An adult shrine miko carefully handling sakaki with both hands — MIKO CULTURE
Japanese beauty held in ritual and gesture.

A LIVING CULTURE

Carrying Japanese culture into the future.

Japan has a culture of cherishing the seasons, giving thanks to nature, respecting others, and valuing prayer. Culture is inherited not through study alone, but through experience, feeling, and sharing.

Adult participants learning cultural context from a local steward through archival materials — LEARN
Know.
Approach the culture of seasons, gratitude for nature, and respect for others with care.

An adult woman reviewing her photographs while shaping a thoughtful story in a notebook — STORYTELL
Feel.
Culture becomes personal through experience. Receive its gesture and atmosphere through the body.

A cultural ambassador connecting local stewards with adult participants from Japan and abroad — CONNECT
Share.
Put what you felt into your own words and carry it to future generations and the world.

Adult hands carefully arranging sakaki, a sanbo tray, and folded washi — THE BEAUTY OF RITUAL
Every object, material, and gesture carries a story.

THE SOURCE OF JAPANESE CULTURE

Shinto and the spiritual 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

Three ways to move beyond knowledge.

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.

Feel it: Move beyond knowledge alone and learn through gesture, place, and first-hand cultural experience.
Live it: Bring gratitude, courtesy, and harmony into daily life so each day becomes richer and more joyful.
Carry it forward: Share what you have felt in your own voice, connecting Japanese culture with future generations and the world.

AMBASSADOR PROGRAM

Bring Japanese culture into everyday life.

Learn, experience, and apply what you feel to work, home, and relationships—then share it with society in your own voice.

LEARN

Know

Build a foundation in Shinto as a source of Japanese culture, together with the context of miko traditions.

EXPERIENCE

Feel

Encounter the atmosphere, prayer, and gestures of living culture through first-hand experiences.

PRACTICE

Live

Bring gratitude, courtesy, and harmony into work, relationships, and everyday life.

Use social media and events to share what you felt with audiences in Japan and around the world.

Explore the full program

SELECTION FLOW

A selection process built around your motivation.

We consider respect, expression, and commitment—not follower count alone.

Selection details

Application

Submit the dedicated entry form

Initial review

Application and public profile review

Online interview

Share your motivation and vision

Final selection

Holistic assessment

Selection & appointment

Begin after orientation

AMBASSADOR ACTIVITIES

What Miko Ambassadors do.

Ambassadors draw on their own strengths to share Japanese culture—and, above all, practise its wisdom in everyday life.

Japanese cultural events

Take part in cultural events and share the value of what you experience with care.

Shrines, festivals, and offerings

Respect each place’s customs while introducing the meaning behind prayer and ritual.

Miko dance and Shinto culture

Share the spirit within gesture and dance through informed, first-hand experience.

Association initiatives

Introduce the association’s experiences, learning, and cultural succession work in Japan and abroad.

Priest, miko, and cultural experiences

Translate insights from experience programs into thoughtful stories in your own voice.

Local and traditional culture

Connect with local stewards and create new paths into living regional traditions.

OFFICIAL NETWORK

Continue through the official cultural 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

Japan Cultural Heritage Association

Discover the association and its wider work

Visit the association’s official website for its mission, activities, news, history, leadership, and organizational profile.

ncta.jp · Japanese website

OFFICIAL LEARNING

About Miko Kentei (巫女検定)

Explore structured learning about miko culture

Learn how the association’s official examination develops understanding through cultural foundations, ritual conduct, etiquette, and miko dance.

Explore on this website

Continue to the association’s official website or explore the dedicated Miko Kentei overview on this site.

CULTURE LIVES THROUGH EACH OF US

Culture is not preserved by one person alone.

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.

Receive an application alert