21.12.2025: The Youkai Solstice update:
Double feature.
Published Pandemonium and Parade & Touhou as Youkai Culture.
If there is a single thing you read on this site, it should be this.
If there is a single book a Touhou fan should read, it's Michael Dylan Foster's book Pandemonium and Parade.
This book so beautifully contextualized so many different things in Touhou for me.
It really puts it into it's place in the Japanese cultural continuum regarding youkai.
I've done my best to reflect on Touhou in the light of what Foster has written.
I also published Winter Solstice Letter - A Midwinter Reflection - 21st of December 2025.
Honestly there is not so much it to compared to Pandemonium and Parade & Touhou as Youkai Culture.
The most important part is some plans regarding the future structure of the Archive.
Hmmm...didn't I already have an update plan though?
Things change I suppose.
A very big milestone was reached and the site has now broken 100 000 views!
Even with all the bots and scrapers, it's such a high number.
I never even expected a 10k and I'm so grateful for everyone who read my writings.
Thank you!
07.12.2025: Extracting The Image Of The Universe From Oneself update:
Extremely large update to the Taoism section.
This turned out to be an extremely strenuous effort.
It turned out that Touhou is full of things that were influenced either by Taoism or something adjanced to it.
The influence of Taoism on Japanese culture is extremely diffuse.
While working on this, I discovered some not-so-often talked about influences on ZUN.
Namely that his depiction of Toyosatomimi no Miko's group was most likely influenced by certain pseudohistorical theories.
Some of ZUN's influences regarding his depiction of Taoism remain unknown.
I'm definitively hitting the limits of my ability to gather information about these topics.
To go beyond this I think I would need to be very fluent in Japanese or Chinese.
Or both.
Taoism is such a wide yet obscure topic that trying to write this often felt like I was being pulled to ten directions at once.
I think this does well to reflect it's nature in a way.
Taoism is has this kind of fractal-like way of thinking about things.
Touhou's "cryptic Taoism" is kind of poetic reflection of it's diffuse but obscure influences on Japan.
Working while this felt like banging my head on a wall at times.
But perhaps the struggle is a good reminder of Taoisms's perennial truth:
They way things are cannot be written about, only experienced.
05.12.2025: Higan Detour update:
Published the Gensou Chronology article.
It offers a potential creation date for the Great Hakurei Barrier.
This was born from me researching the Chinese sexagenary cycle and going back to playing PoFV while researching the Taoism update.
Speaking of which, it's complete and I received feedback for it.
I will finish and publish it ASAP.
The site has now over 93 000 views.
Will 100k be broken before the new year..?
22.11.2025: The Dream Exploration Group update:
Published Preliminary Research into the Dream Exploration Group.
It's about a Japanese group that has been research into the possibility of Gensokyo being real.
There's a lot of interesting stuff there, as well as some stuff I am personal sceptical about.
It should be noted this was done with AI.
The lack of fluency in Japanese among people involved with this project is becoming a major obstacle.
If you are fluent in Japanese and are interested in exploring the more esoteric aspects of Touhou, please contact me.
The site has reached 89 000 views. I guess that's that for reaching 80k by the end of the year..?
Sorry for the lack of recent updates.
The Buddhism update took serious toll on me and I have been very, very busy at work.
I have been laboring on a Taoism update though.
I think it's about 75% ready untill it's ready for feedback.
20.10.2025: The Continuum Update:
Published The Continuum.
It's an attempt at making sense of some recent, very powerful experiences.
Rather than the experiences themselves, this is about the insight gained.
I think rather than it being something "new" a lot of pieces just rapidly fell into place.
Maybe I will think of things different someday, but this felt too important not to document.
12.10.2025: Ichinen Sanzen Update:
Extremely large update to the Buddhism section.
For a long time it was in a very shameful state owing to my lack of understanding and getting distracted.
This update hopefully rectifies it, offering at least fairly comprehensive overview of Buddhist references in Touhou.
Some might find the history excessive, but I think it sets up much-needed context.
I find there are recurring debates that are basicaly "why is ZUN so cynical about religion" and "why is Japanese Buddhism like this".
Maybe this will answer some of these questions.
As I have studied and practiced Buddhism more, I have come to realize that in Touhou, the Buddhist influence goes beyond just references.
While it's likely not intentional, Touhou and Gensokyo are a kind of deeply archetypal presentation of Japan's Buddhisth heritage.
This includes all the Ten Realms, and the good and the bad in how the buddhadharma has manifested in Japan's particular circumstances.
Gensokyou is a kind of mandala, a tiny microcosm linking to unfathomably vast themes.
Buddhism in Japan struggles with being a funeral religion, in West with our mindsets.
The fantasy and illusion enlivens the dharma and the Ten Realms, saves them from the cluthes of graves and materialism.
Perhaps for some this enlivening will lead them down similar paths as I have gone.
The Ten Realms truly are everywhere for those with the eyes to see.
In other news, the site has reached 75 000 views!
24.09.2025: Carried into Heavens Update:
Updated the Introduction to The Esoteric in Touhou, The Mythologies that ZUN Loved and Shinto sections.
These all received rather substantial updates that much better represent my current understanding of the topics and the quality standards I am trying to go for.
They should be much more informative and also better outline what exactly that "esoteric in Touhou" might be.
The Buddhism section will hopefully be also updated soon.
I heard that the Rapture happened yesterday.
Things don't seem very different here, so maybe I was in Heaven all along.
22.09.2025: Autumn Equinox Update:
Published the Autumn Equinox Letter - Tai Chi, Touhou 20 & Thoughts - 22nd of September 2025.
It contains an overview of my experiences from a year of doing Tai Chi, a year and half of meditation, thoughts on Touhou 20, experiences from a recent shamanic workshop and thoughts on the future of the site.
Included are also some ideas on what that "esoteric in Touhou" might ultimately be.
It's something that's becoming clearer to me, and it's giving me much motivation to update this site.
I also made the Update plan subsite as it was cluttering the index.
I feel like when I wrote the bulk of the site I just emptied all barrels and hit around the target.
Some of the sections are really lackluster and some are tangential in light of new information gained.
The rework has begun, and the updated Shinto section is quite ready to be published.
I'll let it digest for a couple of days and see if anything needs to be changed.
The updated Buddhism section is going well too. I just wish I had more time for this.
The site has broken 71 000 views!
06.09.2025: Starry Mountain, Fantasy Scope update:
Added three new sites to external links:Fantasy Scope - Determine your proximity to a spirit of Gensokyo with this tool based on the Whispered Oracle of Hakurei Shrine.
Starry Mountain - Astrological analysis of Touhou games, as well as overall features of the game series.
kogasa.boo/omikuji - Generates a random omikuji from the Whispered Oracle of Hakurei Shrine book.
Added the Sealed Gods webring to the sidebars.
Collapsed the sidebar for the index page to make it more compact. I hope people still find their way around the site this way...
Updated the index page text. I am planning a big update of The Esoteric in Touhou, and now the front page makes it clear.
The site has now over 68 000 views.
I wonder if we'll break 80k by the end of the year?
Moved the old updates to History of the Archive page.