ORIGINS
The religion we know as Shinto is native to Japan and was first practiced sometime before the year 500 B.C.E. The name ‘Shinto’ comes from a Chinese phrase meaning “Way of the Gods”. It was first used to describe the native Japanese religion in the 8th Century C.E. It is currently the official religion of Japan along with Buddhism (Ono 1-3). There is a less common name for Shinto that comes directly from the Japanese language, which is “Kami no michi” which also means “Way of the Gods” (Renard 18). While Shinto has existed for more than 2500 years, there is no distinct founder, there is no body of religious law and there is no specific scripture as there are in other religions (Ono 2). Despite all of these differences, historically Shinto has coexisted peacefully with other religions, most notably Buddhism (Robinson).
BELIEFS
When looking at Shinto, one must realize that it is fundamentally different from most modern religions, especially western religions such as Christianity, Judaism and Islam in that it is polytheistic (DesRivieres 98). According to Shinto, the world is filled with spirits or deities called ‘Kami’ (Renard 18). All of the Kami are descended from the brother and sister Izanagi and Izanami who also created Japan after crossing to this world from heaven (Ono 4). Each of the Japanese clans was formed by one of their children (Shinto).
The basic story of the birth of the other Kami is as follows. Izanami died while giving birth to the fire god. In his anger at his sister’s death, Izanagi cut the fire god into pieces, each piece creating a new Kami. Izanagi then journeyed into the underworld to find his sister, but on his arrival he was revolted by her horrid appearance in death and blocked the gatew...
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...i, known as the ‘Continuing Chronicles’ continue the stories of the Kami and the first emperors. The last and most recent book is the Jinno Shotoki, written in the 14th century C.E., the Jinno Shotoki contains the history and politics of Japan from creation to the time of writing (Robinson).
Works Cited
DesRivieres, Dennis and Don Quinlan, ed. Exploring World Religions. Don Mills: Oxford Canada. 2001.
Ono, Sokyo, and William Woodard. Shinto: the Kami Way. Tuttle Pub, 2004. Print.
Renard, John. 101 Questions and answers on Confucianism, Daoism, and Shinto. New York: Paulist Press,
2002. Print.
Robinson, B.A. . "SHINTO." Religious Tolerance. N.p., 14 Dec 2007. Web. 28 Apr 2010.
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"Shinto." New World Encyclopedia. 29 Aug 2008. Web. 29 Apr 2010.
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Analysis: Shinto: The Way Home’s organization is quite useful because it moves in chronological order and it leads the reader in a way that allows for understanding the most unrelatable Ideas of Shintoism. The book uses many Japanese terms and names that may lead confusion for the audience as they have to learn the vocabulary to understand many of the statement Kasulis uses. Kasulis also lack an argument through most of this work and he seems to focus on supplying information as accurately as possible. The author discusses a variety information pertaining to Shintoism making it useful
Yu, Han. “Memorial on Buddhism”. Making of the Modern World 12: Classical & Medieval Tradition. Trans. Richard F. Burton. Ed. Janet Smarr. La Jolla: University Readers, 2012. 111-112. Print.
Shinto: The Way Home written by Thomas Kasulis is a book designed to inform the reader of Shinto traditions and history, but how does his work stand on its own as a scholarly source. Kasulis uses simple organization strategies to control the flow of the work the simplest method is the separation of the book into six chapters as well as a two prefaces one from the editor and one from the author. The first chapter discusses Shintoism in the terms of a western audience while the second chapter confers the connection with normal Japanese culture with Shinto traditions. The third, fourth, and the fifth chapter canvases the history of Shinto traditions in chronological order from prehistory to 2002. Chapter 6 explains Issues with Shinto in a modern
Shinto is the traditional religion of Japan. It means “the way of the kami”. Shintoism is mainly focused on beliefs in, and worships of Kami. Kami are spiritual or divine beings. They are sometimes referred to as the ‘gods’ in Shinto. But rather than the powerful and supernatural beings seen in Western religion, Kami is more like a mystical and sacred spirit that exist in the creative forces of nature. Shintoism follows the belief of animism, which is the belief that natural, material objects possess souls. These sacred spirits, called Kami are able to take the form of different things in nature. Kami not only exists as spiritual beings, but also takes the form of plants and animals, mountains and seas, and all natural phenomena.
Shintoism has no founder ,and the history behind the technicalities of the rise of Shinto are rather obscure. Experts don't agree as to when Shinto became a unified religion more than just a label to give to the different faiths of Japan. Before the arrival of Buddhism, Shinto referred to the many local cults of the prehistoric Japanese people. These people were animists; devoted to the worship of nature and spirits. These spirits were the Kami; found in living things, nonliving things and natural phenomena. The early Japanese created a spiritual world—and rituals and stories to accompany it—that seemingly gave them control of their lives. It wasn't considered a religion at those times, early Japanese people regarded their faith as a commonality as a part of the natural world. The realms of Earth and the supernatural were closely integrated into each other for them. (“Religions”)
The religion of the Japanese people is called Shinto. Shinto translates to Way of the Spirits. Some say that it is more than a religion, it is a way of life for the Japanese people. It is closely paralleled by the Japanese cultures and way of life (Hirai, 2007). Shinto has been a way of practicing faith and living a pure life in Japan for over 2,000 years. Shinto is in every aspect of the Japanese life. For example: ethics, politics, social structure, artistic life, sporting life, and of course spiritual life (Religion, 2017). Nowadays, the people of Japan mix some Shinto and Buddhism in their lives as far as their spiritual beings are concerned. Shinto is a very free religion. There is no God, no commandments, no founder, and no scriptures. Rather than worshiping a God, Shinto followers worship kami, or spiritual energy (Hansen 2007).
There are many regions that entail the belief of a spirit transcending into a place of serenity. One religion that focuses on transcending is Shintoism. Shintoism is a religion of Japanese origin that devotes its belief in spirits of natural forces. This is expressed by the meaning of Shinto, which means “the way of Kami.” A kami is a divine being or spirit in the religion such as the Emperor who was believed to be a sun goddess. In the movie, Spirited Away, Shintoism is expressed by Chihiro finds purity through the use of liminal process. Liminal Process are the steps needed to allow an individual to pass the threshold of the Earthly world to the Spiritual realm. These steps are similar to the way an alcoholic would reach sobriety.
“In the high culture of the capital, Shinto was almost entirely absorbed by Buddhism.” (Class Text. 276) The outlook of Buddhism took the gods of Shinto and shaped them to fit their viewpoint. This can be seen in the fact “Originally, it was believed that the Buddha would save suffering deities. Later, it was said that deities were the incarnations of the Buddha appearing as guardian figures for the salvation of the people.” (HoJB.38) They took those gods and made them Buddha so they were no longer merely gods. It was quite a clever way to influence religion. They appeared first as saviors and then transformed the old thought into a new point of view. Effortlessly connect the past with the present into their liking of
Confucianism is a philosophy and way of life formed in China by Confucius, an early Chinese philosopher. It began as a simple concept with ideals of personal virtue, simple filial piety, and basic gender distinctions and social inequalities. But, over time with the emergence of Neo-Confucianism it began to transform into a way of life that was degrading towards women with certain hostilities towards rivaling religions. In its early period, from around 500 B.C.E to the Common Era, Confucianism changed in that it became the leading belief system and a major part of Chinese tradition. From the transition into the Common Era to the end of the Classical time period, Confucianism was altered because of a loss of popularity following the collapse of the Han dynasty and the corruption in the governing political system. In its ending period, the post-classical era, Confucianism underwent perhaps its biggest adjustments with the emergence of Neo-Confucianism. The ideas and virtues presented in the “rebirth of Confucian philosophies” of intolerance of foreign religions and extreme filial piety...
Hoobler, Dorothy, and Thomas Hoobler. Confucianism. 3rd ed. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 2009. Print.
Confucianism and Daoism are two influential schools of thoughts that have existed in ancient China around the 6th century BCE. The former, led by the politician and philosopher Confucius, proposed that humans live in society according to a set of predefined rules and that they transform society through political action. Whereas the latter, led by the philosopher Lao-Tzu, promoted the idea of inaction; people should go with the flow instead of taking action to control their lives and dominate their surroundings. Although, at first glance Daoism and Confucianism seem to be two opposing philosophies, a more in depth analysis of two of their key ideas –filial piety and education—reveals that they do share some similarities.
Shintoism is a polytheistic religion that believes the world was created by “Kami” (deities or spirits). Although Kami are thought to be invisible presences, they are treated as persons and are given names. Kami are not believed to be living beings in a distant realm; rather their presence is felt as powers in or near this world. Two of these Kami, Izanami (“female who invites”) and Izanagi (“male who invites”) are said to be the creators of the Japanese Islands, as well as three major
Nivison, David S. The Ways of Confucianism: Investigations in Chinese Philosophy. Ed. Bryan W. Van Norden. Chicago and La Salle, IL: Open Court, 1996.
Even though Taoism and many other folk religions have shaped the Chinese mind, Confucianism remains, by any historical measure, its chief mentor” (Novak 113). Therefore, since the two religions grew up together, there are similarities, such as their views on humans, attempting to find harmony in life and in nature, and serve as guides for their followers through self-cultivation and improvement techniques. Confucianism believes that their congregation should have human conduct over the idea of God in their lives, whereas Taoism is formed on the belief that its congregation should create a relationship with nature. This is pointed out by Smith in Experiencing the World’s Religions, “Confucius represents the classical, Lao Tzu the romantic; Confucius stresses social responsibility, Lao Tzu praises spontaneity and naturalness; Confucius focus is on the human, Lao Tzu’s on what transcends the human” (Smith 218).
Shimazono, Susumu. 2005. "State Shinto and the Religious Structure of Modern Japan." Journal Of The American Academy Of Religion 73, no. 4: 1077-1098. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed April 23, 2012).