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A religion native to Japan, characterized by veneration of nature spirits and ancestors and by a lack of formal dogma.
[Japanese shintō : shin, gods (from Middle Chinese) + tō, dō, art, way; see aikido.]
Shinto Shin'to adj.Dictionaries, both English and Japanese, commonly present ‘Shintoism’ or ‘Shinto’ (the more common term), as a system of ancestor and nature worship native to Japan. Shinto as a systematic, unified religion is as much a creation of modern Japan's Meiji state (1867-1912) as it is something that has existed throughout Japan's history. The basic meaning of the word ‘Shinto’ until the nineteenth century was local religion in general, and although Shinto usually referred to Japanese religion, it did not necessarily have to (e.g. the 1605 anthropological work Ryūkyū shintō-ki, or Account of Local Religion [Shinto] in Ryukyu, the Kingdom of Ryukyu then being a separate country from Japan). Viewed historically, we may identify three related yet distinct varieties of ‘Shinto’: (i) local religious practices and beliefs that originated before Buddhist influence; (ii) certain of these local practices and beliefs that Buddhism later subsumed, systematized, and modified, from the ninth to the eighteenth centuries; and (iii) Japan's ‘national religion’, with varying degrees of connection to the state, in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Shinto never articulated an overall theory of the body, but the first variety of Shinto closely linked the sexual body with agriculture and the forces of nature.
Important artifacts from the middle Jōmon period (c.3500-2400 bce) and later, include phallic stones (sekibō), ranging in height from 2 m to 50 cm, and clay female figures with prominent breasts and hips (dogū), sometimes appearing pregnant, most approximately 30 cm in height. Although there is disagreement over the details, most scholars agree that ancient inhabitants of Japan connected these objects with magico-religious rites to promote bountiful harvests. Prehistoric residents of the Japanese islands probably connected the mystery of human reproduction with agricultural productivity, and the female figures symbolized both mother and earth as locus of mysterious power.
The notion of mysterious power gradually developed into the Shinto concept of kami, often translated as ‘deity’. The most basic meaning of the term is: that which is above other things like it — in other words, that which is distinctive. An unusually large tree, an outcropping of rock, a waterfall, certain animals, and even certain people are examples of things that have qualified as kami owing to some distinctive attribute the local people regarded as significant. Though part of a world of spirits, kami were not transcendent. They linked the visible world with the realms beyond direct sensory apprehension.
According to ancient mythology, the Japanese islands themselves were created by the sexual activities of anthropomorphic kami. For example, in Chronicles of Japan, two creation deities, lzanagi and Izanami, stand on the Floating Bridge of Heaven and say ‘Is there no country beneath?’ They then thrust down a heavenly jewelled spear, repeatedly, until they found the vast ocean beneath. Brine dripped from the point of the spear, coagulated, and became an island on which the two deities dwelt. They continued the creation process after the female deity explained that her body has a place that is the source of femininity and the male deity explained that his had a place that is the source of masculinity. They united these two places to form numerous other islands. In these myths the deities' sexuality was the creative power of nature.
Shinto typically associated disease and death with pollution and, accordingly, developed purification rites. It celebrated health, prosperity, and life, which it associated with the creative forces of nature. A common metaphor for nature's generative forces was the sexual body. Phallic stones, poles, and etchings along roadsides, for example, functioned to protect against nature's polluting forces. Ancient agricultural deities often existed as a male and female pair, sometimes depicted embracing each other. Wooden or stone representations of male or female genitalia, or a pair of such objects, became the kami-body in shrines throughout many parts of the Japanese islands (the kami-body is an object in which the spirit of a deity was thought to reside). Even today, representations of sexual organs occasionally serve as the kami in Japanese shrines and can be seen in public festivals celebrating the shrine's kami.
During the late nineteenth century, Japan's Meiji state sought to revamp Shinto to enhance the process of nation-building (i.e. of Japanese thinking of themselves as Japanese). As part of a general policy of policing morality, the leaders of modern Japan sought to suppress the overtly sexual symbolism of Shinto. Instead of the sexual body, modern Japan's state Shinto stressed kokutai, the ‘national body’ (often translated ‘national polity’) — a vague but potent concept of Japanese essence embodied in an allegedly unbroken lineage of emperors descending from the solar deity (Amaterasu). What began in ancient Japan as worship of the sexual body, ended in modern Japan (until 1946) as worship of the national body. Neither ‘body’ plays a major role in today's Shinto, but vestiges of each remain.
— G. Smits
See also creation myths.
For more information on Shinto, visit Britannica.com.
(Chinese shin tao, the way of the Gods) Traditional Japanese religion, an amorphous mix of nature worship, fertility cults, divination techniques, hero worship, and shamanism. Shinto can be traced back to around 500 bc but has no formal bible. Like Confucianism it emphasizes tradition and the family as the means for preserving tradition. The main celebrations relate to birth and marriage. It also emphasizes love of nature, physical cleanliness and ‘Matsuri’: the worship and honour given to the ancestral spirits and gods or ‘Kami’.
The indigenous religion of Japan. This is not so much an organized, unified religion as a cultural complex of religious myths and rituals carried out originally by clan and village groups and centring on tutelary deities called kami. These kami can be thought of as deities with names and life-stories attached to them, as in the case of the sun goddess Amaterasu; as personifications of forces of nature; or as the spirit animating awe-inspiring natural features such as waterfalls, stones, mountains, or large and ancient trees. Later in Japanese recorded history, with the successful claim of the Yamato family to rule all of Japan, state-sponsored temples and cults arose to honour and petition kami that transcended familial and local concerns, and imperial/national rituals added a new layer to Shintō practice. The Yamato family was in the process of consolidating their power in the 6th century when Buddhism arrived in Japan. Thereafter, various proposals were made and decisions taken on the question of how to relate the foreign religion to the native one, or how Buddhas and Bodhisattvas were to relate to kami. The shinbutsu shūgō movement, beginning in the late 7th century, proposed that the kami were to be the guardians of the new religion, or, alternatively, that the kami, while powerful enough to answer certain petitions, were themselves caught in the cycle of suffering and in need of Buddhist teaching. Finally, the honji-suijaku theory identified the kami with the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, claiming them as particularized, local manifestations of their original and universal natures. Such theories paved the way for the combination of Shintō and Buddhism at the institutional level with the founding of jingūji, or ‘shrine-temples’ where both Shintō priests and Buddhist monks worked side by side, although with the Shintō functionaries generally in the subordinate position.
Buddhism also stimulated more philosophical reflection among Shintō priestly families. For example, Yoshida Shintō, founded in the 15th century by Urabe Kanetomo (1435-1511), proposed a cosmology according to which a great Shintō deity created the universe and all that was in it, including Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. Later, in the Edo period (1603-1867), Shintō thinkers made use of new Neo-Confucian (see confucianism) ideas from China to bolster a philosophical system sophisticated enough to compete with Buddhism. Shintō also provided the rallying point for restoration of the imperial family to political power, since Amaterasu was both the kami of the nation and the tutelary god of the Yamato clan, and since the ruling warlords (Japanese, shōgun) had made much use of Buddhist temples in their administration. Within this situation, it became easy to associate Shintō with the emperor and Buddhism with the warlords. When the Meiji emperor came to power in 1868 (see Meiji Restoration), he declared a policy of sundering the connection between Shintō and Buddhism (this split is called shinbutsu bunri in Japanese). This put an end to syncretism between Shintō and Buddhism, although many of the new religions that have appeared in Japan since the early 1800s, while ostensibly basing themselves on either Buddhism or Shintō, have in fact mixed elements of the two in a new synthesis.
Shinto, meaning the “kami way” (See kami), is a term applied to the ancient pre-Buddhist (See Buddhism) religion of Japan to differentiate it from Butsudo, the “Buddha way” (See Japanese Buddhism). Shinto is a polytheistic system that expresses in some profound way the Japanese world view. There are Shinto prayers and Shinto rituals, but the doctrine is minimal. Some might call Shinto a way of life rather than a religion per se. The mythic basis of Shinto is the belief in kami. Originally the word kami was used to describe any mysterious or sacred reality, anything that seemed to possess numinosity. However, everything is potentially kami and, thus, worthy of reverence. Because of the concept of kami, Shinto at once affects the way tea is served, the way a package is wrapped, the way a war is fought, and the way an emperor is crowned. Gradually the kami concept took on concrete forms—deities who lived in natural objects or phenomena, ancestor divinities, and abstract concept divinities. Shinto shrines and rituals were at first local and agricultural in nature, but eventually they became associated with larger entities, including clans and the nation itself. The gods of Shinto are directly related to the imperial family and thus to the Japanese state (See Shinto Mythology). It could be argued that all Japanese are practitioners of Shinto, even if they happen to be Buddhist or Christian. By the eighth century, Shinto and Buddhism achieved a kind of marriage, with Shinto and Buddhist deities becoming merged and/or deities of one religion revered in the temples of the other (See Japanese Buddhas).
History and Development
Shinto cannot be traced to its beginnings, because until the 5th cent. (when Chinese writing was introduced into Japan) the myths and rituals were transmitted orally. The written record of the ancient beliefs and customs first appeared in the Kojiki [records of ancient matters], prepared under imperial order and completed in A.D. 712. From those first Japanese accounts of the religion of times then already far past, it can be seen that a worship of the forces and forms of nature had grown into a certain stage of polytheism in which spiritual conceptions had only a small place. Nor was there any clear realization of a personal character in the beings held to be divine, and there were practically no images of the deities.
There was no one deity supreme over all, but some gods were raised to higher ranks, and the one who held the most exalted position was the sun goddess, known as the Ruler of Heaven. The emperors of Japan are said to be descended from the sun goddess Amaterasu-o-mi-kami, in unbroken line beginning with the first, Jimmu, who ascended his throne in 660 B.C. Thus the emperor was looked upon as divine, even while living; by divine right he was the chief priest, and as such he presided over ceremonies of foremost importance. Aside from this his religious responsibilities were delegated to others.
A Shinto shrine, unaffected by other religious influences, is a simple unpainted wooden building, having some object within it that is believed to be the dwelling place of the kami. After Buddhism entered Japan in the 6th cent. A.D., it had some influence on Shinto. In many shrines Buddhist priests serve, and worship under their direction is more elaborate than pure Shinto.
Beginning in the 17th cent. a vigorous effort was made to revive the old ways and ideas. After the Meiji restoration in 1868, the ancient department of Shinto rites was reestablished, giving Shinto much of its structure and identity as a religion. In 1882 all Shinto organizations were divided into two groups, state shrines (supervised and partially supported by the government) and sectarian churches. The ancient mythology was used to glorify the emperor and the state, and state Shinto became a powerful instrument in the hands of the militarists, who used it to glorify their policy of aggression.
Modern Shinto
Japan's defeat in World War II brought about the disestablishment of state Shinto. In 1946 in a New Year's rescript, Emperor Hirohito destroyed its chief foundation by disavowing his divinity; in the same year Gen. Douglas MacArthur forbade the use of public funds to support Shinto. In present-day Shinto there is no dogmatic system and no formulated code of morals. Shinto practices can be found abroad wherever large Japanese communities exist, as in the United States and South America. Some of the newer sects stress world peace and brotherhood as part of their philosophy.
Bibliography
See W. G. Aston, Shinto (1905, repr. 1968); D. C. Holtom, Modern Japan and Shinto Nationalism (rev. ed. 1947, repr. 1963); A. Akiyama, Shinto and Its Architecture (2d ed. 1956); S. Ono, Shinto: The Kami Way (1962); F. H. Ross, Shinto (1965); J. Herbert, Shinto (1966); S. D. Picken, Shinto: Japan's Spiritual Roots (1980).
Shinto (神道 shintō?) is the native religion of Japan and was once its state religion. It involves the worship of kami (神?), spirits. Some kami are local and can be regarded as the spiritual being/spirit or genius of a particular place, but other ones represent major natural objects and processes: for example, Amaterasu, the Sun goddess, or Mount Fuji. Shinto is an animistic belief system. The word Shinto, from the original Chinese Shêntao (神道),[1] combines two kanji: "shin" (神?) (loan words usually retain their Chinese pronunciation, hence shin not kami), meaning gods or spirits; and "tō" (道?), meaning a philosophical way or path (originally from the Chinese word dao). As such, Shinto is commonly translated as "The Way of the Gods". Some differences exist between Koshintō (the ancient Shintō) and the many types of Shintō taught and practiced today, showing the influences of Buddhism when it was introduced into Japan in the sixth century.[2]
After World War II, Shinto ceased to be Japan's state religion, although it continued to be considered the native religion of Japan. Some Shinto practices and teachings, once given a great deal of prominence during the war, are no longer taught or practiced today, while others still exist as commonplace activities such as omikuji (a form of fortune-telling) and the Japanese New Year to which few people give religious connotations. Important national ceremonies such as coronations and royal marriages are conducted at the Three Palace Sanctuaries in Tokyo.
Most scholars agree that there was at least one migration from East Asia and perhaps another from Central Asia to the ancient Japanese Archipelago, though there is no consensus as to where Shinto first developed. Early Shinto can be traced back into the mists of the Jōmon period; the Ainu-jin practice of Ko-shinto is said to directly descend from the original Shinto. Some of the basical elements of modern Shinto have been traced also to the Yayoi period (c.300 BC–c.250 AD) as a cultural product of immigrants from China through the Korean Peninsula, who brought agricultural rites and shamanic ceremonies from the continent, which took on Japanese forms in the new environment.
In the early centuries BC, diverse kami with no formal hierarchy or dependency between them were worshipped. Early ceremonies are thought to have included rocks forming a sacred space or altar (himorogi). There was no representation of the kami, for they were conceived as formless and pure.
Following the ascendancy of the Yamato Kingdom around the third to fifth centuries, the ancestral deities of the Emperor of Japan and the Imperial family were given prominence over others and a narrative written to explain it. The result was the Record of Ancient Matters (Kojiki, dated 712 AD) in which it was claimed that the imperial line descended directly from the sun-goddess, Amaterasu. Another important kingdom, Izumo, was dealt with in a separate cycle within the mythology and its deities incorporated into the service of Amaterasu's descendants. A more objective and historical version of events appeared in the Chronicles of Japan (Nihon Shoki, dated 720 AD), where alternative versions of the same story are given.
After the arrival of Buddhism in the first year of the
An important development was the introduction of a legal system based upon Chinese legalism and Confucianism (ritsuryō), in the late seventh and early eighth centuries. This established in law the supremacy of the emperor and great nobles, as well as formalizing their relationship to major shrines and festivals.
Even before the arrival of Buddhism, the rituals involved in kami worship had borrowed from Chinese Taoism and Confucianism. Though clan rivalry led to friction and fighting during the introduction of Buddhism, the worship of kami and the teachings of the Buddha soon settled into coexistence. In fact, syncretism between Buddhism and Shinto (神仏習合 shinbutsu shūgō?) was supposed to become the dominant feature of Japanese religion as a whole.
The introductions of writing in the 5th century and Buddhism in the 6th century from the Korean Peninsula had a profound impact on the development of a unified system of Shinto beliefs. In the early Nara period the Kojiki and the Nihon Shoki were written by compiling existing myths and legends into a unified account of Japanese mythology. These accounts were written with two purposes in mind: the introduction of Taoist, Confucian, and Buddhist themes into Japanese religion; and garnering support for the legitimacy of the Imperial house, based on its lineage from the sun goddess, Amaterasu. Much of modern Japan was under only fragmentary control by the Imperial family, and rival ethnic groups (including, perhaps, the ancestors of the Ainu people) continued to war against the encroachment of the Japanese. The mythological anthologies, along with other poetry anthologies like the Collection of Ten Thousand Leaves (Man'yōshū) and others, were intended to impress others with the worthiness of the Imperial family and their divine mandate to rule.
With the introduction of Buddhism and its rapid adoption by the court, it was necessary to explain the apparent differences between native Japanese beliefs and Buddhist teachings. Indeed, Shinto did not have a name until it became necessary to distinguish it from Buddhism. One explanation saw the kami as supernatural beings still caught in the cycle of birth and rebirth (reincarnation). The kami are born, live, die, and are reborn like all other beings in the karmic cycle. However, the kami played a special role in protecting Buddhism and allowing its teachings of compassion to flourish. This explanation was later challenged by Kūkai (空海, 774–835), who saw the kami as different embodiments of the Buddhas themselves. For example, he famously linked Amaterasu (the sun goddess and ancestor of the Imperial family) with Dainichi Nyorai, a central manifestation of the Buddha, whose name is literally "Great Sun Buddha". In his view, the kami were just Buddhas by another name.
Buddhism and Shinto coexisted and were amalgamated in the shinbutsu shūgō and Kūkai's syncretic view held wide sway up until the end of the Edo period. At that time, there was a renewed interest in "Japanese studies" (kokugaku), perhaps as a result of the closed country policy. In the 18th century, various Japanese scholars, in particular Motoori Norinaga (本居 宣長, 1730–1801), tried to tease apart the "real" Shinto from various foreign influences. The attempt was largely unsuccessful, since as early as the Nihon Shoki parts of the mythology were explicitly borrowed from Chinese doctrines. For example, the co-creator deities Izanami and Izanagi are linked to yin and yang. However, the attempt did set the stage for the arrival of state Shinto, following the Meiji Restoration (c.1868), when Shinto and Buddhism were separated (shinbutsu bunri).
Following the Meiji Restoration, Shinto was made the official religion of Japan, and in 1868 its combination with Buddhism was outlawed. During this period, numerous scholars of kokugaku believed that Shinto could be the unifying agent of the country around the Emperor while the process of modernization was undertaken with all possible speed. The psychological shock of the Western "Black Ships" and the subsequent collapse of the shogunate convinced many that the nation needed to unify in order to resist being colonized by outside forces. As a result, Shinto was used as a tool for promoting Emperor (and Empire) worship, and Shinto was exported into the conquered territories of Hokkaidō, Taiwan, and Korea.
In 1871, a Ministry of Divinities was formed and Shinto shrines were divided into twelve levels with the Ise Shrine (dedicated to Amaterasu, and thus symbolic of the legitimacy of the Imperial family) at the peak and small sanctuaries of humble towns at the base. The following year, the ministry was replaced with a new Ministry of Religion, charged with leading instruction in "shushin" (moral courses). This was a major reverse from the Edo period, in which families were registered with Buddhist temples, rather than Shinto shrines. Priests were officially nominated and organized by the state, and they instructed the youth in a form of Shinto theology based on the official history of divinity of Japan's national origins and its Emperor.
As time went on, Shinto was increasingly used in the advertising of nationalists' popular sentiments. In 1890, the "Imperial Rescript on Education" was passed, and students were required to ritually recite its oath to "offer yourselves courageously to the State" as well as protect the Imperial family. The practice of Emperor worship was further spread by distributing imperial portraits for esoteric veneration. All of these practices were used to fortify national solidarity through patriotic centralized observance at shrines. This use of Shinto gave to Japanese patriotism a special tint of mysticism and cultural introversion, which became more pronounced as time went on.
Such processes continued to deepen until the Showa period, finally coming to an abrupt halt in August 1945.
To distinguish between these different focuses of emphasis within Shinto, many feel it is important to separate Shinto into different types of Shinto expression.
All these main types of Shinto and some subtypes have given birth to many and diverse schools and sects since medieval times to the present days. A list of the most relevant can be found at the article Shintō Schools and sects.
The era of State Shinto came to an abrupt close with the end of World War II, as a result of the subsequent American occupation and the implementation of secularist ideas in the country's reconstruction. Soon after the war, the Emperor issued a statement renouncing his claims to the status of "living god" (arahitogami). In the aftermath of the war, most Japanese came to believe that the hubris of Empire had led to their downfall. Lust for foreign territory blinded their leaders to the importance of their homeland. In the post-war period, numerous "New Religions" cropped up, many of them ostensibly based on Shinto, but on the whole, Japanese religiosity may have decreased. However, the concept of religion in Japan is a complex one. A survey conducted in the mid 1970s indicated that of those participants who claimed not to believe in religion, one-third had a Buddhist or Shinto altar in their home, and about one quarter carried an omamori (an amulet to gain protection by kami) on their person. Following the war, Shinto has, for the most part, persisted with less importance placed on mythology or the divine mandate of the Imperial family. Instead, shrines tend to focus on helping ordinary people gain better fortunes for themselves through maintaining good relations with their ancestors and other kami. Shinto has largely reverted to its pre-imperial family state. Post-war, the number of Japanese citizens identifying their religious beliefs as Shinto has declined a great deal, yet the general practice of Shinto rituals has not decreased accordingly, and many practices have persisted as general cultural beliefs (such as ancestor worship, which is still very popular), superstitions, and community festivals (matsuri) - focusing more on religious practices and items than principles. The explanation generally given for this anomaly is that, following the demise of State Shinto, Shinto has reverted to its more traditional position as a folk religion which is culturally ingrained, rather than enforced. In any case, Shinto and its values continue to be an important component of the Japanese cultural mindset.
Shinto has also spread abroad to a limited extent, and a few non-Japanese Shinto priests have been ordained. The very active Jinja Shinto Shrine exists in the Pacific Northwest, the Tsubaki Grand Shrine of America (the US branch of one of Japan's oldest and most prestigious shrines). Tsubaki America Shrine receives thousands of worshippers each year and has active shrine membership throughout North America and the world. All Seasonal Observances/Festivals are conducted in the traditional way and people can make an appointment to visit for the Go-kitoh (or special prayer ceremonies). A relatively small number of people practice Shinto in America. There are however several Shinto shrines in Hawaii, which has a large number of people of Japanese descent. Outside the US, there are also Shinto shrines in Brazil, Canada, France, and the Netherlands. Shrines were also established in Taiwan and Korea during the Japanese occupation of those areas, but following the war, they were either repurposed or destroyed.
Shinto can be seen as a form of animism and may be regarded as a variant of shamanist religion. Shinto beliefs and ways of thinking are deep in the subconscious fabric of modern Japanese society. The afterlife is not a primary concern in Shinto; much more emphasis is placed on fitting into this world, instead of preparing for the next.
Shinto has no binding set of dogma, no holiest place for worshipers, no person or kami deemed holiest, and no defined set of prayers. Instead, Shinto is a collection of rituals and methods meant to mediate the relations of living humans and kami. These practices have originated organically in Japan over many centuries and have been influenced by Japan's contact with the religions of other nations, especially China. Notice, for example, that the word Shinto is itself of Chinese origin and that much of the codification of Shinto mythology was done with the explicit aim of answering Chinese cultural influence. Conversely, Shinto had and continues to have an impact on the practice of other religions within Japan. In particular, one could even make a case for discussing it under the heading of Japanese Buddhism, since these two religions have exercised a profound influence on each other throughout Japanese history. Further, the Japanese "New Religions" that have emerged since the end of the Second World War have also shown a clear Shinto influence.
Some feel Shinto was used as an ideology during the militaristic beginning of the Shōwa period, following the Meiji Restoration. Because Shinto has no absolute authority, some feel what was a natural expression of the beliefs of the people was hijacked by radical nationalists, who desired to unify the Japanese people against the "inferior" people in other nations. Others wonder if the emphasis Shinto places on Japanese exceptionalism made such developments inevitable. Even today, some far right factions within Japanese society want to see a greater emphasis placed on Shinto and increased reverence shown to the Emperor as part of a project to restore Japan to its "rightful place" as the leading nation of the world. For most Japanese, however, Shinto is not about expressing disdain for other nations but expressing one's own love of the natural landscape of Japan and the people and spirits that reside within it.
The most immediately striking theme in the Shinto religion is a great love and reverence for Nature in all its forms and for natural artifacts and processes. Thus, a waterfall, the moon, or just an oddly shaped rock might come to be regarded as a kami; so might charismatic persons or more abstract entities like growth and fertility. As time went by, the original nature-worshipping roots of the religion, while never lost entirely, became attenuated and the kami took on more reified and anthropomorphic forms, with a formidable body of myth attached to them. (See also: Japanese mythology.) The kami, however, are not transcendent deities in the usual Western and Indian sense of the word. Although divine, they are close to humanity; they inhabit the same world as we do, make the same mistakes as we do, and feel and think the same way as we do. Those who died will usually become kami, with their power and main characteristics given by their doings in life. Those believing other religions may be also venerated as kami after death, if there are Shinto believers who wish them to be.
Unlike many religions, one does not need to publicly profess belief in Shinto to be a Shintoist. Whenever a child is born in Japan, a local Shinto shrine adds the child's name to a list kept at the shrine and declares him or her a "family child" (氏子 ujiko?). After death an ujiko becomes a "family spirit", or "family kami" (氏神 ujigami?). One may choose to have one's name added to another list when moving and then be listed at both places. Names can be added to the list without consent and regardless of the beliefs of the person added to the list. However, this is not considered an imposition of belief, but a sign of being welcomed by the local kami, with the promise of addition to the pantheon of kami after death. Those children who die before addition to the list are called "water children" (水子 mizuko?), and are believed to cause troubles and plagues. Mizuko are often worshipped in a Shinto shrine dedicated to stilling their anger and sadness.
Because Shinto has co-existed with Buddhism for well over a millennium, it is very difficult to untangle Shinto and Buddhist beliefs about the world. Though Buddhism and Shinto have very different perspectives on the world, most Japanese do not see any challenge in reconciling these two very different religions, and practice both. Thus it is common for people to practice Shinto in life yet have a Buddhist funeral. Their different perspectives on the afterlife are seen as complementing each other, and frequently the ritual practice of one will have an origin in the other.
Though Shinto has no absolute commandments for its adherents outside of living "a simple and harmonious life with nature and people", there are said to be "Four Affirmations" of the Shinto spirit:
Shinto teaches that certain deeds create a kind of ritual impurity that one should want cleansed for one's own peace of mind and good fortune, not because impurity is wrong in and of itself. Wrong deeds are called "dirtiness" (穢れ kegare?), opposed to "purity" (清め kiyome?). Normal days are called "day" (ke), and festive days are called "sunny", or simply, "good" (hare).[3] Killing living beings should be done with reverence for taking a life to continue one's own, and should be kept to a minimum. Modern Japanese continue to place great emphasis on the importance of ritual phrases and greetings (挨拶 aisatsu?). Before eating, many (though not all) Japanese say, "I will humbly receive [this food]" (戴きます itadakimasu?), in order to show proper thankfulness to the preparer of the meal in particular and more generally to all those living things that lost their lives to make the meal. Failure to show proper respect can be seen as a lack of concern for others, looked down on because it is believed to create problems for all. Those who fail to take into account the feelings of other people and kami will only bring ruin on themselves. The worst expression of such an attitude is the taking of another's life for personal advancement or enjoyment. Those killed without being shown gratitude for their sacrifice will hold a grudge (怨み urami?) and become a powerful and evil kami that seeks revenge (aragami). This same emphasis on the need for cooperation and collaboration can be seen throughout Japanese culture today. Additionally, if anyone is injured on the grounds of a shrine, the area affected must be ritually purified.
Purification rites are a vital part of Shinto. These may serve to placate any restive kami, for instance when their shrine had to be relocated. Such ceremonies have also been adapted to modern life. For example, a ceremony was held in 1969 to hallow the Apollo 11 mission to the moon,[4] new buildings made in Japan are frequently blessed by a Shinto priest during the groundbreaking ceremony, and many cars made in Japan have been blessed as part of the assembly process. A more personal purification rite is the purification by water. This may involve standing beneath a waterfall or performing ritual ablutions in a river-mouth or in the sea (misogi). These two forms of purification are often referred to as harae (祓). A third form of purification is avoidance, that is, the taboo placed on certain persons or acts. For example, women were not allowed to climb Mount Fuji until 1868, in the era of the Meiji Restoration. Although this aspect has decreased in recent years, religious Japanese will not use an inauspicious word like "cut" at a wedding, nor will they attend a wedding if they have recently been bereaved.
The principal worship of kami is done at public shrines, although home worship at small private shrines (kamidana) (sometimes only a high shelf with a few ritual objects) is also common. It is also possible to worship objects or people while they are still living. While a few of the public shrines are elaborate structures, most are small buildings in the characteristic Japanese architectural style. Shrines are commonly fronted by a distinctive Japanese gate (torii) made of two uprights and two crossbars. These gates are there as a part of the barrier to separate our living world and the world the kami live in. There are often two guardian animals placed at each side of the gate and they serve to protect the entrance. There are well over 100,000 of these shrines in operation today, each with its retinue of Shinto priests. Shinto priests often wear a ceremonial robe called a jo-e. Kami are invoked at such important ceremonies as weddings and entry into university. The kami are commonly petitioned for earthly benefits: a child, a promotion, a happier life. While one may wish for ill fortune on others, this is believed to be possible only if the target has committed wrongs first, or if one is willing to offer one's life. Though Shinto is popular for these occasions, when it comes to funerals most Japanese turn to Buddhist ceremonies, since the emphasis in Shinto is on this life and not the next. Almost all festivals (matsuri) in Japan are hosted by local Shinto shrines and these festivals are open to all those that wish to attend. While these could be said to be religious events, Japanese do not regard these events as religious since everyone can attend, regardless of personal beliefs.
Shinto teaches that everything contains a kami ("spiritual essence" which is sometimes translated into "god", though perhaps soul would be more accurate). Every rock, every squirrel, every living and nonliving thing contains a kami. There is also a main kami for groups of things: for example, there is a kami within a rhino, and there is also a main kami residing over all the rhinos of the world.
Shinto's kami are collectively called Yaoyorozu no Kami (八百万の神), a traditional expression literally meaning "eight million kami". The arcane name of eight million, Yaoyorozu, is not the exact number, but the concept of an infinite number did not exist at that time.
The most widely worshiped of all kami is the sun-goddess Amaterasu. However, Japanese do not specifically worship her or invoke her name to ask for help. Her main shrine is the Grand Shrine of Ise, but many lesser shrines are dedicated to her. Within the shrine, she is often symbolised by a mirror. Alternatively, the inner sanctum may be empty. This emptiness does not mean non-existence; rather, it symbolizes that everything that one sees through the mirror is the embodiment of Amaterasu and every other kami.
Until the end of World War II, the Tenno (Emperor) was believed to have been descended from Amaterasu and father of all Japanese, and was therefore a kami on earth (an ikigami or "living kami"); this divine status was popularized during the Meiji Restoration. This did not prevent military governors (Shogun) from usurping power, but the emperor was always seen as the true ruler of Japan, even when his rule was only nominal. Although Emperor Hirohito renounced his divine status in 1946 under American pressure (Ningen-sengen), the imperial family remains deeply involved in the Shinto ritual that unifies the Japanese nation symbolically. Because Shinto does not require a declaration or an enforcement to be worshiped (considered "unharmonious,") this declaration, while serving political reasons, is religiously meaningless and merely means that the state enforcement has ended.
In medieval times, wealthy people would donate horses to shrines, especially when making a request of the god of the shrine (for example, when praying for victory in battle). For smaller favors, giving a picture of a horse became a custom, and these are popular today. The visitor to a shrine purchases a wooden tablet with a likeness of a horse, or nowadays, something else (a snake, an arrow, even a portrait of Thomas Edison), writes a wish or prayer on the tablet, and hangs it at the shrine. In some cases, if the wish comes true, the person hangs another ema at the shrine in gratitude.
Kagura is the ancient Shinto ritual dance of Shamanic origin. The word "Kagura" is thought to be a contracted form of kami no kura or seat of the kami or the site where the kami is received.(Kobayashi, Kazushige p.3) There is a mythological tale of how Kagura dance came into existence. The sun goddess Amaterasu became very upset at her brother so she hid in a cave. All of the other gods and goddesses were concerned and wanted her to come outside. Ame-no-uzeme began to dance and create a noisy commotion in order to entice Amaterasu to come out. The kami (gods) tricked Amaterasu by telling her there was a better sun goddess in the heavens. Amaterasu came out and light returned to the universe.
Music plays a very important role in the kagura performance. Everything from the setup of the instruments to the most subtle sounds and the arrangement of the music is crucial to encouraging the kami to come down and dance. The songs are used as magical devices to summon the gods and as prayers for blessings. Rhythm patterns of five and seven are common, possibly relating to the Shinto belief of the twelve generations of heavenly and earthly deities. There is also vocal accompaniment called kami uta in which the drummer sings sacred songs to the gods. Often the vocal accompaniment is overshadowed by the drumming and instruments, reinforcing that the vocal aspect of the music is more for incantation rather than aesthetics.(Averbuch, Irit pp.83-87)
In both ancient Japanese collections, the Nihongi and Kojiki, Ame-no-uzeme’s dance is described as asobi, which in old Japanese language means a ceremony that is designed to appease the spirits of the departed, and which was conducted at funeral ceremonies. Therefore, kagura is a rite of tama shizume, of pacifying the spirits of the departed. In the Heian period (8th-12th centuries) this was one of the important rites at the Imperial Court and had found its fixed place in the tama shizume festival on the eleventh month. At this festival people sing as accompaniment to the dance: “Depart! Depart! Be cleansed and go! Be purified and leave!” (Kobayashi, Kazushige pp.4-5)
This rite of purification is also known as chinkon. It was used for securing and strengthening the soul of a dying person. It was closely related to the ritual of tama furi (shaking the spirit), to call back the departed soul of the dead or to energize a weakened spirit. Spirit pacification and rejuvenation were usually achieved by songs and dances, also called asobi. The ritual of chinkon continued to be performed on the emperors of Japan, thought to be descendents of Amaterasu. It is possible that this ritual is connected with the ritual to revive the sun goddess during the low point of the winter solstice. (Averbuch, Irit p.12)
There is a division between the kagura that is performed at the Imperial palace and the shrines related to it, and the kagura that is performed in the countryside. Folk kagura, or kagura from the countryside is divided according to region. The following descriptions relate to sato kagura, kagura that is from the countryside. The main types are: miko kagura, Ise kagura, Izumo kagura, and shishi kagura.
Miko kagura is the oldest type of kagura and is danced by women in Shinto shrines and during folk festivals. The ancient miko were Shamanesses, but are now considered priestesses in the service of the Shinto Shrines. Miko kagura originally was a shamanic trance dance, but later, it became an art and was interpreted as a prayer dance. It is performed in many of the larger Shinto shrines and is characterized by slow, elegant, circular movements, by emphasis on the four directions and by the central use of torimono (objects dancers carry in their hands), especially the fan and bells.(Averbuch, Irit p.15)
Ise kagura is a collective name for rituals that are based upon the yudate (boiling water rites of Shugendo origin) ritual. It includes miko dances as well as dancing of the torimono type. The kami are believed to be present in the pot of boiling water, so the dancers dip their torimono in the water and sprinkle it in the four directions and on the observers for purification and blessing. (Averbuch, Irit, p. 16)
Izumo kagura is centered in the Sada shrine of Izumo, Shimane prefecture.Izumo kagura is also centered in the Sada shrine of Izumo, Shimane prefecture. It has two types: torimono ma, unmasked dances that include held objects, and shinno (sacred No), dramatic masked dances based on myths. Izumo kagura appears to be the most popular type of kagura. (Averbuch, Irit, p.16)
Shishi kagura also known as the Shugen-No tradition, uses the dance of a shishi (lion or mountain animal) mask as the image and presence of the deity. It includes the Ise daikagura group and the yamabushi kagura and bangaku groups of the Tohoku area (Northeastern Japan). Ise daikagura employs a large red Chinese type of lion head which can move its ears. The lion head of the yamabushi kagura schools is black and can click its teeth. Unlike other kagura types in which the kami appear only temporarily, during the shishi kagura the kami is constantly present in the shishi head mask. During the Edo period, the lion dances became showy and acrobatic losing its touch with spirituality. However, the yamabushi kagura tradtion has retained its ritualistic and religious nature. (Averbuch, p.16)
Originally, practice of kagura involved authentic possession by the kami invoked. In modern day Japan it appears to be difficult to find authentic ritual possession, called kamigakari, in kagura dance. However, it is common to see choreographed possession in the dances. Actual possession is not taking place but elements of possession such as losing control and high jumps are applied in the dance.
Shinto has been called "the religion of Japan", and the customs and values of Shinto are inseparable from those of Japanese culture. Many famously Japanese practices have origins either directly or indirectly rooted in Shinto. For example, it is clear that the Shinto ideal of harmony with nature underlies such typically Japanese arts as flower-arranging (ikebana), traditional Japanese architecture, and garden design. A more explicit link to Shinto is seen in sumo wrestling, where, even in the modern version of the sport, many Shinto-inspired ceremonies must be performed before a bout, such as purifying the wrestling arena by sprinkling it with salt. The Japanese emphasis on proper greetings and respectful phrasings can be seen as a continuation of the ancient Shinto belief in kotodama (words with a magical effect on the world). Many Japanese cultural customs, like using wooden chopsticks and removing shoes before entering a building, have their origin in Shinto beliefs and practices. Also, a number of other Japanese religions, including Tenrikyo, have originated from or been influenced by Shinto. Tenrikyo is a religion of Shinto origin with some Buddhist influence.
The Kojiki (Record of Ancient Matters)
The Rokkokushi (Six National Histories)
The Shoku Nihongi and its Nihon Shoki (Continuing Chronicles of Japan)
The Jinno Shotoki (a study of Shinto and Japanese politics and history) written in the 14th century
Of the many and diverse Shinto shrines in existence, some are well known:
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