SHINTO

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SHINTO
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What is Shinto?

• The way of the gods
• Ancient, indigenous, mythical, nature religion
  of Japan
• Wide variety
• Hard to define
• No founder An ethnic religion of the Japanese
  people
• The root and embodiment of Japanese culture

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Shintos History

• More than 1500 years old
• Japanese worship had consisted of a variety of
  practices
• Ancestor worship, animism, many gods
• Chinese missionaries brought Buddhism,
  Confucianism, Taoism
• Name Shinto originated to differentiate between
  the old new customs
• Shinto dictated ways of daily life, Buddhism
  dictated thoughts on afterlife

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Shintos Revival

• Shinto was so blended it had almost disappeared
  by the 8th century
• Tokugawa Regime (1600-1867)
• Military leaders
• Sought to eliminate outside influence
• Religions pushed out (Except Confucianism since
  it supported military ethics)
• Samurai
• 1853, Commodore Perry opened trade between Japan
  and US

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Shinto Mythology

• Two main texts
• Kojiki (myths of ancient times, origins of gods
  and man, islands of Japan)
• Nihonji (ancient history of Japan)
• The Kami gods goddesses
• Polytheistic
• Present everywhere, in nature and people
• Creation myth Japan as the center of the world

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Shinto Mythology
Izanagi (male) izanami (female) (brother
sister) create the islands of Japan

• Amaterasu the Sun Goddess
• Mother of the first emperor of Japan

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Three kindsof Shinto

• Shrine/Folk Shinto
• State Shinto
• Sect Shinto

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Shrine Shintoa.k.a. Domestic Shinto

• Jinja (shrines) - Tens of thousands located
  throughout Japan
• Torii entry gate, separates sacred from profane
  space
• Household shrines kami-dana (god shelf)
• Contain offerings for ancestors, etc.

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State Shinto

• Constitution of 1889?end of WWII
• Emphasis on Japanese culture and nationality
  (elimination of foreign influences)
• Emperors of Japan as divine
• Hierarchy of shrines
• Main shrine at Ise dedicated to Amaterasu
• Mother goddess of Japan
• Palace shrines honoring Amaterasu, other kami,
  and emperors
• Shrines elsewhere dedicated to national heroes
• 97 of remaining shrines dedicated to local kami

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Sect Shinto

• 13 recognized sects
• Mountain worship
• Faith healers
• Pure Shinto (similar to yoga practices in
  Hinduism)
• Some combine Shinto with influences from Buddhism
  or other religions

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The Problem for Humans

• Alienation
• Humans can become ritually unclean and need
  purification
• Estranged from the kami and need communication
• Alienated from family, ancestors, community,
  emperor thru failure to do whats expected
• Solution reconciliation thru offerings, prayer,
  heroic deeds, ritual suicide

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Community

• Devotion to family and country governs all
  conduct
• People are a part of something (family, nation,
  etc.)
• Duty to sacrifice your selfish impulses to good
  of the whole
• Groups govern your behavior and consequences

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The FourAffirmations

• Tradition and Family
• Love of Nature
• Physical cleanliness
• Matsuri festivals that worship and honor the Kami

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The End
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Shinto PracticesTradition and Family

• Life cycle celebrations take place at shrines
• Newborns first visit to shrine
• 7-5-3 festival blessings for boys age 5, girls
  ages 3 7
• Entry to adulthood (age 20)
• Marriage
• (since Shinto celebrates life in this world, in
  death, the Japanese turn to Buddhist rather than
  Shinto rituals)

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Shinto Practices

• Love of Nature
• Annual cycle of seasonal festivals
• Physical Cleanliness
• Misoji - Water purification rites to wash away
  impurity, thus restoring original purity

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Shinto on the Web

• Ancient Japan Shinto Creation Stories
  http//www.wsu.edu/dee/ANCJAPAN/CREAT.HTM
• Visit a Shinto shrine on-line Tsubaki Grand
  Shrine of America http//www.tsubakishrine.com/te
  st/home.asp
• The Shinto Online Network Association
  http//www.jinja.or.jp/english/s-0.html