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Shinto

Shinto - kami-no-michi is the natural spirituality of Japan and the Japanese people. The word Shinto ("Way of the Gods") was adopted from the written Chinese , combining two kanji: "shin" meaning gods or spirits (originally from the Chinese word shen); and "" or "do" meaning a philosophical path or study (originally from the Chinese word tao). [1][2]

Shinto incorporates spiritual practices derived from many local and regional prehistoric traditions, but did not emerge as a formal centralized religious institution until the arrival of Buddhism, Confucianism, and Daoism, beginning in the 6th century.[3] Buddhism gradually adapted in Japan to the native spirituality. (See article on "syncretism".)

Shinto practices were first recorded and codified in the written historical records of the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki in the 7th and 8th century. Still, these earliest Japanese writings do not refer to a unified "Shinto religion", but practices associated with harvests and other seasonal clan events, along with a uniquely Japanese cosmogony and mythology, combining spiritual traditions of the ascendant clans of early Japan, mainly the Yamato and Izumo cultures.[2]

Shinto is a religion in where practice (actions) and ritual, rather than words, are of the utmost importance. Shinto is characterized by the worship of nature, ancestors, polytheism, and animism, with a strong focus on ritual purity, involving honoring and celebrating the existence of Kami Kami are defined in English as "spirit", "essence" or "deities", that are associated with many understood formats; in some cases being human like, some animistic, others associated with more abstract "natural" forces in the world (mountains, rivers, lightning, wind, waves, trees, rocks). It may be best thought of as "sacred" elements and energies. Kami and people are not separate, they exist within the same world and share its interrelated complexity.[2] Modern Shinto does have a central theological authority but no singular Theocracy. Shinto today is an inclusive association of local, regional, and national shrines of various rank and historical significance, expressing their various beliefs through similar language and practice, all adopting a similar style in dress, architecture, and ritual, dating from around the time of the Nara and Heian Periods. [2]

Shinto currently has about 119 million known adherents in Japan,[4] although a person who practices any manner of Shinto rituals may be so counted. It is generally accepted that the vast majority of Japanese people take part in Shinto rituals, while most would also practice Buddhist ancestor worship. However, unlike many monotheistic religious practices, Shinto and Buddhism typically do not require professing faith to be a believer or a practitioner, and as such it is difficult to query for exact figures based on self-identification of belief within Japan. Due to the syncretic nature of Shinto and Buddhism, most "life" events are handled by Shinto and "death" or "afterlife" events are handled by Buddhism although this is not exclusive. For example, it is typical in Japan to register or celebrate a birth at a Shinto shrine, while funeral arrangements are generally dictated by Buddhist tradition.

Shinto has shrines in many other countries, including the United States, Brazil, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and the Netherlands among others and is considered to be expanding to a global religion especially with the advent of international branches of Shinto shrines.


Creation Narrative



The creation story of Japan is written in the Kojiki in 712; it is a depiction of the events leading up to and including the creation of the Japanese Islands. There are many translations of the story with variations of complexity.
  • Izanagi-no-Mikoto (male) and Izanami-no-Mikoto (female) were called by all the myriad gods and asked to help each other to create a new land which was to become Japan.
  • They were given a spear, stirred the water and when removed water dripped from the end, created an island in the great nothingness.
  • They lived on this island, and created a palace and within was a large pole.
  • When they wished to bear offspring, they performed a ritual each rounding a pole, male to the left and female to the right, the female greeting the male first.
  • They had 2 children (islands) which turned out badly and they cast them out. They decided that the ritual had been done incorrectly the first time.
  • They repeated the ritual but according to the correct laws of nature, the male spoke first.
  • They then gave birth to the 8 perfect islands of the Japanese archipelago.
  • After the islands, they gave birth to the other Kami, Izanami-no-Mikoto dies and Izanagi-no-Mikoto tries to revive her.
  • His attempts to deny the laws of life and death have bad consequences.

The Japanese islands are to be considered a paradise as they were directly created by the gods for the Japanese people, and were ordained by the higher spirits to be created into the Japanese empire. Shinto is the fundamental connection between the power and beauty of nature (the land) and the Japanese people. It is the manifestation of a path to understanding the institution of divine power.


Kami


Shinto teaches that everything contains a kami ( "spiritual essence"?, commonly translated as god or spirit). Shinto's spirits are collectively called yaoyorozu no kami (八百万の神?), an expression literally meaning "eight million kami", but interpreted as meaning "myriad", although it can be translated as "many Kami". There is a phoenetic variation kamu and a similar word among Ainu kamui. There is an analog "mi-koto".

Kami are a difficult concept to translate as there is no direct similar construct in English. Kami is generally accepted to describe the innate supernatural force that is above the actions of man, the realm of the sacred, and is inclusive of gods, spirit figures, and human ancestors. All mythological creatures of the Japanese cultural tradition, of the Buddhistic tradition, Christian God, Hindu gods, Islamic Allah, various angels and demons of all faiths among others are considered Kami for the purpose of Shinto faith.

The kami reside in all things, but certain places are designated for the interface of people and kami (the common world and the sacred): sacred nature, shrines, and kamidana. There are natural places considered to have an unusually sacred spirit about them, and are objects of worship. They are frequently mountains, trees, unusual rocks, rivers, waterfalls, and other natural edifices. In most cases they are on or near a shrine grounds. The shrine is a building built in which to house the kami, with a separation from the "ordinary" world through sacred space with defined features based on the age and lineage of the shrine. The kamidana is a home shrine (placed on a wall in the home) that is a "kami residence" that acts as a substitute for a large shrine on a daily basis. In each case the object of worship is considered a sacred space that the kami spirit actually dwells, being treated with the utmost respect and deference.

Types of Shinto


To distinguish between these different focuses of emphasis within Shinto, many feel it is important to separate Shinto into different types of Shinto expression.

  • Imperial Shinto (Kyūchū-shintō?) is the religious rites performed exclusively by the Imperial Family at the three shrines on the Imperial grounds, including the Ancestral Spirits Sanctuary (Kōrei-den) and the Sanctuary of the Kami (Shin-den).[1]
  • Shrine Shinto (神社神道 jinja-shintō?) is the most prevalent of the Shinto types. It has always been a part of Japan's history and constitutes the main current of Shinto tradition. The Association of Shinto Shrines oversees about 80,000 shrines nationwide.
  • Folk Shinto (民俗神道 minzoku-shintō?) includes the numerous but fragmented folk beliefs in deities and spirits. Practices include divination, spirit possession, and shamanic healing. Some of their practices come from Daoism, Buddhism, or Confucianism, but most come from ancient local traditions.
  • Ko Shinto (古神道 ko-shintō?) is the oldest line of Shinto branches, a tradition that values the systematic methods of exercise and training.[5]
  • Sect Shinto (宗派神道 shūha-shintō?) comprises 13 groups formed during the 19th century. They do not have shrines, but conduct religious activities in meeting halls. Shinto sects include the mountain-worship sects, who focus on worshipping mountains like Mount Fuji, faith-healing sects, purification sects, Confucian sects, and Revival Shinto sects. Sometimes these "new Shinto" groups are seen as cults.

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 Shinto sects and schools.

History


Historical Records

There is no core sacred text in Shinto, as the Bible is in Christianity or Qur'an is in Islam. Instead there are books of lore and history which provide stories and background to many Shinto beliefs.

  • The Kojiki (Record of Ancient Matters) The foundation to written Shinto history.
  • The Shoku Nihongi and its Nihon Shoki (Continuing Chronicles of Japan)
  • The Rikkokushi (Six National Histories)
  • The Jinnō Shōtōki (a study of Shinto and Japanese politics and history) written in the 14th century

Origins

Shinto has very ancient roots in the Japanese islands. The recorded history dates to the Kojiki (712) and Nihon Shoki (720) historical records, but archeological records date back significantly further than this. Both are compilations of existing mythology and oral tradition. The Kojiki establishes the Imperial family as the foundation of Japanese culture, being the descendants of Amaterasu Omikami. There is also a geanology of the creation and appearance of the gods in accordance with a creation myth. The Nihonshoki was more interested in creating a structural system of government, foreign policy, religious hierarchy, and domestic social order.

There is an internal system of historical Shinto development that configures the relationships between Shinto and other religious practices over its long history; the inside and outside Kami(spirits). The inside or ujigami (uji meaning clan) Kami roles that supports cohesion and continuation of established roles and patterns; and the hitogami or outside Kami, bringing innovation, new beliefs, new messages, and some instability.

Jomon peoples of Japan used natural housing, predated rice farming, and frequently were hunter-gatherers, the physical evidence for ritual practices are difficult to document. There are many locations of stone ritual structures, refined burial practices and early Torii that lend to the continuity of primal Shinto. The Jomon had a clan based tribal system developed similar to much of the worlds indigenous people. In the context of this clan based system, local beliefs developed naturally and when assimilation between clans occurred, they also took on some beliefs of the neighboring tribes. At some point there was a recognition that the ancestors created the current generations and the reverence of ancestors (tama)took shape. There was some trade amongst the indigenous peoples within Japanese islands and the mainland, as well as some varying migrations. The trade and interchange of people helped the growth and complexity of the peoples spirituality by exposure to new beliefs. The natural spirituality of the people appeared to be based on the worship of nature forces or mono, and the natural elements to which they all depended.

The gradual introduction of methodical religious and government organizations from mainland Asia starting around 300 BCE seeded the reactive changes in primal Shinto over the next 700 years to a more formalized system. These changes were directed internally by the various clans frequently as a syncratic cultural event to outside influences. Eventually as the Yamato gained power a formalization process began. The genesis of the Imperial household amnd subsequent creation of the Kojiki helped facilitate the continuity needed for this long term development through modern history. There is today a balance between outside influences of Buddhist, Confucian, Daoist, Abrahamic, Hindu and secular beliefs that although has had conflicts, today appears very natural and inexclusive. In more modern times Shinto has developed new branches and forms on a regular basis, including leaving Japan and becoming a global religion.

Shinto and Buddhism

With the introduction of Buddhism and its rapid adoption by the court in the 6th century, it was necessary to explain the apparent differences between native Japanese beliefs and Buddhist teachings. One Buddhist 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 (honji suijaku theory). For example, he famously linked Amaterasu (the sun goddess and ancestor of the Imperial family) with Dainichi Nyorai, a central manifestation of the Buddhists, whose name means 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 tear 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 explicitly compared to the Chinese concepts of 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).

State Shinto

Following the Meiji Restoration, Shinto was made the state religion of the Empire of Japan, and in 1868 its combination with Buddhism was outlawed, in an attempt to purify Shinto by abolishing many Buddhist and Confucian ideals. During this period, numerous scholars of kokugaku believed that State 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.

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 reversal 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 dogma of the divinity of Japan's national origins and its Emperor.

As time went on, Shinto was increasingly used in the advertising of nationalist popular sentiments. In 1890, the Imperial Rescript on Education was issued, and students were required to ritually recite its oath to "offer yourselves courageously to the State" as well as to 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 observance at shrines. This use of Shinto gave Japanese patriotism a special tint of mysticism and cultural introversion, which became more pronounced as time went on.

Such processes continued to deepen throughout the early Shōwa period, when State Shinto became a main force of militarism, finally coming to an abrupt end in August 1945 when Japan lost the war in the Pacific. On 1 January 1946, Emperor Shōwa issued the Ningen-sengen, in which he quoted the Five Charter Oath of Emperor Meiji and declared that he was not an akitsumikami.

Post-war

As the era of State Shinto came to a close with the end of World War II, most Japanese came to believe that the hubris of Empire had led to their downfall. 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 in proportion, and many practices have persisted as general cultural beliefs (such as ancestor worship, which is still very popular), and community festivals (matsuri) — focusing more on religious practices. The explanation generally given for this anomaly is that, following the demise of State Shinto, modern Shinto has reverted to its more traditional position as a traditional religion which is culturally ingrained, rather than enforced. In any case, Shinto and its values continue to be a primary 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. A relatively small number of people practice Shinto in America. There are, however, several Shinto shrines in America, which has a large number of people of Japanese descent. Outside the US, there are also Shinto shrines in Brazil, Canada 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.

New Sects

Within Shinto, there are a variety of new sects outside Shrine Shinto and the officially defunct State Shinto. Sect Shinto, like Tenrikyo and Konkokyo, have a unique dogma or leader, with some exhibiting the influence of Messianic Christianity and cult of personality, in the 19th and 20th century, particularly the "New Religions" like (Shinshūkyō) that proliferated in the post-war era.

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