Shinto
Note: Because many Eastern religions are not familiar to Westerners (the likely readers of the blog), this summary is longer than the pages describing common Western religions.
Shinto (aka kami-no-michi) is the indigenous spirituality of Japan and the people of Japan. It presents a set of practices to be carried out diligently to establish a connection between present day Japan and its ancient past. Shinto practices were first recorded and codified in the written historical records of the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki in the 8th century CE. These early Japanese writings do not refer to a unified Shinto religion, but rather to disorganized folklore, history, and mythology. Shinto today is a term that applies to public shrines suited to various purposes such as war memorials, harvest festivals, romance, and historical monuments, as well as various sectarian organizations. Practitioners express their diverse beliefs through a standard language and practice, adopting a similar style in dress and ritual, dating from around the time of the Nara and Heian Periods.
The word Shinto ("Way of the Gods") means spirit, essences or deities, is a philosophical path or study, in some cases being human-like, in others being animistic, and others being associated with more abstract natural forces in the world (mountains, rivers, lightning, wind, waves, trees, rocks). Kami and people are not separate; they exist within the same world and share its interrelated complexity.
There are currently 4 million observers of Shinto in Japan, although a person who practices any manner of Shinto rituals may be so counted. The vast majority of people in Japan who take part in Shinto rituals 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 different nature of Shinto and Buddhism, most life events are handled by Shinto and death or afterlife events are handled by Buddhism; 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—although the division is not exclusive.
The creation myth of Shinto 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 with which they stirred the water, and when removed water dripped from the end, an island was created 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 islands of Japan are to considered a paradise as they were directly created by the gods for the people of Japan, 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 people of Japan. It is the manifestation of a path to understanding the institution of divine power.
Shinto teaches that everything contains a Kami (a spiritual essence commonly translated as god or spirit). Shinto's spirits are collectively called yaoyorozu no kami, an expression literally meaning "eight million kami", but interpreted as meaning myriad, although it can be translated as many kami. There is a phonetic 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 construct in English. Kami describes 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. The mythological creatures of all faiths are considered Kami.
The kami reside in all things, but certain places are designated for the interface of people and kami. There are natural places considered to have an unusually sacred spirit about them that 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 ground. A 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 inside which the kami spirit actually dwells, being treated with the utmost respect and deference.
There are different focuses of emphasis within Shinto that are described by different types of Shinto expression:
Shrine Shinto 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. Shrine Shinto is expressed in the popular imagination with summer festivals, good luck charms, making wishes, holding groundbreaking ceremonies, and showing support for the nation of Japan. Before the Meiji Restoration, shrines were disorganized institutions usually attached to Buddhist temples, but they were claimed by the government during the imperial period for patriotic use and systematized. The successor to the imperial organization, the Association of Shinto Shrines, oversees about 80,000 shrines nationwide.
Imperial Household Shinto are 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). Folk Shinto 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 Taoism, Buddhism, or Confucianism, but most come from ancient local traditions.
Sect Shinto is a legal designation created in the 1890s to separate government-owned shrines from local religious practices. 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. The remainder of Sectarian Shinto is New Sect Shinto.
Koshintō (literally Old Shinto) is a reconstructed Shinto from before the time of Buddhism.
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.
The principal worship of kami is done at public shrines or worship at small home shrines called kamidana. The public shrine is a building or place that functions as a conduit for kami. Some shrines are also natural places called mori. The most common of the mori are sacred groves of trees, or mountains, or waterfalls.
While many of the public shrines are elaborate structures, all are Japanese architectural styles of different periods depending on their age. Shrines are fronted by a distinctive Japanese gate (torii) made of two uprights and two crossbars denoting the separation between common space and sacred space. The torii have 20 styles and matching buildings based on the enshrined kami and lineage.
There are a number of symbolic and real barriers that exist between the normal world and the shrine grounds including: statues of protection, gates, fences, ropes, and other delineations of ordinary to sacred space. Usually there will be only one or sometimes two approaches to the Shrine for the public and all will have the torii over the way. In shrine compounds, there are a haiden or public hall of worship, heiden or hall of offerings and the honden. The innermost precinct of the grounds is the honden or worship hall, which is entered only by the high priest, or worshippers on certain occasions. The honden houses the symbol of the enshrined kami. The heart of the shrine is periodic rituals, spiritual events in parishioners' lives, and festivals. All of this is organized by priests who are both spiritual conduits and administrators. Shrines are private institutions, and are supported financially by the congregation and visitors. Some shrines may have festivals that attract hundreds of thousands, especially in the New Year season.
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 rather than because impurity is wrong.
Purification rites called Harae are a vital part of Shinto. They are done on a daily, weekly, seasonal, lunar, and annual basis. Many rituals are the lifeblood of the practice of Shinto. Such ceremonies have also been adapted to modern life. 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. Moreover, many Japanese businesses built outside Japan have had ceremonies performed by a Shinto priest, with occasionally an annual visitation by the priest to re-purify.
It is common for families to participate in ceremonies for children at a shrine, yet have a Buddhist funeral at the time of death. The Japanese conception of the afterlife, however, can sometimes take a distinctly non-Buddhist turn. In old Japanese legends, it is often claimed that the dead go to a place called yomi, a gloomy underground realm with a river separating the living from the dead. This yomi is very close to the Greek Hades.
Unlike many other religions, one does not need to publicly profess belief in Shinto to be a believer. 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. After death an ujiko becomes a family spirit, or family kami. 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. 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.
Any person may visit a shrine and one need not be Shinto to do this. Doing so is called Omairi. Typically there are a few basic steps to visiting a shrine:
Approach the entrance and bow respectfully before entering;
If there is a hand washing basin provided, perform Temizu; wash your left hand first, then your right, then rinse your mouth, (do not spit back into the water supply or drink), and sometimes your feet as well if needed. Tip the ladle backwards to wash the ladle handle with the remaining water and place opening down on the rack where you found it;
Approach the shrine; if there is a bell, you may ring the bell prior to prayers; if there is a box for donations, leave a modest one in relation to your means; Normally there will be a sequence of bows, (commonly 2) and then claps (commonly 2), hold the second and put your hands together in front of your heart for a closing bow after your prayers;
There is variation in how this basic visitation may go, and depending on the time of year and holidays there may also be other rituals attached to visitations.
Be sincere and respectful to the staff and other visitors, and if at all possible, be quiet. Do be aware that there are places one should not go on the shrine grounds. Do not wear shoes inside any buildings.
The rite of ritual purification (Harae) usually done daily at a shrine is a ceremony of offerings and prayers of several forms. Shinsen (food offerings of fruit, fish, vegetables), Tamagushi (Sakaki Tree Branches), Shio (salt), Gohan (rice), Mochi (rice paste), and Sake (rice wine) are all typical offerings. On holidays and other special occasions the inner shrine doors may be opened and special offerings made.
Water purification (Misogi harai or Misogi Shūhō) is the term for water purification. The practice of purification by ritual use of water while reciting prayers is typically done daily by regular practitioners, and when possible by lay practitioners. There is a defined set of prayers and physical activities that precede and occur during the ritual. This will usually be performed at a shrine, in a natural setting, but can be done anywhere there is clean running water. Some examples:
The basic performance of this is the hand and mouth washing (Temizu) done at the entrance to a shrine. The more dedicated believer may purify him- or herself by standing beneath a waterfall or performing ritual ablutions in a river. This practice comes from Shinto history, when the kami Izanagi-no-Mikoto first performed misogi after returning from the land of Yomi, where he was made impure by Izanami-no-Mikoto after her death.
Another form of ritual cleanliness is avoidance (Imi), which means that a taboo is placed upon certain persons or acts. To illustrate, one would not visit a shrine if a close relative in the household had died recently. Killing is generally unclean and is to be avoided. When one is performing acts that harm the land or other living things, prayers and rituals are performed to placate the Kami of the area. This type of cleanliness is usually performed to prevent ill outcomes.
Ema are small wooden plaques that wishes or desires are written upon and left at a place in the shrine grounds so that one may get a wish or desire fulfilled - They have a picture on them and are frequently associated with the larger Shrines;
Ofuda are talismans—made of paper, wood, or metal that are issued at shrines inscribed with the names of kamis and are used for protection in the home and are typically placed in the home at a kamidana;
Omamori are personal-protection amulets that sold by shrines that are frequently used to ward off bad luck and to gain better health. (More recently, there are also amulets to promote good driving, good business, and success at school);
Omikuji are paper lots upon which personal fortunes are written;
A daruma is a round, paper doll of the Indian monk, Bodhidharma. The recipient makes a wish and paints one eye; when the goal is accomplished, the recipient paints the other eye. While this is a Buddhist practice, darumas can be found at shrines, as well;
Other protective items include dorei, which are earthenware bells in the shapes of the zodiacal animals that are used to pray for good fortune, hamaya (symbolic arrows for the fight against evil and bad luck) and Inuhariko (paper dogs that are used to induce and to bless good births);
Kagura is the ancient Shinto ritual dance of shamanic origin. The word kagura is thought to be a contracted form of kami no kura, seat of the kami or the site where the kami is received. 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.
Buddhism became structurally established within Japan by Emperor Shōmu (reign 724–749). 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. Buddhism and Shinto coexisted in Japan and were amalgamated in the shinbutsu shūgō and Kūkai's syncretic (shared belief) view.
Although the government sponsorship of shrines declined, Japanese nationalism remained closely linked to the legends of foundation and emperors, as developed by the kokugaku scholars. 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.
The era of State Shinto came to an abrupt close with the end of World War II, when Americans decided to bring separation of church and state to Japanese shores in the wake of the Japanese surrender. Many Japanese had come to believe that the hubris of Empire had led to their downfall. The Shinto system included the belief that the emperor, in this case Hirohito, was divine. Soon after the war, the Emperor issued a statement renouncing his claims to the status of living god. 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.
