Shinto

Reverend Lawrence Koichi Barrish The Tsubaki Grand Shrine of America in Granite Falls, Washington is the only Shinto shrine on mainland U.S. soil. It is home to one of the first non-Japanese Shinto priests, the Reverend Lawrence Koichi Barrish. In the mid-80s, Reverend Barrish visited a Shinto shrine in Japan. The experience made him want to be a Shinto priest. He was told he could not be a priest, so he instead build a shrine. The original Tsubaki Shrine was in California, and Reverend Barrish visited it to learn how to care for his shrine. Eventually, the high priest there decided he should receive a license as a Shinto priest. He consulted with high level people in the world of Shinto shrines and Reverend Barrish became a priest. In 2001, 17 acres in Granite Falls across from Barrish’s shrine was donated to the Tsubaki temple. The Shinto priests of America decided to combine the shrines into the new Tsubaki Shrine in Washington. The Reverend Barrish tells people that Shinto is not a religion, so people aren’t considered followers or non-followers. People of all faiths are welcome at the shrine. Image from http://nwpr.org/post/whats-so-special-about-shinto-shrine-priest-isnt-japanese-thats-not-all (include a credit for it) Reverend Lawrence Koichi Barrish

Religion or way of life? Like Confucianism, you could argue that Shinto is not a religion, but rather the Japanese way of life. Ritual is emphasized over belief. Shinto has no founder, no God, and no scripture. A person can perform Shinto rituals and also be a Buddhist. Unlike many other religions, Shinto is tied specifically to Japan. It would be possible for a person to follow Shinto ways of thinking and live in another country. However, the ideas themselves are the result of the Japanese way of life and thought.

The essence of Shinto is the Japanese devotion to invisible spiritual beings and powers called kami, and the shrines and various rituals related to kami. Shinto is not a way of explaining the world. What’s important are rituals that enable human beings to communicate with kami. Kami are not God or gods. One way to think of them is as spirits. Kami are the spirits of ancestors that have passed away, the spirits of natural forces such as earthquakes, the spirits of natural objects such as lakes or mountains, and the spirits of the gods that created the universe. Kami are concerned with human beings--they appreciate our interest in them and want us to be happy—and if treated properly they will intervene in our lives to bring benefits like health, business success, and good exam results.

Shinto shrines are usually found in beautiful natural settings Shinto shrines are usually found in beautiful natural settings. The shrine contains an Inner Hall which is only entered by Shinto priests since it is believed kami are present. Shinto priests can be either male or female. Shinto shrines are marked by a special archway called a torii. This archway is believed to separate the sacred world of the shrine from the world outside. There are about 80,000 shrines all over Japan. Each shrine has a yearly festival in which people pay their respects to the kami and celebrate with food and drink.

Shinto Affirmations Tradition and the family Love of nature Purity "Matsuri“ (festival) Activity at a Shinto shrine indicates four basic affirmations that are inherent to Shinto. Tradition and the family: The family is seen as the main mechanism by which traditions are preserved. Their main celebrations relate to birth and marriage. Love of nature: Nature is sacred; to be in contact with nature is to be close to the Gods. Natural objects are worshipped as sacred spirits. Purity: Purity is at the heart of Shinto's understanding of good and evil. The things which make us impure are tsumi - pollution or sin. Shinto states that humans are born pure, and sharing in the divine soul. Badness, impurity or sin are things that come later in life, and that can usually be got rid of by simple cleansing or purifying rituals. "Matsuri": Matsuri can refer to any occasion for offering thanks and praise to a deity at a shrine. It comes from a word meaning 'to entertain' or 'to serve'. Matsuri also refers to Shinto festivals. Shinto festivals generally combine solemn rituals with joyful celebration, and these celebrations can include drunken and wild behavior.

Shinto and the World Shinto sees everything—humans and kami—as part of one world. There is the visible world and the invisible world. The invisible world is only an extension of the visible, rather than a separate realm. Shinto believes that certain words have spiritual power if properly spoken, and this style of language is used because of a belief that using these 'beautiful', 'correct' words will bring about good. During the State Shinto period formal prayers were laid down by the government, but priests can now use any appropriate prayers - or can compose their own.

Women and Shinto There is one element of Shinto that does strongly hint at a woman’s role. The world was created by a divine couple, and Amaterasu, ancestor of the Imperial family and therefore central to the tradition, is female. However, Izanagi and Izanami, the central kami in the creation myth, had a child that was deformed. The deformity was attributed to a ritual error on the part of Izanami, who as a woman, should not have spoken first. This seems to indicate that women should always avoid a dominant role. However, Shinto would seem to allow for equality of men and women, since the tradition doesn’t prescribe specific behaviors for each. The tradition itself includes both male and female kami, and does not significantly divide men and women in the way other religions do. There are female Shinto priests, though not many of them. Historical events such as the rise of Buddhism and fall of Imperial Japan have impacted the ability of women to become Shinto priests. Japanese society and in some cases Buddhist beliefs and practices may have more of an impact on the status of women in Japanese society than Shinto tradition.

Going back to the Tsubaki Grand Shrine and the Reverend Barrish—is it a true Shinto shrine? Is he truly a Shinto priest? Is Shinto even a religion? The answers to all of these come back again to your definition of religion.