Living Religions A Brief Introduction 3rd Edition Mary Pat Fisher

Chapter 7 Shinto The roots of “Shinto” Buddhist and Confucian influences State Shinto “Sect Shinto” Shinto today

Key terms iconoclastic kami kannagara misogi oharai tsumi

Timeline before 6th century CE 6th century 712 720 1600-1868 1868 1945 Shinto begins in pre-history as local nature- and ancestor-based traditions “Shinto” name adopted Kojiki compiled Nihongi compiled Tokugawa removal of “foreign” elements Meiji establishment of state Shinto Shinto disestablished by Allies

The Roots of “Shinto” No founder No orthodox sacred scripture No explicit ethical code Historical origins lie in the practice of individual clans worshipping a deity as their ancestor, along with worship of other unseen beings and natural forces Two major written chronicles the Kojiki and the Nihongi influenced by Buddhist, Confucian, Korean, and Chinese thought Sacred path is the proper attitude with which to live one’s life

Kinship with Nature Natural beauty and symmetry important in Japan People organize their lives around the seasons Mount Fuji honored as an embodiment of divine power Reverence for nature expressed in the arts

Honoring the Kami The sacred is immanent and transcendent; divine originated as one essence, which gave birth to the kami Kami are spirits that organized the material world They reside in beautiful and powerful places; may also appear in abstract forms Exist in forms of nature and in processes such as reproduction and creativity To follow kami is to bring one’s life into harmony with nature, kannagara

Shrines More than 100,000 shrines in Japan honoring the kami Greatest number are dedicated to Inari, god of rice Earliest Shinto followers may have worshipped at sacred trees or groves Later shrines complexes are marked by gate frames, walls, or streams with bridges Visitors clap their hands, bow deeply, and try to feel the kami within their hearts

Ceremonies and Festivals Complex ceremonies encourage the spirit of the kami to take up residence in the shrine Training for the priesthood is lengthy, open to men and women Priest’s role is to serve as experts in the performance of complex rituals Followers of Shinto may also have a shrine in the home Festivals include seasonal and life-cycle New Year’s is one of the biggest annual festivals

Purification Impurity or misfortune (tsumi) may come through defilement of corpses, menstruation, hostility, natural catastrophes To rid oneself of impurities, Shinto prescribes ritual washing (misogi) in natural phenomena such as a waterfall or ocean Oharai, a ritual of purification where a priest waves a tree branch with white streamers, can be performed on cars an new buildings

Buddhist and Confucian Influences Buddhism is practiced side by side with the ways called Shinto The Japanese often go to Shinto shrines for life-affirming events and to Buddhist temples for death rites Japanese Confucian scholars likened the li to the way of the kami as a means of social cohesion

State Shinto The 19th c. Meiji regime promoted Shinto as the spiritual foundation of government Under State Shinto, the government rather than priests administered Shinto practices Belief that the emperor was the offspring of the sun goddess After Japan’s defeat in WWII, the emperor declared himself human

“Sect Shinto” Longstanding tradition of women acting as shamans In 19th and 20th centuries some of these women developed their own followings Tenrikyo Oomoto

Shinto Today Generally remains indigenous to Japan Though the Shinto ways are found in Hawaii and Japan Shinto serves as the basis for seasonal holidays in Japan