When it comes to Shinto religion, there is a plentiful amount of rituals and beliefs included in visiting a Shinto Shrine. There are a multitude of rituals with an immense amount of reasons to go to a shrine. One goes to a Shinto Shrine for purification and the stages of life while also remembering that the rituals are used to interact and communicate with the Kami.
The Shrines are locations, not buildings. The shrines are typically found in an area with “dramatic natural beauty” (Young, 171). There are, however, Shrine buildings, that are used for acts of worship. The shrines equal “love of purity and love of newness” (Young, 171). The shrines are regularly rebuilt to “express the spirit of endless renewal…along with the desire for purity and brightness” (Young, 171). The shrine should never be feeble, soiled, or neglected. They must remain well kept at all times. The most popular shrine is the Grand Imperial Shrine. It belongs to the Sun Goddess Amaterasu. It is so popular that “every Japanese who takes the Shinto traditions seriously tries to visit this Shrine at least once” (You...
In Shintoism, purity is very important. Shintoism follows the belief that no human is perfect. They believe that all humans are born pure on the inside. Things that make humans impure are tsumi, which is pollution or sin. Shinto followers believe that the ones who cause impurity are evil spirits, and they are the ones who cause evil doings in the world.
Shintoism has no founder ,and the history behind the technicalities of the rise of Shinto are rather obscure. Experts don't agree as to when Shinto became a unified religion more than just a label to give to the different faiths of Japan. Before the arrival of Buddhism, Shinto referred to the many local cults of the prehistoric Japanese people. These people were animists; devoted to the worship of nature and spirits. These spirits were the Kami; found in living things, nonliving things and natural phenomena. The early Japanese created a spiritual world—and rituals and stories to accompany it—that seemingly gave them control of their lives. It wasn't considered a religion at those times, early Japanese people regarded their faith as a commonality as a part of the natural world. The realms of Earth and the supernatural were closely integrated into each other for them. (“Religions”)
Little Tokyo, which consists of approximately four acres and five large city blocks in the heart of Downtown Los Angeles, is one of the most culturally rich and diverse historic districts in Los Angeles in addition to being one of three remaining Japantowns in the United States. Established in the late 19th century, Little Tokyo was once home to tens of thousands of Japanese immigrants as well as one of the largest Japanese American populations in the United States. Over the years, Little Tokyo has been faced with stratification and contradictions in the form of overt discrimination and the internment of Japanese people during WWII. These contradictions have resulted in the transformation/reinvention of Little Tokyo from a thriving Japanese immigrant community, to “Bronzeville” following the outbreak of WWII, to the important historic, cultural, and civic center that is today. Although the Japanese American Population is not as large as it once was, Little Tokyo is still the cultural heart of Los Angeles’s Japanese American population. However, due in part to the recent boom in downtown residential construction, little Tokyo is on the cusp on another transformation. Although Little Tokyo is portrayed as a cultural space for Japanese Americans in Southern California, it is developing into a leisure space . This process is being sped up by the addition of the Metro Little Tokyo/Arts District Gold Line station and by plans to add a Blue Line Station. Nevertheless, the Little Tokyo Community Council (LTCC) and the Little Tokyo Business Association (LTBA) are working to develop a vision for neighborhood sustainability that “respects and enhances the neighbo...
Originally from Japan, Soyen Shaku was the first Zen master to arrive in America. His followers urged him not to come to a nation that was so ill-mannered and uncultivated and that the Japanese were facing extreme discrimination. Shaku’s countrymen Hirai Ryuge Kinzo “offered pointed examples: the barring of a Japanese student from a university on the basis of his race; the exclusion of Japanese children from the San Francisco public schools; the processions of American citizens bearing placards saying ‘Japs Must Go!’” (Eck 185). After several decades, there was a Zen boom of the 1950s and that was how Buddhism affected western culture, especially in regards to entertainment. “‘Zen’ is “the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese character "chan," which is in turn the Chinese translation from the Indian Sanskrit term "dhyana," which means meditation’” (Lin).
temples, but people do not visit them like Christians go to church. It is a
Shinto is an “…indigenous religion of the Yamato Japanese.” (School Text. 265) It was first established during the time of Yayoi culture. This has been shown to be true by the various archeological discoveries made that “ritual sites from the Yayoi period leave little doubt that during this period, people believed
Recently the concerns of women around their equality in society has become a hotly debated topic in the public spot light. Much of the debate concerns women and the ingrained sexism that permeates most cultures. Many women's activists feel that this ingrained sexism has widened the gap between men and women in a political, social, and economic sense. And for the most part they do have strong evidence to support these claims. Women have suffered through millennia of male dominated societies where treatment of women has been, and in some cases still is, inhuman. Women are treated like subhuman creatures that have only exist to be used for procreate and to be subjugated by men for household use. It has only been very recently that women have become recognized as equals in the eyes of men. Equals in the sense that they have the same political and social rights as males. While the situation has improved, women still have to deal with a male oriented world. Often women in the workplace are thought of as inferior and as a liability. This can be due to concerns about maternity leave, or women with poor leadership skills. But also in part it is due because of the patriarchy that controls all aspects and dynamics of the culture, family, politics, and economy. Even developed countries like The United Kingdom, United States, Germany, and France, could be classified as a patriarchies. These countries may not agree with this notion because of expansive, but not complete changes, that have gradually equalized women in society. However, there are developed countries that openly express a patriarchy and have enacted little societal changes to bring equality to women. Japan is one such country, and t...
Shinto is the indigenous religion of Japan. Founded in 660 B.C., it traces back to the very first people to settle in Japan. Shinto focuses on ancestral worship and is deeply immersed in Japanese culture. Even though it is as ancient as Japan itself, Shinto is still very widely practiced by Japanese people today. However, over the years, it gained some influence from Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism. Over 50 percent of the Japanese population still practice Shinto.
Japan has historically taken ideas from the United States on its business, merchandise, or other corporate sectors to improve within its political borders. These practices have become massive cultural and economic movements in Japan. Interestingly, Japan takes ideas and molds them into Japanese culture and style; therefore, these products are “Japanized.” To further elaborate on this statement, Japan has succeeded in its businesses and corporations such as the automobile industries around the world (for example, the NUMMI plant production transcended those of American automobile productions due to an enhanced Japanese corporate culture). Albeit many Japanese industries have roots in the United States, they have expanded globally. The music
Shinto today is a term that applies to the religion of public shrines devoted to the worship of a multitude of gods, also known as Kami, suited to various purposes such as war memorials and harvest festivals, and applies
Japanese Gardens The role of gardens plays a much more important role in Japan than here in the United States. This is due primarily to the fact the Japanese garden embodies native values, cultural beliefs and religious principles. Perhaps this is why there is no one prototype for the Japanese garden, just as there is no one native philosophy or aesthetic. In this way, similar to other forms of Japanese art, landscape design is constantly evolving due to exposure to outside influences, mainly Chinese, that effect not only changing aesthetic tastes but also the values of patrons. In observing a Japanese garden, it is important to remember that the line between the garden and the landscape that surrounds it is not separate.
Yukio Mishima’s Temple of the Golden Pavilion, set in postwar Japan, gives way to a reflection of the postwar experience both the representation of military aggression and in use of symbolism of beauty, loss, and destruction. A story about Mizoguchi, a young, stuttering acolyte’s obsession with beauty lends itself to the conflagration of the Temple of the Golden Pavilion, based loosely on a true story about the Kinkaku-ji.
Miner describes shrines as a secret place where the Nacirema experience rituals without the company of others. A shrine is a chest that is built into the wall of their home. These shrines contain several magical potions and charms that he or she believes will help improve their body’s condition (504).
Shintoism began in 550 A.D. It is an ancient Japanese tradition. Shinto does not have a true founder like the Buddha, Jesus or Muhammad. Also, it has no sacred texts that it refers to. Shinto was not recognized as a religion until the 12 century. It started out more as a philosophy. (World Religions Online) Shinto literally means “the way of the Kami” (Student Resources in Context) or “the way of the Gods”. They believe that all natural things have their own spirituality. They also believe the spiritual powers exist in the natural world. Kami can be found in many natural places for example, animals, mountains, plants, etc. (URI Kids) Although you are able to practice Shintoism, it is not considered evangelical. The Japanese used Shintoism to bring the nation together to help get support for their emperor. Shinto has created many themes for the Japanese people to follow, for instance, creating harmony among the Kami, having a strong relationship with family, love, and reverence for the natural artifacts and processes. (BBC-Religions)
Shinto is a form of animism, which is the view that non-human entities, such as animals and plants possess a spiritual essence. Kami is commonly translated as a god or spirit and includes a wide spread of supernatural beings.... ... middle of paper ... ... Worshippers believe that evil is caused by evil spirits or by devilish kami. As a result, many Shinto rituals have the sole purpose of keeping evil spirits away.