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Japanese culture and religion
Shinto religion in japanese society today
Similarities of shintoism and the Japanese
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Recommended: Japanese culture and religion
Known for its Japanese origin, like a cherry blossom, Shinto bloomed into the world of theology. Fighting the more popular early religions of Eastern Asia, such as Buddhism, was a tough battle, but Shinto embraced those religious views and found its way to distinguish itself and become a successful Japanese religion. It brought with it a new sense of self, different beliefs, and new ways of worship.
Around fifth century CE the religion of Shinto was born in the islands of Japan. Being a country united by populations of people who settled on its islands from across Eastern Asia, Japan had a huge religious influence. Shinto started by the accumulation of the practices and traditions of many of the East Asian religions from countries such as Korea
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The Japanese people believe in kami, roughly translated as ‘gods and spirits.’ But each of these kami are not particularly people; they consist of objects and natural forces as well. In reality the Shinto theology is not talked about in books or described to anyone, therefore it remains a mystery who or what the Kami really are. Like many things in the Shinto religion, they say that the kami are experienced rather than described. (Eller, Kami, 2-3). These kami are worshipped in many different ways. The traditions and practices of Shinto include many things, from shrines, to worship, to festivals. Shrines are the number one piece to the Shinto religion and they range up to eighty thousand (Eller, Shinto Shrines, 2). In these shrines they have what is called a Torii, or gate, at the entrance. They also have something called a Shinmenawa, described as a rope looking figure that marks the top of the border of a sacred area; sometimes located on the torii (Eller, Shinto Shrines, 4). These shrines came to be from early Japanese architecture and then became particular to Shinto shrines. One of the most famous shrines is called Itsukushima in Hiroshima. The torii stands on the ocean and engulfs the entire island as the shrine (Eller, Shinto Shrines, 6). At each of the shrines, the kami are worshipped. The basic shrine visit consists of walking through the tori up to the temizuya, or pavilion, purifying oneself by pouring water and rinsing their mouth with a bamboo ladle, walking up to the shrine, placing a coin in the donation box and ringing the bell, bowing twice to respect the kami, and then clapping twice to get the attention of the kami, and finally ending the visit with a prayer and a bow (Eller, Shinto Worship, 4-6). Another way to worship the kami is to celebrate through festivals, matsuri, at each one of the Shinto shrines. “The festivals that are common to most shrines are New Year’s, Harvest, and Rice
Shintoism is a religion that is from the Japanese culture Shinto means “the way of life.” Shinto is an ancient belief that is still practiced in Japan. The Meiji Restoration in 1868 brought reorganized of Shinto. This made Shinto officially separate form Buddhism. There are still shrines and rituals that are done to this day. (BBC) Shintoism believes that everything should be
Analysis: Shinto: The Way Home’s organization is quite useful because it moves in chronological order and it leads the reader in a way that allows for understanding the most unrelatable Ideas of Shintoism. The book uses many Japanese terms and names that may lead confusion for the audience as they have to learn the vocabulary to understand many of the statement Kasulis uses. Kasulis also lack an argument through most of this work and he seems to focus on supplying information as accurately as possible. The author discusses a variety information pertaining to Shintoism making it useful
The third chapter is about Shintoism during the prehistory to 1794 and discusses how the tradition was passed down and how Shintoism was fused with Buddhism since Shintoism was too simple to compare with Chinese Confucianism. Chapter four discusses Shinto history from 1794 to 1801 and is about how many Shinto philosophers tried to rewrite Shintoism to separate it from Buddhism. To continue the thought chapter 5 starts from 1801 to 2002 theorizes the Shinto separation leads to an imperialist mentality such as kamikaze pilots and World War 2. The final chapter six speculates the future of Shintoism after WW2 and the Yasukuni controversy plus the tug of a war battle between essentialist and existentialist Shintoism and the issues with vocabulary that both types of Shinto has.
Shinto is the traditional religion of Japan. It means “the way of the kami”. Shintoism is mainly focused on beliefs in, and worships of Kami. Kami are spiritual or divine beings. They are sometimes referred to as the ‘gods’ in Shinto. But rather than the powerful and supernatural beings seen in Western religion, Kami is more like a mystical and sacred spirit that exist in the creative forces of nature. Shintoism follows the belief of animism, which is the belief that natural, material objects possess souls. These sacred spirits, called Kami are able to take the form of different things in nature. Kami not only exists as spiritual beings, but also takes the form of plants and animals, mountains and seas, and all natural phenomena.
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”)
The religion of the Japanese people is called Shinto. Shinto translates to Way of the Spirits. Some say that it is more than a religion, it is a way of life for the Japanese people. It is closely paralleled by the Japanese cultures and way of life (Hirai, 2007). Shinto has been a way of practicing faith and living a pure life in Japan for over 2,000 years. Shinto is in every aspect of the Japanese life. For example: ethics, politics, social structure, artistic life, sporting life, and of course spiritual life (Religion, 2017). Nowadays, the people of Japan mix some Shinto and Buddhism in their lives as far as their spiritual beings are concerned. Shinto is a very free religion. There is no God, no commandments, no founder, and no scriptures. Rather than worshiping a God, Shinto followers worship kami, or spiritual energy (Hansen 2007).
Japan has been a home for Shinto and Buddhist religions for centuries. The Christian missionaries during the 16th, 19th and 20th centuries worked hard to evangelize the Japanese nation but could not get desired success. There efforts in past failed partly due to sanctions imposed by the local rulers. The Jesuits missionaries traveled with Spanish and Portuguese traders to many areas of America and Asia-Pacific and established their churches and religious missions. They were funded, sponsored and trained by their respective governments in order to spread Christianity. At several places they preached the Christian faith by force but the aboriginal population did not accept it wholeheartedly. Initially the Jesuits targeted the elite class of the country and a large number was converted. The rulers also forced their subject to embrace the same faith. About 300,000 Japanese were converted in the first phase. Later on, Christianity was prohibited as the rulers started seeing them as a threat to their authority. Following a change of regime, the ban was lifted and missionaries were again allowed to enter Japan. Like many Native American tribes, the Japanese also resisted the new religion. As a result, presently Christians form only 1% of the total population in Japan. This paper is focused on how the Christian religion was introduced in Japan, the evolution of evangelism, establishment of churches, the restrictions and hurdles faced by the missionaries and priest of the new religion and the response of Japanese nation towards an alien faith. All these queries are answered in detail given as follows.
Developing Japanese Buddhism paralleled this by emphasizing the inbuilt Buddha nature within humans. Physical merges between Shinto and Buddhism were seen in how the places of worship in Japan were organized and overseen. Some Shinto shrines were fully transformed into Buddhist temples, while other shrines existed within them. And, on occasion, Buddhist priests would assume authority over these shrines. Additionally, the “stylistic
An important aspect of the Japanese culture was their belief system, which consisted of Buddhism
For many years, Japan kept themselves distant from the western world and by the 1600s, foreigners had been excelled and Christianity was
(2) The shrines in Japan are built to honor the spirits. These shrines are wooden houses where people go to pay respect and pray for good fortune. In Spirited Away there are many shrines that line the road on the way to spirit world. One of these shrines is at the entrance to the bathhouse. The bathhouse is where most of the movie takes place and is cultural significant to the Japanese people.
The origins of Shinto and Judaism are rich in history, yet it is the steadfast strength of their belief systems that are most fascinating. While the beliefs of most religions will evolve with time, the core beliefs of these two religions seem impervious to the cultural and generational changes in modern times. In fact, their belief systems seem to be the very foundations of which their cultures were originally built upon In exploring the completely diverse beliefs of Shinto and Judaism, an appreciation for the longevity of each is undeniable.
Shimazono, Susumu. 2005. "State Shinto and the Religious Structure of Modern Japan." Journal Of The American Academy Of Religion 73, no. 4: 1077-1098. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed April 23, 2012).
Hayao Miyazaki’s Princess Mononoke is a development of Japanese animation that can be seen as a romantic fable of two characters that were brought together through one cause; however, Miyazaki’s film can be seen as a Japanese cultural production. It is seen as a cultural production because it shows elements of Shinto through the Kami and the use of water for purification, as well as the female stereotype reversal that was quite dominant in the time of the Heian period. The characters in Princess Mononoke interact with the kami (gods or spirits) when they are in sacred sites or areas that assist in the contact. In Princess Mononoke, the mountain is the place where the characters make contact with the kami, which is their Shinto shrine because “originally there was no shrine building; rather, a shrine was simply a sacred precinct set apart in a certain area or around a sacred object such as a tree or stone” (Earhart, 1982, 34-35).
Japan is a large island off to the east of China it is a great country that has a rich culture. The Japanese religion is based off of two main beliefs, the belief in Shinto and Buddhism many Japanese people believe consider themselves both. The Japanese people were known to be around as early as 4,500 B.C. They have constructed their government style to a constitutional monarchy where they do in fact have an emperor, but he has limited power within the country. The main power of the country is held by the Prime Minister of Japan. Japan is made up of many islands that extend along the Pacific coast of Asia. The land area is made up of a lot of forest and mountainous area that cannot be used for agricultural, industrial or residential use. Japan also has one of the largest and growing economies in the world. They are growing every day and it is all because the people of Japan work very hard in order for their economy to flourish as it has.