Shinto The Way Home Analysis

Shinto: The Way Home written by Thomas Kasulis is a book designed to inform the reader of Shinto traditions and history, but how does his work stand on its own as a scholarly source. Kasulis uses simple organization strategies to control the flow of the work the simplest method is the separation of the book into six chapters as well as a two prefaces one from the editor and one from the author. The first chapter discusses Shintoism in the terms of a western audience while the second chapter confers the connection with normal Japanese culture with Shinto traditions. The third, fourth, and the fifth chapter canvases the history of Shinto traditions in chronological order from prehistory to 2002. Chapter 6 explains Issues with Shinto in a modern

context and inputs the author’s opinions on the matter. In addition, to the preface the author has an introduction to the work and bibliography page that describes books that should be looked at when researching the topic.
Shinto: the way home is exactly 170 pages of literature. The author starts his book with an introduction that articulates what to expect from this book. Chapter one tries to discuss the similarities between Shinto emotions with the emotions in other cultures such as the feelings connected with the discovery of something mysterious. In the same chapter, the author talks about how connectedness is a key element in Shinto spirituality since many beliefs rely on the fact that ever thing material and the spiritual are connected through internal and external. Then he discusses the some of the cultural significance of the awe-inspiring objects by how they market with Torri or gates and chimenea or rope and how mysterious objects may contain kami or spirits. Next, he uses anecdotes to bring up how Japanese individuals see Shintoism as religion and then he uses etymology to explain the history of many Japanese words for religion to further his argument about why many Japanese practices Shintoism but they do not dictate themselves as Shinto.
The second chapter starts off explaining the authors reasoning’s for using anecdotes and the first person in the first chapter and about what this chapter is going to be about. Here Kasulis uses the Japanese cultural beliefs and traditions connected with rice in japan with the context of Shintoism. To allow for a better understanding of what rice is to the everyday Japanese he compares it to bread in the Christian context as how important bread is to Christians. After that, he talks about the purity with how rice is prepared and consume and how rice is even used to make sake plus the taboo connected with rice. He also discusses the many different practices with Shintoism such as festivals, purifications methods, taboos, and the simplicity of Shinto practice.
Chapter 3, 4, and 5 mainly focuses on the history of Shintoism and how it has evolved till now.

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.

This book can be a useful tool when researching Shintoism because it contains various topics in Shintoism. Since the second chapter discusses many Shinto practices in the modern context one can look at this book for the explanation of various beliefs, tradition, and Japanese culture. Maybe a researcher might want to learn about the history of Shintoism as a whole or how Shintoism was connected to Japanese imperialism. This piece is even a decent source of the Yasakuni shrine controversy in japan after WWII. Kasulis does a good job at explaining Shinto traditions and cultural

beliefs.
Ever wondered what kind of culture japan has and what festivals they celebrate Shinto: The Way Home is a decent source for that kind of information. Rice is an important aspect of Japanese culture and that is even tied Shinto practice for example Kasulis states “At a traditional meal, such rice is usually served in its own bowl of muted elegance or simplicity, unadulterated by contact with other foods” (Kasulis, 41). He said this because in japan rice is left in its purest form when consumed because it is connected with Shinto belief of purity and simplicity. Kasulis also explains the Shinto belief in purification by saying “Shopkeepers typically use a hose or buckets of water to rinse off the sidewalks in front of their establishments at the start of the business day” (Kasulis, 52). Shopkeepers clean the front of their house with water to purify the entrance so they can have a good business day in japan and is connected to many other rites.
Kasulis also spends a large part of this book talking about the intricacies of Shinto evolution from the beginning of Japanese history to 2002.

He discusses the nature of Shintoism before writing and the justification of the emperor. To explain ancient Shinto practice he states “From this evidence most scholars speculate that the ancient Japanese were animists—that is, believers in spirits who operate in both the natural and human domains” (Kasulis, 75). In Shintoism for a long period of its life, it was fused with Buddhism and Kasulis explains this connection when he states “Emperor Shömu had already formally associated the Sun Buddha with Amaterasu, the Shinto sun kami” (Kasulis, 96). When it come to the Yasakuni shrine controversy he even covers that by saying “A second way in which the shrine officials goad their critics is the justifications they offer for such practices as the enshrinement of war criminals” (Kasulis, 146) he said this because the Yasakuni shrine enshrines all the Japanese soldiers that died in WWII even war

criminal.
Thomas Kasulis’ book Shinto: The Way Home is a useful source when researching Shinto practices, history, and beliefs. He discusses the various Shinto practices in a modern context such as festivals. Kasulis also explores the past of Shintoism spirituality and its connection with Japanese imperialism. At the end of the book, he put his own opinion on Shintoism and what he believes Shintoism’s future might be. Overall the book Shinto: The Way Home is a good source for Shintoism.