Shintoism and the Japanese Nation

1039 Words3 Pages

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.

Shinto defined the Japanese’ lifestyle, however, there is no authoritative text of what or why exactly Shinto is around. Until Buddhism, and Confucianism showed up, Shintoism was not a concrete unified religion. In 8AD, it was ordered to compile a history of Japan’s origins, and creation stories were thus born, called the Kojiki. The creation story starts with the formation of Heaven, called Takamagahara, which would give rise to the first three gods, Amenominakanushi, Takagi no kami, and kamimusubi, all of whom were invisible. Reed shoots sprouted, and just like the previous three deities, two more came into existence, and soon after, even more, who would be Izanagi and Izanami who would give birth to Japan, both figuratively and literally. The creation myth would even go on to explain how the male is to initiate procreation, the death-to-birth ratio, and how the Japanese, at one point, believed that their emperor was a direct descendant of the kami.

Shinto’s experiential means is through unity with the kami. Since there is no “main” kami, but rather an infinite collection of spirits, unity with the kami is somewhat “easy” when compared to other religions. Whereas a Christian might think of a spirit as a soul, a kami is a spirit of a tree, animal, or even a m...

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Works Cited

Fridell, Wilbur M. "A Fresh Look at State Shinto." Journal of the American Academy of Religion 44.3 (1976): 547-61. JSTOR. Web. 20 Mar. 2014.

Kitasawa, Shinjiro. "Shintoism and the Japanese Nation." The Sewanee Review 23.4 (1915): 479-83. JSTOR. Web. 20 Mar. 2014.

Poole, Katherine J. Komenda. "Shintō Perspectives." Encyclopedia of Science, Technology, and Ethics. Ed. Carl Mitcham. Vol. 4. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2005. 1762-1765. World History in Context. Web. 20 Mar. 2014.

"Shintoism." New Catholic Encyclopedia. 2nd ed. Vol. 13. Detroit: Gale, 2003. 85-87. World History in Context. Web. 20 Mar. 2014.

Teeuwen, Mark. "Tracing Shinto in the History of Kami Worship: Editors' Introduction." Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 29.3/4, Tracing Shinto in the History of Kami Worship (2002): 195-207. JSTOR. Web. 20 Mar. 2014.

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