Shintoism

ORIGIN

Shinto is the native religion of Japan and was once its state religion. It involves the worship of kami spirits. Some kami are local and can be regarded as the spiritual being/spirit or genius of a particular place, but other ones represent major natural objects and processes: for example, Amaterasu, the Sun goddess, or Mount Fuji. Shinto is an animistic belief system. The word Shinto, from the original Chinese Shкntao , combines two kanji: "shin" (loan words usually retain their Chinese pronunciation, hence shin not kami), meaning gods or spirits ; and "to", meaning a philosophical way or path (originally from the Chinese word dao). As such, Shinto is commonly translated as "The Way of the Gods". Some differences exist between Koshinto (the ancient Shinto) and the many types of Shinto taught and practiced today, showing the influences of Buddhism when it was introduced into Japan in the sixth century.

Most scholars agree that there was at least one migration from East Asia and perhaps another from Central Asia to the ancient Japanese Archipelago, though there is no consensus as to where Shinto first developed. Some of them claim that it has always existed in Japan, back into the mists of the Jōmon period. Others maintain that it came about in the Yayoi period (c.300 BC-c.250 AD) as a cultural product of immigrants from China through the Korean Peninsula, who brought agricultural rites and shamanic ceremonies from the continent, which took on Japanese forms in the new environment. Some modern scholars claim that "Shinto," as it is presently understood, did not exist in this age at all and should be more properly referred to as "kami worship".

In the early centuries BC, each tribe and area had its own collection of gods with no formal relationship between them. However, following the ascendancy of the Yamato Kingdom around the third to fifth centuries, the ancestral deities of the Emperor of Japan and the Imperial family were given prominence over others and a narrative made up to justify it. The result was the mythologizing of the Record of Ancient Matters (Kojiki, dated 712 AD) in which it was claimed that the imperial line descended directly from the sun-goddess, Amaterasu. Another important kingdom, Izumo, was dealt with in a separate cycle within the mythology and its deities incorporated into the service of Amaterasu's descendants. A more objective and historical version of events appeared in the Chronicles of Japan (Nihon Shoki, dated 720 AD), where alternative versions of the same story are given.

Early ceremonies are thought to have been held outside before copses (iwakura), or rocks forming a sacred space or altar (himorogi). There was no representation of the kami, for they were conceived as formless and pure. After the arrival of Buddhism in the first year of the Asuka period (538-710 AD), the idea of building "houses" for the kami arose and shrines were built for the first time. The earliest examples are thought to have been built at Izumo in 659 and at Ise in 690.

An important development was the introduction of a legal system based upon Chinese legalism and Confucianism (ritsuryō), in the late seventh and early eighth centuries. This established in law the supremacy of the emperor and great nobles, as well as formalizing their relationship to major shrines and festivals.

Even before the arrival of Buddhism, the rituals involved in kami worship had borrowed from Chinese Taoism and Confucianism. Though clan rivalry led to friction and fighting during the introduction of Buddhism, the worship of kami and the teachings of the Buddha soon settled into coexistence. In fact, syncretism between Buddhism and Shinto was supposed to become the dominant feature of Japanese religion as a whole.

Types of Shinto

To distinguish between these different focuses of emphasis within Shinto, many feel it is important to separate Shinto into different types of Shinto expression.

* Shrine Shinto is the oldest and most prevalent of the Shinto types. It has always been a part of Japan's history and constitutes the main current of Shinto tradition.

* Sect Shinto is comprised of 13 groups formed during the 19th century. They do not have shrines, but conduct religious activities in meeting halls. Shinto sects include the mountain-worship sects, who focus on worshipping mountains like Mt. Fuji, faith-healing sects, purification sects, Confucian sects, and Revival Shinto sects. Konkōkyō, Tenrikyō, and Kurozumikyō, although operating separately from modern Shinto, are considered to be forms of Sect Shinto.

* Folk Shinto includes the numerous but fragmented folk beliefs in deities and spirits. Practices include divination, spirit possession, and shamanic healing. Some of their practices come from Taoism, Buddhism, or Confucianism, but most come from ancient local traditions.

* State Shinto was the result of the Meiji Restoration and the downfall of the shogunate. The Meiji restoration attempted to purify Shinto by abolishing many Buddhist and Confucian ideals; also, the Emperor was once again considered divine. After Japan's defeat in World War II, State Shinto was abolished and the Emperor was forced to renounce his divine right.

All these main types of Shinto and some subtypes have given birth to many and diverse schools and sects since medieval times to the present days. A list of the most relevant is at Shintō Schools and sects.

Shinto is the native religion in Japan with its roots stretching back to 500 B.C., and is a poly-theistic one venerating almost any natural objects ranging from mountains, rivers, water, rocks, trees, to dead notables. In other words, it is based on animism. Natural wonders make the Japanese believe, out of an awe or reverence, that such wonders are created by the mighty, super-natural powers, and the ghost of a deity dwells in such objects. Also great warriors, leaders and scholars are often divinized. Thus anything, even a rotten head of a sardine, can be deified, so goes a cynical saying. To dedicate to those diverse deities, shrines were erected in a sacred spots throughout Japan. Among the natural phenomena, the sun is most appealing to the Japanese and the Sun Goddess is regarded as the principal deity of Shinto, particularly by the Imperial Family. We Japanese call our nation 'Nippon' in Japanese. It literally denotes 'the Origin of the Sun'. The Japanese national flag is simple, one red disk in the center, and it symbolizes the sun.

BELIEFS

Afterlife

Unlike many religions, one does