Origin Shinto is an ancient Japanese religion that started around 500 BCE (or earlier). It was originally a mix of nature worship, cults, hero worship, and a way to predict the outcome of certain events. Its name is based off the Chinese words "shin tao" or "The Way of the Kami." Shinto has no real founder, no specific written scriptures, no body of religious law, and only a very loosely-organized priesthood. This is because it started as a way for people to explain events in the past through their dieties. Shintoism is also a very tolerant religion and many people that practice Shinto beliefs are also Buddhist.
Creation Story
Izanagi and Izanami creating the islands of Japan
According to Shinto myth, two celestial dieties called Izanagi and Izanami went over the 'Floating Bridge of Heaven' and plunged a spear into the ocean of chaos. They then stirred it until the water thickened. Then they took the spear out of the water and the drops that fell off the tip formed the islands. Then, Izanami and Izanagi married and began to give birth to the gods, specifically the Sun Goddess Amaterasu Omikami. The Sun Goddess is the ancestress of the Imperial Family and is regarded as the chief diety. Her shrine is at Ise Jingu. Amaterasu's emblem, the rising sun, is found on the Japanese flag, and her descendents unified the country. All of Izanami and Izanagi's children become dieties of clans.
Principle Beliefs Shinto deities are called “Kami”, “Kami” is generally translated to “god or gods”. There are many Kami in Shintoism, but the supreme Kami that stand above all the rest is Anaterasu-omi which is the Sun God. The Great Universal way is defined by loyalty to Sovereign Emperor, who is a direct descendent and representative of Anaterasu-omi, respect for elders and ancestors, respect and piety toward parents and extreme love of children. The mirror, the sword and the jewel show significant symbolism in Shintoism. They represent wisdom, courage and intelligence, will and love. A common Shinto prayer that is recited is: “Our eyes may see some uncleanliness, but let not our mind see things that are not clean. Our ears may hear some uncleanliness, but let not our mind hear things that are not clean.” Funeral rights are reserved to the Buddhist religion rituals.
Gods:
Anaterasu-omi: The Sun God
· Susano-o-no-Mikoto : Divine brother of the Sun-God. He is the God of rainstorms. · Tsukiyomi-no-Mikoto is the Moon-God. · Anaterasu-omi: The Sun-God. o Together they preside over the High Heaven, the ocean, and the night.
A strong, principle belief of the Shinto is purity; there are two significant of the virtue. One if the outer purity of the body and the other is inner purity of the heart. Sincerity is also ethical principle as well.
Ten Precepts of Shinto: · “Do not transgress the will of God.” · “Do not forget your obligation to ancestors.” · “Do not offend by violating the decrees of the State. “ · “Do not forget the profound goodness of the, gods, through which calamity and misfortunes are averted and sickness is healed.” · “Do not forget that the world is one great family.” · “Do not forget the limitations of your own person.” · “Do not become angry even though others become angry.” · “Do not be sluggish in your work.” · “Do not bring blame to the teaching.” · “Do not be carried away by foreign teachings.”
Afterlife: Although most Shinto text does not discuss the afterlife, ancient Japanese myth claimed the dead were sent to place called "Yomi". "Yomi" is a dark underground realm with a river which seperates the living from the dead. (It is often compared to the Greek Hades.) Today, most Shinto followers practice Buddhist funerals and other traditions after death.
Shinto Quotes: · “The heart of the person before you is a mirror. See there your own form.” · “Even the wishes of an ant reach to heaven.” · “Leave the things of this world and come to me daily with pure bodies and pure hearts.” · “A single sincere prayer moves heaven. You will surely realise the divine presence through sincere prayer.”
White lillies represent purity
· “Where you have sincerity, there also is virtue. Sincerity is a witness to truth. Sincerity is the mother of knowledge. Sincerity is a single virtue that binds Divinity and man in one.”
· “Retribution for good or ill is as sure as the shadow after substance.” · “To do good is to be pure. To commit evil is to be impure.” · “To admit a fault is the beginning of righteousness.”
Text: Shinto does not have any specific philosophical literature or text that can be compared to those of other religions such as the Bible or the Holy Qur'an, however Kojiki and the Nihongi, also known as Nihon shoki, are sacred books of Shinto. The Kojiki stands as Records of Ancient Matter and the Nihongi is Chronicles of Japan, each consist of oral traditions, mythology and ceramonies of anciet Shinto. Another important text to the religion of Shinto is the collection of 50 books known as Engishiki. This book is filled with laws of governing shrine ceramonies, official prayers and original leaders.
Practices Omairi: Visiting a Shrine
Shinto Shrine
Shrines are very inportant in Shinto faith. They are believed to house different Kami, and allow people a place to worship or pray. When visiting a shrine, you usually will have to walk through a Torii, a gate-way like structure that is believed to mark the entrance to the sacred world. You may also encounter a hand washing basin while visiting a shrine. If so, preform Temizu, or purification: wash your hands, and then your mouth. It is very common to see offerings to the Kami, including food and small gifts.
Kagura Kagura is an ancient Shinto tradition that is still practiced today. It is a ritual dance that is believed to mean "Seat of the Kami". Kagura is said to have been created when the Sun Goddess, Amaterasu became upset with her brother and hid in a cave. Becoming worried for Amaterasu, another Kami, Ame-no-uzeme, began to dance in order to coax her out. Kagura is most commonly performed at festivals in Japan.
Holidays and Festivals Shinto practices several holidays. These festivals are usually held at grand shrines. A typical Shinto festival includes purification, adoration of the figure head, offerings to the Kami, prayer, music and dance, parade, and a feast. Depending on the specific holiday, special practicies may be held also. Click here for a full Shinto Calander, including holidays and festivals.
Different Types Shrine Shinto (Jinja): The most practiced type of Shinto. It is associated with Japanese nationalism. Folk Shinto (Minzoku): Based on the beliefs of deities. Some of the practices come from Taoism, Buddhism, or Confucianism, but mostly consists of local rituals. Imperial Household Shinto (Koshitsu): Involves rituals performed by the emperor and their clergy. Sect Shinto (Kyoha): Made up of 13 different sects that primarily focus on one central deity.
Modern ShintoismShintoism is very engrained into the culture of Japan, because it was a religion of ancient times that carried on to modern days. This means that it has become a way for the Japanese people to explain certain events, like the recent tsunami. However, if you were to ask a Japanese person what religion they belong to, they would say both Shinto and Buddhist, because Shinto is very cultural and Buddhism is a way of life. On a day-to-day basis, people bring practices from both Buddhism and Shintoism into their lives, especially concerning celebrations. For example, Buddhism is used for funerals, and Shintoism is used for weddings. Even though Shinto originated thousands of years ago, it is still incorporated into daily life of the Japanese people.After the devistating tsunami that recently struct Japan, the Japanese people have been focusing more on ancient Shinto and Buddhist rituals. The focus of these rituals is honoring the dead and moving on once everything is over. The Governor of Tokyo upset many when he said "The Japanese people must take advantage of this tsunami to wash away their selfish greed. I really do think this is divine punishment." The government soon apologized on his behalf because it not only offended the Japanese people but also conflicted with modern day Japanese beliefs. The main focus of both rituals of the Shinto and Buddhist religion is now 'why' things occur but how to accept and move on. Since Buddhist deal with deaths and funerals, once people start their lives up by building new homes and buildings they will turn toward Shintoism. At the center of the rituals is the kami which are life forces. People turn to Shinto priest to restore the balance between life and their gods. Families make their own Shinto thrines and send gifts to other shrines around Japan. BibliographyAnna:
Robinson, B. A. "SHINTO." ReligiousTolerance.org by the Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance. Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance, 25 Oct. 2010. Web. <http://www.religioustolerance.org/shinto.htm>.
This website gives factual information about many types of religions and ways of life, and provides easy-to-read explanations of anything concerning religion. Topics include Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, and other religions and cults. They also have information on Non-Theistic beliefs and basic information on religious topics as a whole like seasonal beliefs and quotes.
The source is very unbiased, which is to be expected seeing as the site is titled "religious tolerance." It gives good in-depth information on all of the different topics. It also gives references to other sources for a more detailed discussion of the religious beliefs.
This source was very helpful for me because the information was presented in a readable manner. It was extremely useful because it gave good background information on what we needed to know for the wikispace page and it touched on all the topics. If any information was lacking from the page, it gave us additional resources and links on the page.
Grimal, Pierre. Larousse World Mythology. New York: Putnam, 1965. Print.
This book contains detailed information on the mythology of locations like Egypt and the Middle East, China, Japan, Greece, Rome, North America, South America, Oceana, Central America, Celtic lands, and Germanic Lands. The text is backed with many pictures. With all locations, there is background information and how it was applied in society.
This book is very reliable. It was written by a renowned French professor that has written multiple reference books. All of the information is unbiased and factual, although it is written very well so that it's interesting.
This book was extremely helpful because it had a lot of information I needed to complete the project on wikispace and it contained pictures that added to the overall effect of the book and helped me understand better. I would suggest this book to anyone wanting to learn about mythology because it is rich with information not just on Shintoism but on hundreds of other influential religions and myths. Isis: Website Anonymous. "Shinto, Shintoism - ReligionFacts." Religion, World Religions, Comparative Religion - Just
the Facts on the World's Religions. Mar. 2004. Web. 23 Mar. 2011.
<http://www.religionfacts.com/shinto/index.htm>.
The website went into depth about the Shinto religion. The author of the website chose to remain anonymous for his/her personal reasons. However, they claimed to have obtained most of their information from Wikipedia or Encyclopedia Britannica. The website consisted of religious beliefs, practices, text, shrines, history and modern day use of the religion. The website was short but covered many aspects of the religion and provided useful visuals.
I enjoyed using this source because it had a nice lay-out with information easy to find. Also, the font on the website was easy to read and clear. The author avoided using words that the reader wouldn’t be familiar with, but, if there were terms they briefly described the meaning of each.
The use of this website applied tremendously to the creation of my portion of the wikispace.I referenced this website when looking for information about principal beliefs and religious text. The information was clear and concise and made it easy for me to comprehend and turn the information into my own words. This website was very helpful. Book:
Evans, Ann Llewellyn. Shinto Norito = Shintō Norito : a Book of Prayers : in the Tradition of
Tsubaki Grand Shrine = Tsubaki Ōkami Yashiro. Victoria, B.C.: Trafford, 2001. Print.
This book consists of prayers used in the Shinto religion. It was a collection of ancient Japanese Shinto Prayers translated into English. Its rituals and beliefs were explained on each page of the book. The book had 22 prayers for daily use or to learn the history of the religion.
The book was interesting and somewhat easy to read and the facts were interesting. Also, the book was clear and the prayers were nice to read and helped me get a better understanding of the Shinto religion and their beliefs.
I didn’t use this book as a resource for my project. I used all web sources; however, my group members used books for their sections. My book wasn’t fully helpful for my portion of the website unless I was directly naming prayers. But it was a nice book to read. *Principal Beliefs, Pictures, Modern Shintoism, Bibliography Faye: Occhiogrosso, Peter. Peter Occhiogrosso "The Joy of Sects" and Books on Spirituality and World Religion, Religion Discussion Weblog, Editorial Consultation, Spiritual Direction. Web. 24 Mar. 2011. <http://www.joyofsects.com/index.shtml>. This website gave a good overview of many different religions. It compared and contrasted world religions which was very helpful. The page on Shinto gave a good background to the topic, and helped me understand Shinto better. This website helped me on my wikipage by discussing the forms of Shinto, and explaining Kami.
Littleton, C. Scott. Shinto: Origins, Rituals, Festivals, Spirits, Sacred Places. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2002. Print. This book is an introduction to the Shinto religion. It discusses the beginnings of Shinto as well as its modern say status. It focuses on rituals and sacred practices of Shinto. This book was extremely helpful to me in learning about Shinto. It helped me grasp non-western concepts such as Kami. I used a lot of the information from this book on the wikispace, including different festivals, practices, and traditions. * Practices, afterlife, types
AuthorsAnna: Origins, Creation Story, Modern Shintoism. Sources: World Mythology and www.religioustolerance.orgIsis: Principle Beliefs, Modern Shintoism. Sources: www.religiousfacts.com, Shinto NoritoFaye: Practices, Different Types. Sources: Origins, Rituals, Festivals, Spirits, Sacred Places, www.joyofsects.com
Origin
Shinto is an ancient Japanese religion that started around 500 BCE (or earlier). It was originally a mix of nature worship, cults, hero worship, and a way to predict the outcome of certain events. Its name is based off the Chinese words "shin tao" or "The Way of the Kami." Shinto has no real founder, no specific written scriptures, no body of religious law, and only a very loosely-organized priesthood. This is because it started as a way for people to explain events in the past through their dieties. Shintoism is also a very tolerant religion and many people that practice Shinto beliefs are also Buddhist.
Creation Story
According to Shinto myth, two celestial dieties called Izanagi and Izanami went over the 'Floating Bridge of Heaven' and plunged a spear into the ocean of chaos. They then stirred it until the water thickened. Then they took the spear out of the water and the drops that fell off the tip formed the islands. Then, Izanami and Izanagi married and began to give birth to the gods, specifically the Sun Goddess Amaterasu Omikami. The Sun Goddess is the ancestress of the Imperial Family and is regarded as the chief diety. Her shrine is at Ise Jingu. Amaterasu's emblem, the rising sun, is found on the Japanese flag, and her descendents unified the country. All of Izanami and Izanagi's children become dieties of clans.
Principle Beliefs
Shinto deities are called “Kami”, “Kami” is generally translated to “god or gods”. There are many Kami in Shintoism, but the supreme Kami that stand above all the rest is Anaterasu-omi which is the Sun God. The Great Universal way is defined by loyalty to Sovereign Emperor, who is a direct descendent and representative of Anaterasu-omi, respect for elders and ancestors, respect and piety toward parents and extreme love of children. The mirror, the sword and the jewel show significant symbolism in Shintoism. They represent wisdom, courage and intelligence, will and love. A common Shinto prayer that is recited is: “Our eyes may see some uncleanliness, but let not our mind see things that are not clean. Our ears may hear some uncleanliness, but let not our mind hear things that are not clean.” Funeral rights are reserved to the Buddhist religion rituals.
Gods:
· Tsukiyomi-no-Mikoto is the Moon-God.
· Anaterasu-omi: The Sun-God.
o Together they preside over the High Heaven, the ocean, and the night.
A strong, principle belief of the Shinto is purity; there are two significant of the virtue. One if the outer purity of the body and the other is inner purity of the heart. Sincerity is also ethical principle as well.
Ten Precepts of Shinto:
· “Do not transgress the will of God.”
· “Do not forget your obligation to ancestors.”
· “Do not offend by violating the decrees of the State. “
· “Do not forget the profound goodness of the, gods, through which calamity and misfortunes are averted and sickness is healed.”
· “Do not forget that the world is one great family.”
· “Do not forget the limitations of your own person.”
· “Do not become angry even though others become angry.”
· “Do not be sluggish in your work.”
· “Do not bring blame to the teaching.”
· “Do not be carried away by foreign teachings.”
Afterlife:
Although most Shinto text does not discuss the afterlife, ancient Japanese myth claimed the dead were sent to place called "Yomi". "Yomi" is a dark underground realm with a river which seperates the living from the dead. (It is often compared to the Greek Hades.) Today, most Shinto followers practice Buddhist funerals and other traditions after death.
Shinto Quotes:
· “The heart of the person before you is a mirror. See there your own form.”
· “Even the wishes of an ant reach to heaven.”
· “Leave the things of this world and come to me daily with pure bodies and pure hearts.”
· “A single sincere prayer moves heaven. You will surely realise the divine presence through sincere prayer.”
· “Where you have sincerity, there also is virtue. Sincerity is a witness to truth. Sincerity is the mother of knowledge. Sincerity is a single virtue that binds Divinity and man in one.”
· “Retribution for good or ill is as sure as the shadow after substance.”
· “To do good is to be pure. To commit evil is to be impure.”
· “To admit a fault is the beginning of righteousness.”
Text:
Shinto does not have any specific philosophical literature or text that can be compared to those of other religions such as the Bible or the Holy Qur'an, however Kojiki and the Nihongi, also known as Nihon shoki, are sacred books of Shinto. The Kojiki stands as Records of Ancient Matter and the Nihongi is Chronicles of Japan, each consist of oral traditions, mythology and ceramonies of anciet Shinto. Another important text to the religion of Shinto is the collection of 50 books known as Engishiki. This book is filled with laws of governing shrine ceramonies, official prayers and original leaders.
Practices
Omairi: Visiting a Shrine
Shrines are very inportant in Shinto faith. They are believed to house different Kami, and allow people a place to worship or pray. When visiting a shrine, you usually will have to walk through a Torii, a gate-way like structure that is believed to mark the entrance to the sacred world. You may also encounter a hand washing basin while visiting a shrine. If so, preform Temizu, or purification: wash your hands, and then your mouth. It is very common to see offerings to the Kami, including food and small gifts.
Kagura
Kagura is an ancient Shinto tradition that is still practiced today. It is a ritual dance that is believed to mean "Seat of the Kami". Kagura is said to have been created when the Sun Goddess, Amaterasu became upset with her brother and hid in a cave. Becoming worried for Amaterasu, another Kami, Ame-no-uzeme, began to dance in order to coax her out. Kagura is most commonly performed at festivals in Japan.
Holidays and Festivals
Shinto practices several holidays. These festivals are usually held at grand shrines. A typical Shinto festival includes purification, adoration of the figure head, offerings to the Kami, prayer, music and dance, parade, and a feast. Depending on the specific holiday, special practicies may be held also. Click here for a full Shinto Calander, including holidays and festivals.
Different Types
Shrine Shinto (Jinja): The most practiced type of Shinto. It is associated with Japanese nationalism.
Folk Shinto (Minzoku): Based on the beliefs of deities. Some of the practices come from Taoism, Buddhism, or Confucianism, but mostly consists of local rituals.
Imperial Household Shinto (Koshitsu): Involves rituals performed by the emperor and their clergy.
Sect Shinto (Kyoha): Made up of 13 different sects that primarily focus on one central deity.
Modern ShintoismShintoism is very engrained into the culture of Japan, because it was a religion of ancient times that carried on to modern days. This means that it has become a way for the Japanese people to explain certain events, like the recent tsunami. However, if you were to ask a Japanese person what religion they belong to, they would say both Shinto and Buddhist, because Shinto is very cultural and Buddhism is a way of life. On a day-to-day basis, people bring practices from both Buddhism and Shintoism into their lives, especially concerning celebrations. For example, Buddhism is used for funerals, and Shintoism is used for weddings. Even though Shinto originated thousands of years ago, it is still incorporated into daily life of the Japanese people.After the devistating tsunami that recently struct Japan, the Japanese people have been focusing more on ancient Shinto and Buddhist rituals. The focus of these rituals is honoring the dead and moving on once everything is over. The Governor of Tokyo upset many when he said "The Japanese people must take advantage of this tsunami to wash away their selfish greed. I really do think this is divine punishment." The government soon apologized on his behalf because it not only offended the Japanese people but also conflicted with modern day Japanese beliefs. The main focus of both rituals of the Shinto and Buddhist religion is now 'why' things occur but how to accept and move on. Since Buddhist deal with deaths and funerals, once people start their lives up by building new homes and buildings they will turn toward Shintoism. At the center of the rituals is the kami which are life forces. People turn to Shinto priest to restore the balance between life and their gods. Families make their own Shinto thrines and send gifts to other shrines around Japan. BibliographyAnna:
Robinson, B. A. "SHINTO." ReligiousTolerance.org by the Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance. Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance, 25 Oct. 2010. Web. <http://www.religioustolerance.org/shinto.htm>.
This website gives factual information about many types of religions and ways of life, and provides easy-to-read explanations of anything concerning religion. Topics include Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, and other religions and cults. They also have information on Non-Theistic beliefs and basic information on religious topics as a whole like seasonal beliefs and quotes.
The source is very unbiased, which is to be expected seeing as the site is titled "religious tolerance." It gives good in-depth information on all of the different topics. It also gives references to other sources for a more detailed discussion of the religious beliefs.
This source was very helpful for me because the information was presented in a readable manner. It was extremely useful because it gave good background information on what we needed to know for the wikispace page and it touched on all the topics. If any information was lacking from the page, it gave us additional resources and links on the page.
Grimal, Pierre. Larousse World Mythology. New York: Putnam, 1965. Print.
This book contains detailed information on the mythology of locations like Egypt and the Middle East, China, Japan, Greece, Rome, North America, South America, Oceana, Central America, Celtic lands, and Germanic Lands. The text is backed with many pictures. With all locations, there is background information and how it was applied in society.
This book is very reliable. It was written by a renowned French professor that has written multiple reference books. All of the information is unbiased and factual, although it is written very well so that it's interesting.
This book was extremely helpful because it had a lot of information I needed to complete the project on wikispace and it contained pictures that added to the overall effect of the book and helped me understand better. I would suggest this book to anyone wanting to learn about mythology because it is rich with information not just on Shintoism but on hundreds of other influential religions and myths.
Isis:
Website
Anonymous. "Shinto, Shintoism - ReligionFacts." Religion, World Religions, Comparative Religion - Just
the Facts on the World's Religions. Mar. 2004. Web. 23 Mar. 2011.
<http://www.religionfacts.com/shinto/index.htm>.
The website went into depth about the Shinto religion. The author of the website chose to remain anonymous for his/her personal reasons. However, they claimed to have obtained most of their information from Wikipedia or Encyclopedia Britannica. The website consisted of religious beliefs, practices, text, shrines, history and modern day use of the religion. The website was short but covered many aspects of the religion and provided useful visuals.
I enjoyed using this source because it had a nice lay-out with information easy to find. Also, the font on the website was easy to read and clear. The author avoided using words that the reader wouldn’t be familiar with, but, if there were terms they briefly described the meaning of each.
The use of this website applied tremendously to the creation of my portion of the wikispace.I referenced this website when looking for information about principal beliefs and religious text. The information was clear and concise and made it easy for me to comprehend and turn the information into my own words. This website was very helpful.
Book:
Evans, Ann Llewellyn. Shinto Norito = Shintō Norito : a Book of Prayers : in the Tradition of
Tsubaki Grand Shrine = Tsubaki Ōkami Yashiro. Victoria, B.C.: Trafford, 2001. Print.
This book consists of prayers used in the Shinto religion. It was a collection of ancient Japanese Shinto Prayers translated into English. Its rituals and beliefs were explained on each page of the book. The book had 22 prayers for daily use or to learn the history of the religion.
The book was interesting and somewhat easy to read and the facts were interesting. Also, the book was clear and the prayers were nice to read and helped me get a better understanding of the Shinto religion and their beliefs.
I didn’t use this book as a resource for my project. I used all web sources; however, my group members used books for their sections. My book wasn’t fully helpful for my portion of the website unless I was directly naming prayers. But it was a nice book to read. *Principal Beliefs, Pictures, Modern Shintoism, Bibliography
Faye:
Occhiogrosso, Peter. Peter Occhiogrosso "The Joy of Sects" and Books on Spirituality and World Religion, Religion Discussion Weblog, Editorial Consultation, Spiritual Direction. Web. 24 Mar. 2011. <http://www.joyofsects.com/index.shtml>. This website gave a good overview of many different religions. It compared and contrasted world religions which was very helpful. The page on Shinto gave a good background to the topic, and helped me understand Shinto better. This website helped me on my wikipage by discussing the forms of Shinto, and explaining Kami.
Littleton, C. Scott. Shinto: Origins, Rituals, Festivals, Spirits, Sacred Places. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2002. Print. This book is an introduction to the Shinto religion. It discusses the beginnings of Shinto as well as its modern say status. It focuses on rituals and sacred practices of Shinto. This book was extremely helpful to me in learning about Shinto. It helped me grasp non-western concepts such as Kami. I used a lot of the information from this book on the wikispace, including different festivals, practices, and traditions.
* Practices, afterlife, types
AuthorsAnna: Origins, Creation Story, Modern Shintoism. Sources: World Mythology and www.religioustolerance.orgIsis: Principle Beliefs, Modern Shintoism. Sources: www.religiousfacts.com, Shinto NoritoFaye: Practices, Different Types. Sources: Origins, Rituals, Festivals, Spirits, Sacred Places, www.joyofsects.com