Shinto: The Way of the Gods

Global History I: Spiconardi

 Origins
• Animistic Religion
• Indigenous to Japan practiced nowhere else in the
world
• Evidence suggests the religion surfaced in the 500s
BC
• Unnamed religion until introduction of Buddhism and
Confucianism to Japan from China
 Beliefs

• Kami  gods or spirits

– “from food to rivers to rocks”  spirits that relate
to nature and objects
• All things have spirits; both natural & manmade
– Guardian Kami  Protectors of particular areas
and clans
– Kami of Exceptional People  former emperors
Beliefs
• Divine Origin
– Japan and its islands are believed to be the children
of Izanagi-no-mikoto and Izanami-no-mikoto
– The kami Amaterasu Omikami (Sun goddess)is the
ancestress of the imperial family
– Divine Right  All emperors were descendants of
Amaterasu (believed until US made Japan revoke
that belief in 1946)
Beliefs
• The Four Affirmations
– Tradition and the family: The family is seen as the main
preservers of tradition
– Love of nature: Nature is sacred; to be in contact with
nature is to be close to the gods. Natural objects are
worshipped as sacred spirits.
– Purification: Followers of Shinto take baths, wash their
hands, and rinse out their mouth often.
• Evil exists in the form of uncleanness
– Wounds in battle, contact with dead bodies, illness, etc.
– "Matsuri": The worship and honor given to the Kami and
ancestral spirits.
 Impact on Japan
• 110 million followers of some aspect of Shinto
– Only 3.4 million solely follow Shinto
– Most mix Buddhism and Shinto
• Nationalism  loyalty to and pride in one’s people
– Japanese were divinely chosen
– “Land of the Rising Sun”
• Artwork  Origami  “paper of the spirits”
– Out of respect for the tree spirit that gave its life to make the
paper, origami paper is never cut.