Angela Patterson

Angelica Narvaez

Shintoism does not have a founder, many say that Shintoism is as old as Japan itself. Its roots lie in general animistic practices of the ancient

Japanese.

The origin of Shintoism dates back at around 500 BCE. Its original form has been difficult to trace due to the various changes that it has underwent; however, its origins can be traced back to regional tribal beliefs of

the early Japanese. Initially, they established rituals and developed myths and folklores to understand the world and their surroundings. It was not until 700 CE that the

various Shinto beliefs were unified into a single national religion.

v  Shinto is based on the existence and beliefs of kami, Japanese deities, that personify various elements of nature such as mountains, rivers, trees, and the sun.

v  There are Four Affirmations in Shinto: 1) Tradition and Family – Understanding the family is the

way to preserve traditions 2) Love of Nature – Nature is sacred; Natural objects are

worshipped as sacred spirits 3) Physical Cleanliness – Have a clean physical appearance

(often for the sake of purification) 4) Matsuri – Japanese festivals that honor and worship the

gods v  Shinto emphasizes on the importance of spiritual purity and worship

at shrines. v  Based on Shinto beliefs alone, humans are fundamentally good and

all evil is caused by devilish kami. There is no absolute right or wrong and no absolute moral values.

v  Kami are the gods and goddesses of Shintoism. The term can refer to gods, goddesses, ancestors,

and other variety of spirits. There are countless kami in Shintoism. v  Shinto kami are not divine or benevolent. They make mistakes and are believed to reside in the

human world as a higher manifestation of objects or

forces. v  Izanami and Izanagi are the primordial gods of Shintoism.

They are believed to be the creator of the Japanese islands

and other kami.

One of the most popular and prominent is the Sun Goddess, Amaterasu. She is

considered to be the protector of Japan and it is believed that the Imperial Family

descended from her. The sun goddess Amaterasu is significant to the point that she is often the personification of Japan itself. There are countless other kami in

Shintoism, but she became very important after the purification of

Shintoism.

Shinto followers don’t place much emphasis on death or the time after it, since the religion is mainly focused on

life in this world. The Shinto believe that the human spirit is hiding in the invisible world when one dies, and that birth is when the spirit has made an entrance into the visible world.

The spirits of people are thought to live in many other worlds after death, although none clearly classify as a utopia or a dystopia. They also believe that the spirits of the dead

can connect with the present world though ritual and festival.

Shintoism has no core scriptural texts, but even though there are no sacred writings that are significant to every section of the religion, there are a number of texts that are important to

the Japanese people. The Kojiki, the oldest known Japanese book including mythology and history, and the Nihon Shoki, the

first national history of Japan, are both some texts that are excepted by most believers. They contain almost the entire

background of the Shinto religion, although there is not a direct relationship between them and Shinto values, practice, or rituals

and serve mainly as an informative resource. Another text associated with Shintoism is the Engi Shiki, a set of law codes during the period, which describes some of the earliest known

rituals in the religion.

v  Shintoism is considered as the indigenous religion of Japan.

v  Even today, it is one of the major religions in Japan.

v  There are roughly 81,000 shrines, places of Shinto worship, located in Japan; each one was built due to a historical event or natural feature.

v  There are approximately 107 million Shintoists today.

v  About 83% of the Japanese people practice Shintoism, non-exclusively. Most of them practice Shintoism and Buddhism together since both beliefs of each religion do not clash with one another.

v  Even though, Shintoism is one of the major religions in Japan, most Japanese people do not consider themselves as Shintoists. They merely attend Shinto shrines without belonging to the official religion.

Shintoism and Buddhism combined greatly influence the Japanese government. The emperor of

Japan only ruled because it was believed that the gods wanted him to, which is why the emperor is also the highest priest. Other members of government had to preform religious ceremonies to make sure the kami

watch over the people of Japan. Shinto followers also believed that they were descendants of the gods, so they

were superior to other races.

In the sixth century CE, Buddhism arrived in Japan. Since then, Shintoism has

taken on Buddhist elements, even some Shinto shrines were converted to Buddhist temples. This happened because the rulers

saw the benefit in harnessing Shintoism and Buddhism together. Shintoism didn’t have

complex intellectual doctrines, which was a disadvantage when compared to Buddhism.

As Japanese government evolved, Buddhism and its influences grew until the nineteenth century CE when a movement was made to

purify Shintoism called the Meiji Restoration.

v  Shinto is the ancient religion of Japan. It still remains as one the most practiced religion there along with Buddhism.

v  Most Japanese people do not consider Shintoism as a religion, but rather as the Japanese way of life.

v  The fundamentals of Shintoism includes the devotion to kami, shrines, and rituals.

v  Kami are spirits that embody natural elements and forces.

v  http://www.arcworld.org/faiths.asp?pageID=152 v  http://www.patheos.com/Library/Shinto v  http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/shinto/ v  http://www.faithology.com/shinto/overview v  http://www.jref.com/articles/shinto.27/ v  http://shintoreligion.wikispaces.com/Shinto-Origins v  http://www.faithology.com/texts/shinto-sacred-texts v  http://www.bbc.co.uk/rel igion/rel igions/shinto/history/

nationalism_1.shtml v  http://www.bbc.co.uk/rel igion/rel igions/shinto/history/

history_1.shtml