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186 C H A P T E R 8 E N CO U N T E R I N G S H I N TO : T H E WAY O F T H E K A M I

Encountering Shinto: The Way

of the Kami

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CHAPTER 8

Learning Outcomes After studying this chapter, you will be able to do the following:

LO1 Explain the meaning of Shinto and Kami no michi. LO2 Summarize how the four main periods of Shinto’s

history have shaped its present.

LO3 Outline essential Shinto teachings in your own words.

LO4 Describe the main features of Shinto ethics. LO5 Outline Shinto worship and other rituals, and

explain why they play a leading role in Shinto.

LO6 Explain why the practice of Shinto in North America is so small.

BONNIE VAN VOORST © CENGAGE LEARNING

Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.

187

Your Visit to the Tsubaki Shinto Shrine in Granite Falls, Washington

W hen you meet your guide to the Tsubaki (tsoo-BAH-kee) shrine just outside the gate, he says, “Please remember what we talked about on the telephone. The shrine grounds

are a sacred place, so correct behavior is very impor- tant. No food, drink, or smoking is allowed. Keep a quiet, hushed voice. You may make a formal prayer and personal prayer at any time. If you wish to talk to the priest or have him do a ceremony for you, you must not be barefoot or wearing shorts or a sleeveless shirt. And no cell phone use, please.”

First you visit the hand water station to purify your- self, because purity is important in Shinto. You follow the actions of your Shinto guide, using a dipper to pour water on your left hand. You lean back slightly from the basin as you pour, so water from your hands doesn’t mix with the pure water. You pour water on your right hand and then into your left palm to rinse your mouth, not spitting the water back into the basin. You pour water again onto your left hand. Last, you let the small amount of water still in the dipper run back down its handle, and you place the wooden dipper back in the basin.

Next, you approach the shrine building. Continuing to follow your guide’s actions, you bow slightly at the inner shrine gate and then walk on. The centerline is reserved for the kami, whom you know to be the gods and spirits of Shinto, to walk on, so you carefully avoid walking on it. As you get farther in, you off er a prayer to the gods and spirits of the shrine with two bows, then two claps, then one bow. Inside the shrine, you move to the off ertory box, where you drop in an off ering of money. Standing next on the centerline, you grip the bell rope tightly and

pull it to ring the bell. You fi x your gaze toward the mirror in the inner shrine and then bow deeply twice. You clap twice and pray while keeping your hands together at the

Shinto connects the people of Japan to their land, and Japan’s present to its past.

< Famous “fl oating gate” of the Itsukushima Shrine, Miyajima Island, Japan, showing that the sea around Japan is considered sacred.

The Shinto religion explains the Japanese “love aff air” with robots and robotics.

Strongly Disagree Strongly Agree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

What Do YOU Think?

A follower of Shinto ceremonially washes her hands outside a Shinto shrine.

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188 C H A P T E R 8 E N CO U N T E R I N G S H I N TO : T H E WAY O F T H E K A M I

center of your chest. When your short, quiet prayers are done, you bow once again.

You guide doesn’t know if you have any specifi c questions or religious issues, so he says, “If you have an appointment with a priest, please enter the shrine building. If you have a question for shrine staff , please ring the buzzer.” You don’t, so you keep looking around, and you see little shops where you can buy small prayer plaques and slips of paper for fortune-telling. You buy a plaque, write your wish/prayer on it, and hang it up with the others nearby for the gods to read. Then you draw at random a fortune-telling slip; these slips of paper contain several predictions ranging from “great good luck” to “great bad luck.” By tying your slip to a rope where others have tied theirs, good fortune will

come true or bad fortune can be averted. As it happens, you drew a good fortune, making for a happy conclusion of your visit to the shrine.

Shinto is a religion of formal rituals and inner feel- ings more than of doctrines, ethics, and organization. Its sentiments and rituals are directed especially to the natural world of the Japanese islands and secondarily to the history of the Japanese state. Shinto connects the people of Japan and their land, as well as Japan’s present and its past. In your study of Shinto, you’ll encounter these unique features:

● Some scholars hold that all Japanese are Shinto just by virtue of being culturally Japanese, whether they prac- tice Shinto or not. Many Japanese who see themselves

as Shintoists also practice elements of other reli- gions, especially Buddhism. This makes it diffi cult to know how many Japanese practice Shinto, and estimates vary widely—between 2 million and 127 million, the current estimated population of Japan.

● Shinto has no founder, no creed, and (for most of its history) no central authority. It didn’t even have a name until the sixth century C.E., when it was necessary to distinguish it from Buddhism once that religion reached Japan from China.

● Shinto has no scripture. In fact, Shinto is the only religion based in a literate culture that hasn’t developed a scripture. It does have mythologi- cal books of ancient Japanese history written in the eighth century, but these don’t function in an authoritative way in the religion.

● Shinto has been a major part of Japanese life and culture throughout the country’s history, but for more than a thousand years it has shared its spiritual, social, and political roles with Buddhism and Confucianism. This mirrors the religious situation in China, where Daoism, Buddhism, and Confucianism are combined in some way by most believers.

● Shinto is an indigenous religion with origins in ancient times, but it has succeeded in a starkly modern nation. Although it could be treated with other indigenous religions, Shinto’s unique fea- tures as an indigenous religion and its role in the modern world merit separate treatment.

LO1 Names Shinto means “the way of the gods.” It derives from the Chinese shen dao, combining two words: shin,

“gods,” particularly the higher gods, and tao/dao, the “way” of thought and life. After the

coming of Buddhism to Japan in the sixth century C.E., Shinto was invented to counter the Japanese term butsudo, “the way of the Buddha.” A more- Japanese way to express this name, but not more preva- lent in scholarship, is Kami no michi (KAH-mee noh MEE-chee), “the way of the kami.” This name is more accurate than

Shinto [SHIN-toh] “The way of the gods”

Prayer placard with an image of Colonel Sanders posted in a Tokyo KFC restaurant.

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Shinto is an indigenous religion with

origins in ancient times, but it has

succeeded in a starkly modern nation.

189T H E S H I N TO P R E S E N T A S S H A P E D B Y I T S PA S T

Shinto, because the typical notions of “gods” in most reli- gions treated in this book don’t fi t this religion very well. Kami are spirits, deities, or essences of something notable. They can be humanlike, animistic, or natural features or forces in the world (for example, mountains, rivers, trees, rocks, lightning, and wind). Most kami are mor- ally good, but a few of them are unpredictable or downright dangerous. Kami and people exist within the same world and are interrelated in it.

LO2 The Shinto Present As Shaped by Its Past

When the present Emperor Akihito (ah-kih-HEE-toh) became the 125th emperor of Japan in 1989, he spent a night with the Sun Goddess as a dinner guest, something every emperor is required to do shortly after ascending to the throne. First recorded in 712 C.E., the ritual takes place at night because the Sun Goddess is in the sky during the day; she comes down on this special occasion to be present with the new emperor. After a bath for purification, the emperor carries out the ritual called the Great Food Offering. It takes place in two log huts specially- constructed at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo. During the rite, the emperor receives some of the Sun Goddess’s spirit and thus become with her a kind of living ancestor of the entire Japanese family. The pre–World War II belief that the emperor was a living god was reinforced by this ritual. No one but the emperor has ever wit- nessed the ceremony or knows its details, and Akihito’s continuation of it was controversial among some Japanese.

Shinto history can be presented in four major periods: before the arrival of Buddhism in Japan in the 600s; Shinto and Buddhism together in Japan from 600 until about 1850; the Meiji (MAY-jee) reinterpretation of Shinto from 1850 to the end of the Second World War in 1945; and Shinto from 1945 until today.

Before the Arrival of Buddhism (to 600 C.E.)

Before Buddhism came to Japan in the sixth century C.E., there probably was no religion

that we would recognize as Shinto, but rather many local gods and shrines that are now grouped under Shinto. The fi rst, aboriginal inhabitants of Japan

were animists, devoted to powers of nature that they saw in every living thing. These were the kami that were found in all sig- nifi cant natural things: plants and animals, mountains and fertile plains, rivers and seas, earthquakes, storms in the air

and the seas, and even powerful human beings. Shrines began to be built in places where

these kami were thought to be particularly present. At these shrines, simple wor-

ship would be offered to the kami of the place, and the blessings

offered to the kami would result in the kami’s blessings on the people. Some of these shrines had women called miko who acted as shamans. With the passing of time and the coming of more-patriarchal Chinese religions and culture, the miko became the “shrine maidens” of today, unmarried young women who assist the male priests in rituals but who no longer act as shamans.

Like other indig- enous peoples, the early Japanese developed myths that enabled them to make sense of life in their place, as well as rituals to bless it. For example, the myth relating the cre- ation of the Japanese islands probably arose at this time, telling how the husband-and- wife gods Izanagi and Izanami made Japan. Other religious groups arrived from Korea to settle in Japan in late

kami [KAH-mee] Spirits, deities, or essences found in both animate and inanimate objects

miko [MEE-koh] “Shrine maidens” who assist male priests

Izanagi [EE-zah-NAH-gee (hard g)] “Male who invites,” the male deity who created the Japanese islands, according to Shinto mythology

Izanami [EE-zah-NAH-mee] “Female who invites,” the female deity who assisted her husband, Izanagi, in creating Japan, according to Shinto mythology

Offi cial shrine maidens perform a Shinto ritual dance for purifi cation at the Meiji Shrine, Tokyo.

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190 C H A P T E R 8 E N CO U N T E R I N G S H I N TO : T H E WAY O F T H E K A M I

The “Wedded Rocks” of Futami, Japan, tied together by a one-ton rope of rice straw, represent the union of Izanagi and Izanami and celebrate the marriage of male and female.

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Kojiki [koh-JEE-kee] Records of Ancient Matters, Japan’s earliest history

Nihongi [nih-HAWN- gee (hard g)] Chronicles of Japan, Japan’s second- earliest history

prehistoric times; they were absorbed into Shinto long ago. The realms of earth and the supernatural, as well as the realms of the common and the sacred, were closely related in the worldview of the early Japanese. Things that modern people regard as “supernatural” were just another part of the natural world, although with great power. The oldest Shinto ceremonies were dedicated to agriculture and emphasized obtaining ritual purity that would lead to the blessing of fi elds and fl ocks. Worship took place outdoors, at sites thought to be sacred to the kami of the place. In time, the ancient Japanese built permanent struc- tures to honor their gods. Shrines were usually built on or near mountains, at the edge of forests, or in rural areas.

Shinto and Buddhism together in Japan (600–1850) The second stage in Shinto history is the long sweep of time from about 600 to 1850, when Shinto coex-

isted with Buddhism and Confucianism, religions that arrived at the begin- ning of this period from China. The introduction of the Buddhist religion and Confucian social val- ues from China and Korea brought a different way of life for the Japanese,

including changes to their reli- gion. (Daoism, the third main religion of China, made little effort to enter Japan, perhaps because Shinto already had a full complement of gods and spirits.) Japan established close connections with the Chinese and Korean courts that would last for four hun- dred years and adopted a more sophisticated culture. This new culture was essen- tially Chinese and included, in addition to Confucianism and Buddhism, literature, philosophy, art, architecture, science, medicine, and gov- ernment. Most important was the introduction of the Chinese writing system, revo- lutionizing Japan, which had no system of its own. The Kojiki (Records of Ancient

Matters) and Nihongi (Chronicles of Japan), Japan’s earliest histories, were written in the early 700s, soon after the introduction of Chinese writing. Ever since that time, the relationship of Shinto with Chinese religions in Japan has been complicated—sometimes peaceful, sometimes confl icted. Indeed, the name Shinto arose then to distinguish indigenous Japanese religion from the new Buddhist beliefs coming from China. Many Shinto shrines were completely changed into Buddhist temples, made a part of Buddhist tem- ples, or kept as Shinto shrines and led by Buddhist priests. Separate new Buddhist temples were built as well. From this time comes the distinction in names still used today: Buddhist houses of worship are called “temples,” but Shinto houses of worship are called “shrines.”

In general, the emperors and ruling aristoc- racy approved this rising combination of Shinto,

The rising combination of Shinto,

Buddhism, and Confucianism made for

religious and cultural unity, important

in a land undergoing rapid change.

191T H E S H I N TO P R E S E N T A S S H A P E D B Y I T S PA S T

Buddhism, and Confucianism. It made for religious and cultural unity, important in a relatively small land undergoing rapid change—and still true in Japan today. The rulers took a role in religions by establish- ing a government offi ce to oversee them, something that persisted until 1946. Shinto was the native reli- gion of Japan and had a richer feeling for the natural environment than did Buddhism and Confucianism. Shinto had a disadvantage compared to Buddhism and Confucianism in its lack of complex teachings. Unlike the other religions, Shinto had no sacred scrip- tures in which doctrine was formulated and by which it could be passed along. This meant that the doctri- nal development of Japanese religion and philosophy inevitably drew on the comparative intellectual rich- ness of Buddhism and Confucianism. But Shinto had found its niche in Japanese life, one that continues through today.

As the Japanese nation was formed, the idea grew that humans should follow the will of the gods in political and social life. The emperor and the court had clear religious obligations, particularly the meticulous rituals that ensured that the powerful kami looked favorably on Japan and its people. These annual ceremonies for purifi cation and blessing, which soon included many Buddhist and Confucian elements, became a regular part of the Japanese gov- ernment. As time went on, the Japanese became more

accustomed to inte- grating Shinto and Buddhism. For exam- ple, they accepted the Buddhist idea that the kami were incar- nations of the Buddha, manifested in Japan to save all sentient beings. During the seventh and eighth centuries, the spiritual status of the emperor as the descendant of the Sun Goddess Amaterasu, the chief deity worshiped in Shinto, became offi cial doctrine when it was written up in the Kojiki and Nihongi. This was buttressed by rituals and the establishment of the important Ise (EE-sah) shrine of the imperial household.

From 800 to about 1800, Buddhist infl uence in government grew steadily stronger. Japan was in the hands of three power blocs: the emperor, the aris- tocracy, and the leaders of Buddhism and Shinto. Throughout most of Japanese history up until the end of World War II, the aristocracy had more power than the emperor, despite what the creation myths implied about him. Religion became more controversial when Roman Catholic Christian missionaries arrived in Japan in the 1500s and started making converts from Shinto and Buddhism. Over time, Christianity came to be seen as a political threat—it was a foreign reli- gion, didn’t allow converts to blend Christianity for-

mally with other religions, and was beginning to convert the aristocracy. Various rul- ers ruthlessly tried to stamp it out from the 1500s until 1640. Most notably, in 1597 dozens of Japanese Christians were crucifi ed in a macabre memory of the death of Jesus Christ; and more than forty thousand died in the perse- cutions. Surviving Christians were driven underground for hundreds of years. The seven- teenth century was dominated by Buddhism, partly because an anti-Christian measure forced every Japanese person to register as a Buddhist at a Buddhist temple and pay a tax.

Japanese civic religion still included many elements of Confucianism in its ideas

Amaterasu [ah-MAH-tehr- AH-soo] Sun goddess, the chief deity worshiped in Shinto

The Seven Lucky Gods are a mixed group of Shinto and other deities popular in Japan, all thought to bring good luck, including a happy buddha (left).

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about government, but popular Japanese religion was a pragmatic fusion of Shinto rituals and myths with a hefty dose of Buddhism. Confucianism provided social ethics; Shinto provided everyday rituals and a feeling for the nation; Buddhism provided philosophy and (because it was Mahayana Buddhism) a hope for life after death. Just as China had “Three Traditions” in Daoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism, so too Japan had its three traditions of Shinto, Buddhism, and Confucianism.

After this long period of powerful infl uence of Buddhism on Shinto, Shinto pushed back. Around 1700 there was a movement toward what was consid- ered a purer form of Shinto, with particular empha- sis on the Japanese people as the descendants of the gods and therefore superior to other races. (This, of

course, is something that most Japanese Buddhists denied.) Buddhist and other infl uences were fi l- tered out of institutions and rituals. Historians generally hold that this

wasn’t so much a return to something that had once existed as it was the creation of a more unifi ed reli- gion from a group of many different Shinto rituals and beliefs. During this period Shinto acquired a stronger intellectual tradition than it previously had. A part of the Shinto revival entailed the renewed study of archaic Japanese texts. Just as Shinto myths were written down in the eighth century for national political reasons, so now they were reinterpreted for nationalistic purposes.

“From the divine descent of the Japanese

people proceeds their immeasurable

superiority to the natives of other

countries in courage and intelligence.”

—Hirata, nationalistic Shinto

scholar, 1836

torii [TOH-ree-ee] Traditional Japanese gate or portal at the entrance of, and often within, a Shinto shrine

The Symbol of Shinto

A torii is a traditional Japanese gate or portal at the entrance of, and often within, a Shinto shrine. (Its original meaning is “bird perch.”) It consists of two upright wooden posts connected at the top by two horizon- tal crosspieces, the top one often curved up slightly at the ends. The outer gate is often said to separate the “ordinary” area from a sacred area, but in view of the strong Shinto belief that all Japan is sacred, it’s probably more accurate to say that the outer gate marks ordinary sacred space from extraordinarily sacred space. Seeing a torii at the entrance is usually the easiest way to determine if it is a Shinto shrine. Smaller torii are also found occasionally inside the grounds of Japanese Buddhist temples.

The fi rst mention of torii is in 922. Torii were commonly made from wood or stone, but today they can also be made of metal, stainless steel, or other modern materials. They are

usually either unpainted or painted a striking vermilion, with black tops. A person who has been successful in busi- ness often donates a torii to the shrine in gratitude. The Fushimi Inari (foo-SHEE-mee in-AHR-ee) shrine near Kyoto has some forty thousand torii, each bearing its donor’s name, along paths that lead three miles up a mountainside.

A Closer Look:

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Torii formed into a sacred walkway at the Fushimi Inari shrine

193T H E S H I N TO P R E S E N T A S S H A P E D B Y I T S PA S T

As Japan encountered the world beyond East Asia that it had avoided for a thousand years, it drew on its indigenous religion to buttress its national claims. A leading Shinto scholar during this period, Hirata (hih-RAH-tah), wrote in 1836, “The two foundational doctrines of Shinto are that Japan is the country of the gods, and her inhabitants are the descendants of the gods. Between the Japanese people and other peo- ples . . . there is a difference of kind, rather than of degree. The Emperor is the true Son of Heaven, who is entitled to reign over the four seas and the ten thousand countries. From the divine descent of the Japanese peo- ple proceeds their immeasurable superiority to the natives of other countries in courage and intelligence.”1 This growing, religiously oriented nationalism contributed to rapid “modernization” of Japan in the 1800s (see Map 8.1). It would prove damaging to East Asia as Japan began to build an empire around 1900, and it would prove near- disastrous to many Pacifi c Rim nations from China to the United States in World War II.

The Meiji Period (1850–1945) The third major period of Shinto began with the Meiji (MAY-jee) Restoration in 1868, so called because Emperor Meiji was restored to his powers after a rebel- lion by warlords. (The emperor was still dominated by the aristocracy, however.) The Meiji Restoration accel- erated the revival of Shinto that had been going on for two centuries and launched Japan on a path that would change its history and the history of the world. Japan had been modernizing rapidly; the Industrial Revolution that took almost two hundred years in Europe and North America was accomplished in Japan in less than a century. The aim of the new religious climate was to provide a sacred foundation and a religious rationale for the new Japan and its national ethos. Emperor wor- ship became a leading mark of “state Shinto” during this period.

In the Meiji period, Shinto was reorganized, com- pletely separated from Buddhism, and brought under the power of the state. The state made a distinction between the new “state Shinto,” “shrine Shinto” of the traditional past, and “sect Shinto” comprising mostly new movements in popular religion. Many historians

1 Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan, Vol. 3 (Yokohama, Japan: Asiatic Society Press, 1873), 36.

of religion consider these new Shinto sects a result of the “culture shock” that Japan experienced after open- ing to the West. Between 1882 and 1908, the govern- ment recognized thirteen Shinto sects, and their number constantly increased. They are forerunners of many of Japan’s new religious movements today. A new shrine was set up at Yasukuni (YAS-soo-KOO-nee) to honor Japanese war dead. Amaterasu, who until then had not been a major divinity, was brought to center stage and used to validate the role of the emperor, not only as ruler but also as the high priest of Shinto.

One result of this change was the separation of Buddhism from Shinto. The kami could no longer be explained as incarnations of the Buddha or vari- ous bodhisattvas. Ritual was also affected. All Shinto shrines were purged of every trace of Buddhist imag- ery (for example, statues of the Buddha) and ritual (chanting scriptures). Buddhist priests were stripped of their status, and new Shinto priests were appointed to shrines. Shinto was enthusiastically promoted by Japan’s militaristic aristocracy, who stressed that the emperor was a divine being, directly descended from the gods who had given birth to the Japanese islands. Japanese children were taught at school that the emperors were descendants of Sun Goddess Amaterasu, and every classroom had a small shrine to the emperor on the wall. Shinto bound the Japanese people together with a powerful mix of devotion to kami, ancestor worship, and group loyalty to family and nation; Buddhism with its more pacifi st and inter- national tendencies was demoted. This separation of Buddhism and Shinto continues today, with both reli- gions having different shrines, priests, and rites.

The main hall of the Yasukuni Shrine

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194 C H A P T E R 8 E N CO U N T E R I N G S H I N TO : T H E WAY O F T H E K A M I

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Japan in 1875

Territory gained by Japan from 1894 to1910

Year Japan gained control

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Japanese railroads in 1889

Japanese railroads in 1918

1905

Shinto played a signifi cant role in World War II, which started in Asia with the Japanese invasion of northern China in 1937. Since the 1870s, it had been fueling a strong nationalism among the Japanese, a force that would inevitably lead to war. Service in the military was a religious as well as a civic obligation, and the spirits of those who died were honored as

Map 8.1 Japanese Modernization and Expansion, 1868–1918 Japan undertook a crash modernization in the later 1800s. This modernization coincided with

the rise of state Shinto. By 1910 its military power had increased and it had won a war with Russia and colonized Korea, Taiwan, and Sakhalin (then known as Karafutu).

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Despite the religious devotion of

Japanese warriors in World War II, the

Divine Wind did not come, and the

emperor’s rule as a god would soon end.

195T H E S H I N TO P R E S E N T A S S H A P E D B Y I T S PA S T

kami. Kamikaze pilots intentionally crashed their planes into American warships at the end of the war in a last-ditch effort to stave off an invasion of Japan. Kamikaze is often used popularly today as meaning “reckless to the point of suicide,” but it really means “Divine (kami) Wind (kaze).” The Divine Wind was a typhoon that destroyed a Chinese fl eet threatening Japan in the 1200s, and the modern Divine Wind was meant to reproduce that deliverance. Another well- known feature of that war was the Japanese shout “Banzai!” (bahn-ZIGH)—“ten thousand years!”— and was understood to mean “May the emperor live ten thousand years!” This was frequently used as a cry of attack by Japanese forces. Despite the reli- giously motivated self-sacrifi ce of Japanese warriors, the Divine Wind did not come, and the emperor’s rule as a god would soon end, falling far short of ten thou- sand years.

Shinto in Recent Times (1945–present) The last and current stage of Shinto history begins when the victorious Allied powers ended the status of Shinto as the state religion in 1946. Japan was allowed to keep Hirohito (HEER-oh-HEE- toh, who lived from 1901 to 1989) as emperor, but he lost his claim to divine status as part of the Allied reforms in Japan. He went on the radio to tell his people that Japan was surrendering (although such direct language was not used), the fi rst time that ordinary Japanese had heard an emperor’s voice. He later wrote in a message to the nation, “The ties between Us and Our people have always stood on mutual trust and affection. They do not depend upon legends and myths. They are not predicated on the false conception that the Tenno [emperor] is

divine, and that the Japanese people are superior to other races and destined to rule the world.” Then he affi rmed that the Japanese people still had an important role to play in the world: “By [the Japanese people’s] supreme efforts . . . they will be able to make a substantial contribution to the welfare and advance- ment of mankind.” This contribution did indeed come in the postwar revival of Japan, when Japan became a model of economic development, democracy, and peace in Asia. Since about 1990, however, Japan has been in a prolonged economic slump that has dispir- ited many of its people and lessened the appeal of Japanese ways of business to other nations. The dwindling attendance at many Shinto shrines is prob- ably related to this economic downturn.

Japan’s postwar constitution separates religion and state. Although the constitution of modern Japan had guaranteed freedom of religion since 1873, it fi nally came true. No religion receives support from the Japanese state. No citizen has to take part in any religious act, celebration, rite, or practice. Many (but not all) governmental ceremonies were stripped of their explicitly religious aspects. Despite the loss of its offi cial status, Shinto retains a signifi cant infl uence in Japanese spirituality and culture. Considerable Shinto

religious meaning still surrounds some regular imperial ceremonies, and a few well-attended Shinto shrines honor

those who died in World War II. In sum, Japan is today both

a secular and a religious society. Industrialization and urbanization

have led to the declining infl u- ence of Shinto, which has

accelerated since the end of World War II. Continuing controversy over the

Japanese role in that war has diminished Shinto infl uence among the younger gen- eration, many of whom see

Shinto myths as outmoded. Most young people go to Shinto shrine only as tourists or to pray for success in school exams. Some Japanese, especially the older generation, still frequent Shinto shrines regularly, and all generations have a strong, even spiritual feeling for the physical beauty of Japan that is a heritage of Shinto. New religious movements have combined Buddhism, Shinto, and other religions to address contemporary

kamikaze [KAHM-ih-KAHZ-ee] “Divine Wind” that saved Japan

A Japanese commander prepares a young pilot for battle in World War II, tying on a white cloth

with the sun used to honor kamikaze pilots.

Banzai literally means “ten thousand years” and was understood to

mean “May the emperor live ten

thousand years!”

196 C H A P T E R 8 E N CO U N T E R I N G S H I N TO : T H E WAY O F T H E K A M I

Japanese issues such as family fi nances, environmental pollu- tion, and family solidarity. The widespread destruction visited on northeastern Japan in the 2011 earthquake and tsunami

caused many Japanese, even the younger generations, to draw upon both traditional and newer religions for comfort and strength.

However, on the whole the Japanese people are becoming more secular. In a 2000 census, although most Japanese called themselves Buddhists or Shintoists or both, not even 15 percent reported a formal religious membership or regular religious practice. Remarkably, this rising secularization hasn’t had signifi cant nega- tive social effects, and Japan continues to be the most peaceful, law-abiding society in the developed world. (Even after the 2011 tsunami, there was virtually no increase in crime.) Sociologists say that this is due to a desire to honor one’s living relatives or other social group and an even stronger reluctance to shame them, rather than from a connection to the spirits of one’s ancestors or other aspects of Shinto or Buddhist reli- gion. To many students of Japan, the strongest religious infl uence today may be that of Confucianism. It has vir- tually no formal presence in Japan, but the system of

Confucian social values that arrived in Japan 1,400 years ago still infl uences the lives of most Japanese today.

LO3 Shinto Teachings

A September 13, 2010, blog in the New York Times has a discussion about a writer’s remarkable claim that Shinto religion explains the Japanese “love aff air” with robots and robotics. He claims that Shinto’s blurring of the boundaries between the animate and the inanimate has shaped the posi- tive Japanese view of robots as “helpers” and not as the rebel- lious, violent machines portrayed in Western stories and fi lms. These helpers even include the recent invention of a female robotic companion for men. As one writer said of Japan, “A humanoid and sentient robot may simply not feel as creepy or threatening as it does in other cultures.”2

The Kojiki and Nihongi, Japan’s earliest histories, were compiled on the orders of the imperial family in the

2 Hiroko Tabuchi, “Robot Invasion Welcomed in Japan,” New York Times, accessed September 23, 2010, http:// lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/13/ robot-invasion-welcomed-in-japan/ ?scp=3&sq=shinto&st=cse.

The Yasukuni Shrine Today

The Yasukuni Shrine was founded in 1869 under the orders of Emperor Meiji and is dedicated to the souls of all Japanese military personnel who have fallen in battle since that time. Most controversially to some (to Japan’s enemies in World War II, at least), it does not distinguish between honored dead and dishonorable dead. For example, it honors fourteen men such as Prime Minister Hideki Tojo (hee-DECK-ee TOH-joh) who were convicted of war crimes, including the killing of prisoners of war and civilians, and hanged for them after the war. Within the shrine the dead are worshiped rather than just remembered. They willingly sacrifi ced their lives for Japan, and this has made them kami. Surrounded by war banners and military regalia, they are venerated by the hundreds of thousands of visitors who attend the shrine each year. Some come as tourists to this site and are not interested in venerating the dead, but others come to worship them, some even believing that the souls of the war dead live in the shrine.

Junichiro Koizumi (joo-NEE-chee-roh koh-ee-ZOO- mee), who was the prime minister of Japan from 2001 to 2006, sparked international protest when he visited the Yasukuni Shrine in person every year. He refused to explain his reason for these visits, which caused tension with China and South Korea. Tensions have lifted a bit as subsequent prime ministers haven’t gone in person to the shrine, but public controversy continues in East Asia over this. When Shinto appears in the news, it is usually in connection with visits to the Yasukuni Shrine.

A Closer Look:

197S H I N TO T E A C H I N G S

early 700s C.E. Although there was an obvious political aim to unite all the regional and clan deities under the authority of Sun Goddess Amaterasu, who was the clan deity of the emperor’s family, these legends provide an explanation for the basic ideas in Shinto teachings, ideas that endure even today. We begin with three basic concepts that emerge in Shinto teachings about the kami.

The Kami First, the kami are not “gods” as Westerners understand them or even as Mahayana Buddhists under- stand them, but should be under- stood as powerful natural forces with a spiritual dimension. No clear distinction exists between what is alive and not living, natural and what is socially constructed, or human and divine. The kami are identifi ed with natural features but are spirits in and beyond those features. One well- placed rock can have a kami just as much as Mount Fuji can. The whole world, including human life, is an expression of spiritual powers. Spiritual power is not found evenly throughout the world, but is especially powerful in particular things, including humans.

Second, the kami are virtually countless. Shinto focuses on the kami that are important to people and infl uence human life directly. Most kami are iden- tifi ed with places—especially forests, mountains, or waterfalls—that seem especially spiritual to the Japanese. They are also identifi ed with natural phenom- ena that are awe inspiring, such as wind, thunder and lightning, and with destructive phenomena such as the earthquakes that regularly shake Japan and tsunamis that sometime follow them. Particular kami are also identifi ed with ordinary places and activities in human life, such as the kitchen, safety on the roads, education, and other things. Living individuals who have a spe- cial charisma or are very successful in business, politics, or life might be called kami. Other spiritual forces are recognized as kami, for example mischievous elements such as fox spirits or tree spirits. On special occasions, a kami may possess a human medium to send a message.

Third, individuals should know and venerate the kami most important to them. Not only is the kami’s goodwill required, but the spirits are said to respond to an individual’s

concern. They are not all-knowing, because their iden- tity and activity are restricted mostly to special objects in nature. They want to be informed about signifi cant events that involve their activities, so prayer to the kami will sometimes contain these reports.

Characteristics of Other Shinto Teachings The main thing to be said about Shinto teachings is that Shinto has no developed teachings about either this world or the next. It doesn’t speak about the original cre- ation of the whole universe, only of Japan. Nor is there anything about a future end of the world. Likewise, there is no clear description of any afterlife. Some Shintoists believe that after a person dies, he or she becomes deeply related to their ancestral kami and has no individual soul in the afterlife, as in much of Mahayana Buddhism. Others believe that their souls go to a shadowy, gloomy underworld; this was probably the original Shinto thought. The dead are honored by the living as individu- als, but they are not individuals as they were in this life.

JO I I

The main thing to be said about

Shinto teachings is that Shinto has

no developed teachings.

Off erings to the kami, marked by paper streamers, are made by farmers at a humble Shinto shrine in preparation for trimming the trees.

198 C H A P T E R 8 E N CO U N T E R I N G S H I N TO : T H E WAY O F T H E K A M I

LO4 Shinto Ethics

A follower of Shinto goes to a shrine in Kyoto. She has committed a bad act; it’s weighing on her mind, and she wants to deal with it. So she goes to her local shrine and there undergoes a simple ritual of purifi cation. She washes at the cleansing station before entering and then contacts one of the shrine priests to pray with her in front of the shrine gods. She leaves, at peace with herself and deter- mined that she will do better. Shinto teaches that humans are born pure. Evil actions and impurity are things that come later in life and can usually be dealt with by simple cleansing or purifying rituals.

General Characteristics To identify the distinctly Shinto elements in Japanese ethics isn’t easy. Confucian values have inspired much of Japanese social ethics, supplemented by more indi- vidual ethics derived from Buddhist monastic rules. In general, Shinto ethics are based not on a set of com- mands or of virtues that tells one how to behave, but on following the general will of the kami, understood through myth and ritual. The “way” implied in the word Shinto is primarily a ritual way, to keep the relationship with the kami on a proper footing. Good moral practice fl ows from this relationship.

However, the kami aren’t always perfect, so they don’t serve as moral examples. Shinto texts tell many stories of kami behaving badly. As we saw above, some of them are mischief makers and therefore wouldn’t serve well as role models in such an orderly, proper populace. This clear difference with religions whose gods are morally perfect and can serve as moral exam- ples is probably a main reason why Shinto ethics avoids absolute moral rules.

Purity Purity is essential to pleasing the kami, bringing a happy life, and turning back disappointment or dis- ease. Many rituals feature the exorcism of sins in order to restore purity. Cleanliness in particular signi- fi es a good character and freedom from bad external infl uences. In Western societies one hears the prov- erb “Cleanliness is next to godliness.” In traditional Japanese society cleanliness—of body, mind, and spirit, both ritual and practical—is godliness. To be in harmony with the kami, one must keep one’s person, home, and business clean. The Japanese emphasis on

freshness and purity in food and drink brings a high quality to the diet, and practically it means that shop- ping for food is often done every day. Purity in rela- tionships entails being honest, sincere, and thoughtful about how other people feel; therefore, apologies for unintended affronts are very common. The kami par- ticularly dislike blood and death. Therefore, women traditionally were excluded from shrine events dur- ing menstruation, as were people who worked with the bodies of dead animals, such as leather makers. Soldiers require special purifi cation after battle, and people helping at funerals need to purify themselves as well.

In Western societies one sometimes

hears the proverb “Cleanliness is next

to godliness.” In traditional Japanese

society cleanliness is godliness.

The overall aims of Shinto ethics are to promote harmony and purity in all spheres of life. Purity isn’t just spiritual purity, but also moral purity—having a pure and sincere heart, leading to good conduct. It has a connection with ritual purity—doing things in a certain way, in a certain state, with a certain attitude. Shinto views both human beings and the world as mor- ally good. Evil enters from outside the world of nature and human society, usually by the agency of evil spirits. This affects humans similar to a physical disease. When people do wrong, they bring ritual pollution and moral fault upon themselves. This blocks the blessings of life as they fl ow from the kami, and must be dealt with in ceremonies of cleansing.

LO5 Shinto Ritual Most Shinto rituals are tied to the life cycle of humans and the seasonal cycles of nature. Life-cycle rituals include naming ceremonies for children and ceremonies for bless- ing children as they grow. The time of taking university entrance exams is particularly trying for Japanese young people, and going to the shrine to pray for success is important for them and their parents. We’ll consider the

199S H I N TO R I T UA L

Shinto wedding ritual more fully below. Although Shinto does have a funeral ritual and although the emperor always receives a Shinto service, for more than a thousand years most Japanese have preferred Buddhist funerals. This will be treated below as well.

The Shinto Shrine Rituals at Shinto shrines mark one’s entry into a differ- ent world, the world of the kami. Even in a bustling city, shrines offer a quiet atmosphere removed from the busy noise of modern Japanese life. Surrounded by evergreen trees and approached on a gravel path, they hush every- day conversation before one enters. The silence is bro- ken only by ritual hand claps or the sounds of nature. Shinto ritual, including music and dance, is remarkably simple and brief, much like the Japanese tea ceremony, quite unlike complex Buddhist ritual. It has a slow, mea- sured pace thought to be pleasing to the kami and quite different from daily life outside. However, at special festivals in and around the shrine this changes dramati- cally. A mass of local people will be crowded together in noisy festivity, “letting themselves go” in front of the kami in ways they would never dream of doing outside the shrine. Sometimes this includes enough consump- tion of alcohol to get worshipers slightly drunk. This religious carousing serves as a tempo- rary release from a society that prizes almost-constant orderli- ness and properness.

The shrines are built to blend in with the environ- ment chosen by the kami of the place. The main sanctuary

building of each shrine is the honden, in which symbolic sacred objects such as a mirror or a sword are kept at the center front, where they receive worship. Traditionally built from wood and usually left unpainted, the buildings need regular repair or rebuilding by the local community. This is still the tradition of one of Japan’s most famous shrines, the Grand Shrine of Ise, which is reconstructed in traditional style every twenty years.

The kami dwell near, not in, the shrines and must be invited politely. As we saw above, at least one torii marks the entrance to a shrine, and a basin is just inside to rinse one’s hands and mouth. A shrine is usu- ally dedicated to one particular kami but may host any number of smaller shrines representing other kami that local people should also venerate. Sacred places, such as particular trees and rocks, will be marked off by ropes of elaborately plaited straw, or by streamers of plain paper. The kami are summoned by a series of brief actions: ringing a bell outside the shrine, making a money offering, clapping hands twice, saying a short silent prayer, and bowing twice.

The Shinto Priesthood The work of Shinto priests is located largely in the shrine. Most new Shinto priests, like most Japanese Buddhist monks, must now be university graduates. Women priests can be found, but they aren’t nearly as numerous as men, because traditional Japanese soci- ety is still strongly patriarchal. Most priests are “vol- unteers” who have their main jobs outside the shrines. They are almost always married and have families.

“The contemporary miko is typically

a university student collecting a

modest wage in this part-time

position.” —Lisa Kuly

The Shinto priesthood exists mainly to carry out Shinto rituals and run the shrines, and duties such as

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honden [HAHN-dahn] Main sanctuary building of a Shinto shrine

I ncense sticks burn down in a Shinto shrine.

200 C H A P T E R 8 E N CO U N T E R I N G S H I N TO : T H E WAY O F T H E K A M I

teaching, reli- gious coun- seling, etc., are minor activities for the priests. Traditionally, the priest- hood was

limited to the great shrines, and it rotated among the able men of the community. But now the priesthood has been opened up to many shrines, and it has grown to about twenty thousand, including two thou- sand women. All but the smallest shrines are staffed by a team of priests of various ranks, assisted by a team of shrine maidens, the miko discussed above. These miko assist with shrine functions, assist priests in cere- monies, perform ceremonial dances, sell souvenirs, and distribute omikuji. Lisa Kuly writes that today's miko is typically “a university student collecting a modest wage in this part-time position.”3 A miko is tradition- ally dressed in red trousers, a white kimono jacket, and white or red hair ribbons. Shinto has no overall leader in Japan, and each shrine is self-governed and self-sup- porting through offerings and donations by worshipers. Most shrines are associated through a national shrine organization.

Wish Plaques and Fortunes In Shinto shrines, it’s common to see emas, small wooden plaques, hung in prominent places. Worshipers buy an ema, write personal wishes and hopes on the

3 Lisa Kuly, “Locating Transcendence in Japanese Minzoku Geino,” Ethnologies 25 (2003), 201.

reverse, and then hang it near a sacred tree together with emas made by others. The kami then read them and help make them come true. This ritual is under- stood more as “asking for wishes” or “making hopes” than as praying, although prayers can also be written on an ema.

Next, we should discuss the omikuji, literally “sacred drawing/lottery.” They are fortunes on pre- printed slips of paper. For an offering of about 100 yen (approximately one dollar), worshipers can obtain an omikuji from a person at a shrine desk, or even from a vending machine. Opening the paper allows one to see a fortune that has several items on it. The fi rst deals with the general category of “blessing” and ranges from “great blessing” to “great curse.” Then it states fortunes for various aspects of life, for example business, school- ing, the stock market, falling in love, and others. (No matter the general category of blessing, in the area of schooling almost every omikuji advises one to study

Shinto priest offi ciates at a shrine altar in Tokyo.

JO I I

ema [AY-muh] Wooden plaque inscribed with prayers and wishes

omikuji [OH-mee- KOO-jee] Fortunes on preprinted slips of paper

Emas posted at the Izumo Grand Shrine

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Women in traditional dress tie omikuji on ropes at the Shinto shrine in Kamakura, Japan.

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201S H I N TO R I T UA L

more, study harder, and the like!) If the prediction is bad, the paper is folded up and

attached to a tree, to ropes, or to wires. If the prediction is favorable, one can either take it home or tie it up in the shrine; the latter is more common.

The Wedding Ceremony The wedding ceremony is conducted by the Shinto priest (or priests) and the mikos at the front of a Shinto shrine after a formal procession. The families are

present in the room. The groom and bride typically wear formal Japanese clothes. After ritual purifi cation, the

priest offers prayers for the couple’s good fortune and happiness, as well as for the protection and guid- ance of the kami. Then the miko serves three sips of purifi ed rice wine to the wedding couple. Brief words are spoken before the kami and rings are exchanged, followed by the offering of a small sacred evergreen branch. One more sip of rice wine is shared, and the ritual is complete.

We connect the fortune cookie with China, but some think that it comes from the Japanese omikuji.

M IC

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RI BE

A wedding procession at the Meiji Shrine, Tokyo: main priest, assistant priest, temple maidens, bride (with white cloth on

head), groom (in a black gown), and family members

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D A

The Shinto priesthood exists mainly

to carry out Shinto rituals and run the

shrines, and duties such as teaching and

religious counseling are minor activities

for the priests.

202 C H A P T E R 8 E N CO U N T E R I N G S H I N TO : T H E WAY O F T H E K A M I

The Home Shrine Traditional Japanese show respect for the kami by hav- ing a small shrine or worship space in their house or outdoors. They also have a kamidana, a “kami shelf” on which small statues of the kami are placed, some- times along with small memorial tablets containing the names of ancestors. The kamidana is typically placed

so high on a wall that it is near the ceiling, It holds several dif- ferent items, at the center of which is a small circular mirror, a stone, or a jewel. Worship at

the kamidana includes placing fl owers, offering food such as rice, fruit, and water, and saying short prayers. Family members carefully cleanse their hands with water before they perform these daily rituals.

The Shinto Funeral As we saw above, Japan is a land of multiple religions, which affects how the Japanese deal with death and how

they believe in an after- life. Keeping memorial tablets with the names of one’s ancestors in house- hold shrines and offering food and drink to them

is Confucian in origin. In ritual matters of entering the afterlife, such as funerals and memorial services for deceased relatives, a Buddhist priest offi ciates with basi- cally Buddhist rites.

The basic lines of the historic funeral rite are still discernible in villages. It particularly applies to men who are heads of households; in what follows, we will describe this sort of funeral. In towns and cities today, the rite has been adapted or lost, especially as the burial of cremated remains has replaced full-body burial for reasons of space and cost. The immediate family mem- bers of the deceased keep themselves in their houses. The men of the neighborhood gather near the fam- ily home to make the items required for the funeral, including paper fl ags containing prayers, paper proces- sional lanterns, and a wooden candlestick. The women prepare the food required for the feast given before the burial. One woman of the neighborhood has the spe- cial honor of sewing a white pilgrim’s cloak that will shroud the body for its journey to the land of the dead. Meanwhile, the men who will be pallbearers dig a grave in the cemetery.

The spirit of the dead is thought to still be present and listening, so as the relatives shroud the body, they politely describe out loud the tasks they are perform- ing. To mask the odor of death, burning incense is kept nearby. So that the spirit may pay the ferryman for pas- sage into eternity, a bag with a few coins is put near the

A Shinto Prayer for the Blessing of the Crops

This Shinto prayer found in the Yengishiki prayer book clearly demonstrates the Shinto feeling for kami and the natural world.

I declare in the great presence of Amaterasu who sits in Ise:

Because the sovereign great goddess bestows on him [the emperor] the countries of the four quarters over which her glance extends—

As far as the limit where Heaven stands up like a wall,

As far as the bounds where the country stands up distant,

As far as the limit where the blue clouds spread fl at,

As far as the bounds where the white clouds lie away fallen—

The blue sea plain as far as the limit, where come the prows of the ships,

The ships which continuously crowd on the great sea plain,

And the roads which men travel by land,

as far as the limit whither come the horses’ hoofs,

with the baggage cords tied tightly,

treading the uneven rocks and tree roots,

and lining up continuously in a long path without a break.

Making the narrow countries wide and the hilly countries plain,

And drawing together the distant countries by throwing, so to speak, many ropes over them,

He will pile up his crops like a range of hills in the great presence of the sovereign great goddess, and will peacefully enjoy the remainder.

A Closer Look:

kamidana [KAH-mee- DAH-nuh] “Kami shelf” found in most private homes

203S H I N TO I N N O R T H A M E R I C A TO D AY

body, and meditation beads are entwined in the dead man’s hand. A fan is laid in the cof- fi n, together with some small favorite object belonging to the deceased. The Buddhist priest tells the spirit of the dead to begin its journey to the land of the dead, and other ancient formulas are recited. On completing their task, the family members wash their hands in salt water.

The funeral procession reaches the cem- etery with a lot of noise. For the grave, a round hole has been made, just big enough to pass the body through. The hole widens continuously as it goes deeper, until it is much wider at the usual depth of six feet. At the bottom, to one side, a large compart- ment, approximately six feet long and four feet wide, has been excavated. The body is taken out of the coffi n and laid into the grave on straw fl oor mats along with the objects put earlier into the coffi n. The oldest son praises his father for his honorable life as his mother continues to pray for the soul of her husband.

A few days after the burial, the family holds a “feast of consecration,” at which time they feed and entertain numerous guests. This feast ends with a pro- cession in which relatives, friends, and neighbors wear sackcloth. The property of the deceased is then divided, with the oldest son receiving most of it. In older times a small “memorial house” was built over the grave; more commonly today, a tombstone is erected. At each of these events a Buddhist priest recites prayers before the deceased’s portrait. Although the number of com- memorative meals varies, they are still common in Japan today as the conclusion of the funeral ritual. Life is then expected to return to normal.

LO6 Shinto in North America Today Shinto has a very small presence outside of Japan. Shintoists do not seek or even encourage converts, so almost all followers of Shinto are Japanese. Because the kami are tied so closely to the land of Japan, Japanese people living in the wider world often have a lessened

connection with Shinto. Although the people of and in Japan combine Shinto with Buddhism, people of Japanese descent living in North America typically see themselves only as Buddhists if they keep to one of the traditional Japanese religions. One estimate of Shintoists in North America has them at only one thousand people. In the most recent Canadian census, fewer than 1% of the approximately 100,000 Japanese Canadians called themselves Shintoists. In the United States, most of those who practice Shinto are found on the West Coast. They are served by a small number of Shinto shrines, including the Tsubaki Shinto Shrine in Granite Falls, Washington. Of course, Shintoists in North America can and do have kamidanas in their homes, at which the simple, regular home rituals can take place.

Even though the formal presence of Shinto in North America is remarkably small, it has a certain appeal to some Westerners today. Its reverence for nature, feel- ing for ritual, and open acknowledgment of pluralism (at least in a Buddhist and Confucian context) have attracted some independent-minded religious seekers. Small movements to practice Shinto have arisen here and there in North America. Whether or not Shinto will have a larger role in North America, it will almost cer- tainly continue to be an impor- tant feature of life in Japan.

Entrance to the Tsubaki Shinto Shrine in Granite Falls, Washington

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