What to know about Shinto Religion from Japan

 Introduction

This article attempts to explain important concepts
in this religion such as the nature of Shinto, the concept of Kami, the
worships and sacrifices in Shinto. It also brings out the notions of purity and
the causes of impurity, visible and invisible worlds. You will understand through this article, the beliefs, rituals and practices of Shinto.

The Essence of Shinto

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p style=”line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;”>The
essence of Shinto is the Japanese devotion to invisible spiritual beings and
powers called kami,
to shrines,
and to various rituals. Shinto is not a way of explaining the world.
What matters are rituals that enable human beings to communicate with kami.

Kami
are not God or gods. They are spirits that are concerned with human beings.
They appreciate our interest in them and want us to be happy and if they are
treated properly they will intervene in our lives to bring benefits like
health, business success, and good exam results. Shinto is a very local religion,
in which devotees are likely to be concerned with their local shrine rather
than the religion as a whole. Many Japanese will have a tiny shrine-altar in
their homes.

 However,
it is also an unofficial national religion with shrines that draw visitors from
across the country. Because ritual
rather than belief is at the heart of Shinto, Japanese people don’t usually
think of Shinto specifically as a religion – it’s simply an aspect of Japanese
life. This has enabled Shinto to coexist
happily with Buddhism for centuries.

• The name Shinto comes from
  Chinese characters for Shen (‘divine being’) and Tao (‘way’)
  and means ‘Way of the Spirits’.
• Shrine visiting and taking part
  in festivals play a great part in binding local communities together.
• Shrine visiting at New Year
  is the most popular shared national event in Japan.
• Because Shinto is focussed on
  the land of
  Japan it is clearly an ethnic religion. Therefore Shinto is
  little interested in missionary work, and rarely practised outside its
  country of origin.
• Shinto sees human beings as
  basically good and has no concept of original sin, or of humanity as
  ‘fallen’.
• Everything, including the
  spiritual, is experienced as part of this
  world. Shinto has no place for any transcendental other world.
• Shinto has no canonical
  scriptures.
• Shinto teaches important ethical
  principles but has no commandments.
• Shinto has no founder.
• Shinto has no God.
• Shinto does not require
  adherents to follow it as their only religion

 Concepts of kami

Shinto
belief includes several ideas of kami: while these are closely related, they
are not completely interchangeable and reflect not only different ideas but
different interpretations of the same idea. Kami can refer to beings or to a
quality which beings possess. So the word is used to refer to both
the essence of existence or being which is found in everything and to
particular things which display the essence of existence in an awe-inspiring
way. But while everything contains kami, only those things which
show their kami-nature in a particularly striking way are referred to as kami.

Kami
as a property is the sacred or mystical element in almost anything. It is in
everything and is found everywhere, and is what makes an object itself rather
than something else. The word means that which is hidden. Kami have a specific life-giving,
harmonising power called musubi and a truthful will called makoto
(also translated as sincerity). Not all kami are good, some are
thoroughly evil.

 Kami as beings

The
concept of kami is hard to explain.

To
make understanding easier kami are often described as divine beings, as spirits
or gods. But kami are not much like the gods of other faiths:

• Kami are not divine like the
  transcendent and omnipotent deities found in many religions.
• Kami are not omnipotent.
• Kami are not perfect – they
  sometimes make mistakes and behave badly.
• Kami are not inherently
  different in kind from human beings or nature – they are just a higher
  manifestation of the life energy… an extraordinary or awesome version.
• Kami don’t exist in a
  supernatural universe – they live in the same world as human beings and
  the world of nature

Kami
include the gods that created the universe, but can also include:

• The spirits that inhabit many
  living beings
• Some beings themselves
• Elements of the landscape, like
  mountains and lakes
• Powerful forces of nature, like
  storms and earthquakes
• human beings who became kami
  after their deaths

The
term kami is sometimes applied to spirits that live in things, but it is
also applied directly to the things themselves. So the kami of a mountain or a
waterfall may be the actual mountain or waterfall, rather than the spirit of
the mountain or waterfall.

 Is Shinto a religion?

The
nature of Shinto as a faith should not be misunderstood. Shinto is often called
the ‘Japanese religion’, and has been a big influence on Japanese culture and
values for many
years now. Some scholars think that Shinto is not a religion because
ritual
rather than belief is at the heart of Shinto. This view is support by a number
of Japanese people who usually don’t think of Shinto as a religion, it is
simply an aspect of Japanese life. This has enabled Shinto to coexist happily
with Buddhism
for centuries.

 Shinto
is involved in every aspect of Japanese culture: It touches ethics,
politics, family life and social structures, artistic life (particularly drama
and poetry) and sporting life (Sumo wrestling), as well as spiritual life. Although most Japanese follow many
Shinto traditions throughout life, they actually regard themselves as being
devoted to their community’s local shrine
and kami,
rather than to a countrywide religion. So many Japanese don’t think that
they are practising Shinto nor are followers of the Shinto religion, even
though what they do is what constitutes actual Shinto, rather than
official or academic Shinto.

 Purity

Purity
is at the heart of Shinto’s understanding of good and evil.

Impurity
in Shinto refers to anything which separates us from kami,
and from musubi, the creative and harmonising power.

The
things which make us impure are tsumi; pollution or sin.

 Human beings are born pure

Shinto
does not accept that human beings are born bad or impure; in fact Shinto states
that humans are born pure, and sharing in the divine soul.

Badness,
impurity or sin are things that come later in life, and that can usually be got
rid of by simple cleansing or purifying
rituals.

 The causes of impurity

Pollution
(tsumi) can be physical, moral or spiritual. ‘Tsumi’ means much the same as the
English word ‘sin’, but it differs from sin in that it includes things which
are beyond the control of individual human beings and are thought of as being
caused by evil spirits. In ancient Shinto, tsumi also included disease,
disaster and error. Anything connected with death or the
dead is considered particularly polluting.

 Visible and invisible worlds

Shinto
does not split the universe into a natural physical world and a supernatural
transcendent world. It regards everything as part of a single unified creation.

Shinto
also does not make the Western division between body and spirit – even spirit
beings exist in the same world as human beings.

 Kami and the universe

Kami
provide a mechanism through which the Japanese are able to regard the whole
natural world as being both sacred and material.

Kami
include gods and spirit beings, but also include many other things that are
revered for the powers that they possess. Oceans and mountains are kami, so are
storms and earthquakes

 Conclusion

The
name Shinto comes from Chinese characters for Shen (‘divine being’) and Tao
(‘way’) and means ‘Way of the Spirits’. Shrine visiting and taking part in
festivals play a great part in binding local communities together. Shrine
visiting at New Year
is the most popular shared national event in Japan. Because Shinto is focussed
on the land of Japan
it is clearly an ethnic religion. Therefore Shinto is little interested in
missionary work, and rarely practised outside its country of origin. 

Shinto
sees human beings as basically good and has no concept of original sin, or of
humanity as ‘fallen’. Everything, including the spiritual, is experienced as
part of this world.
Shinto has no place for any transcendental other world. Shinto has no canonical
scriptures. Shinto teaches important ethical
principles but has no commandments. Shinto has no founder. Shinto
has no God. Shinto does not require adherents to follow it as their only
religion