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

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 ritualrather 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 ritualrather 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 Buddhismfor 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 shrineand 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

Kamiprovide 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 Yearis the most popular shared national event in Japan. Because Shinto is focussed on the land of Japanit 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