Japanese Mythology Research Paper

Firstly, the traditions within Shintoism were important to help the Japanese people to connect with their ancestors and the nature around them. The word ‘Shinto’ itself means way of the gods. It is as old as the Japanese culture and was the only religion in Japan until the 6th century. According to the Shinto religion, there exists a basic life force called kami. Kami are close to human beings and respond to human prayers. They can influence the course of natural forces, and human events. Shinto tradition says that there are eight million kami in Japan. Due to their deep respect and love for nature and Japan itself, many shrines were set up in places of natural beauty. Followers went to pray here to receive good fortune and samurai would often go to the shrines to pray for victory before and after battle. Shinto’s traditions involved having a clean lifestyle. They washed and bathed everyday which made most of japan a fresh

One of the fundamental questions that religions seek to answer is that of origin. How was man put on earth? Why and from what was he created? Who created him? What does his creation imply about the status of human beings? Some or all of these questions are answered by a religion’s creation stories. Every religion’s creation myths attempt to give solutions to problems present to that religious society. Because of this, each religion may have one or more creation stories, each of those different from one another in the questions they ask and the answers they give.

As I mentioned above, everything began with Christopher Columbus discovering America in 1492. History is non-fiction, and perhaps the most concrete example of this non-fiction is the story of the beginning of the Indians. Native American mythology contains may different types of character including heroes, tricksters, and more. These characters can have both good and bad qualities, and fall into many categories. For example, creator gods usually restore order, but in some stories can be destructive. Tricksters can even be considered the hero in some stories. (Myths Encyclopedia, 2007). Indian stories are born from experiences and beliefs. Ross also states that “Native American societies are based on the concept of interdependence. Interdependence

Both Kojiki and Greek mythologies describe common belief in the creation of the world, in which gods give birth to another to form the world. In Kojiki, two of the seven gods who came into existence, Izanagi and Izanami give birth to many nature deities, creating the world. But because Izanami gives birth to too many deities, she dies while giving birth to the fire deity. In result of her death, enraged Izanagi kills the fire deity. In contrast, Greek myth describes the creation of the world with the four gods who came to existences, Gaea (earth) Chaos, Tartarus (Hell), and then Eros. Gaea asexually gives birth to Uranus (Sky) and marries her son. She then bears three types of gods; the Titans, the Cyclopes, and the Hecathonchires. However, Uranus repels at the monstrous creatures and sends Cyclopes and Hecatonchires down to Tartarus (Hell). Frustrated by Uranus’s action, Gaea forges the first sickle, gives it to her youngest son Cronos, and have him punish his father, Uranus. Once Uranus returns to make love to Gaea, Cronos emasculates him. Here we see the similarities in the creation of the world by birth and death of God by the hands of another god with fury.

The two religions that are located in Japan are Shinto and Buddhism. The two religions in japan are extraordinarily unalike, while Shintoism believes that every living thing including rocks and sounds contain some type of god in them, and Buddhism is concerned with the soul and afterlife that happens in Buddhism. The religions differ very much from each other with little similarities. Buddhism and Shintoism differ in one using shrines while the other has temples, the two both have religious ceremonies, and one believes in the afterlife while the other does not.

Shinto and Buddhism are two different traditions that have flourished in Japan for hundreds of years. Generally, followers from one of the traditions tend to follow the guidance of the other as well, which makes the relationship between Shinto and Buddhism very rare in world religions. At first, when these two traditions contacted each other in ancient Japan, there was a lot of confusion, but eventually they were able to coexist. However, even though Buddhism and Shinto share similarities regarding flexibility and independence, there are more differences between them proven by Buddhism’s spread to ancient Japan, their contrasting practices and beliefs and the different outlooks on the afterlife.

The Japanese culture has been greatly influenced by its religions, and one of the most influential religions has been Shintoism. Shintoism has been dated back to 500BC, when the descendants of the sun goddess, Amaterasu-OmiKami, worshiped the gods and goddesses of Japan. Shinto means "way of the gods" and that represents what people who practice Shintoism believe in. Shintoism is a religion based on Japanese mythology, which is centered on a male god, Izanagi, and a female goddess, Izanami. These two gods were believed to have created Japan, which was thought to be the only land in the whole word. The two gods had two children, the sun goddess Amaterasu, and the storm god, Susanowo. These two gods fought over control of the people of

The Shinto faith is based on Japanese mythology. One of the most important mythological stories in the

Kanetomo’s description of Honjaku-engi reveals that this type of Shinto was heavily influenced by the shrine traditions during that time. Based on Kanetomo’s definition of Honjaku-engi, I believe that this type of Shinto connects people with their spirituality through shrine rituals. By passing down the stories, secrets, and rituals of the Kami worshipped at the shrine, worshippers are able to connect the physical world with the spiritual world (Debary 352).

Shinto is the oldest religion in Japan. In this religion, members worship deceased family and various gods that represent nature. Shinto differs from most of the other major religions since it does not have founder, prophets, nor does it have a “major text which outlines its principal beliefs.” Shinto’s longevity is due to its flexibility to adapt and become interwoven with the Japanese culture. In fact, much of what the Japanese people highly value in a person’s character comes from Shinto’s key concepts. Some of the Shinto’s key concepts are the importance of purity, physical well-being, harmony, procreation and fertility, family and ancestral solidarity, subordination of the individual to the group, and the reverence of nature. They also believe that all things have the “potential for both good and bad,” and that the soul of the deceased can have a huge influence on the living.

The last creation: family trees. There have been many family trees with many children. In the Egyptian creation, the first generation of gods was Atum, then the next was Shu and

As an ancient religion of Japan, Shinto was originally a combination of nature worship, divination techniques, and shamanism. Meaning "the way of the Gods", the origins of Shinto are not apparent in comparison to other religions, especially other Asian religions and beliefs. With no obvious founder, as well as original written scriptures and authentic laws, a number of theories exist about the origination of Shinto as a religion and its development across the Japanese lands. However, the significance of the religion has shifted the importance of discovering its origins to the religious influences that Shinto has embarked upon Japanese

Many religions are popular within the Japanese culture. Two of the most influential religions, Shinto and Buddhism that help shaped a lot of Japanese values are Shinto and Buddhism, played a large role in shaping Japanese values. Numerous similarities and differences run between these two religions; nonetheless, the Japanese often believe in more than one religion at the same time. This is possible due to the polytheistic nature of most popular religions in Japan. It is not hard to say that religion is a big part of Japanese culture because a lot of religious beliefs can still be seen in their everyday lives.

All around the world, religion is a dominant idea for many cultures; exemplifying a certain way of life, serving as a basis for faith, and bringing charity to the world, religion is a extensive concept. For several cultures and countries religion may vary according to demographics, socio-economical class, and ethnicity. Main concepts of religion in Japan are natural and superstitious based. The leading religion in Japan remains Shinto, while other religions have come and go, interweaving themselves among the Japanese society.

One of the key aspects of Shinto, and an aspect that made it somewhat difficult for me to study in a more isolated context, is the flexibility of it. Unlike the Abrahamic religions, there is no strict religious doctrine or meticulous set of rules that governs the practitioners. Instead, it's much more a conceptual idea that carries with it various commonalities, specifically in terms of practices and a very nature-based system of deities (Religions of the World). Although, despite Japan's more isolated society, they did share certain ideas with other Eastern religions, such as a focus on the cosmos and harmony with nature and others (Return of the Gods).