Essay on Shintoism: Strengths and Weaknesses

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

Shinto or “the way of the gods,” is the oldest religion in the history of Japan. Many of the Shino beliefs deal with natural disasters, animals, and plants. Over the years Shinto has become more modern adapting to the changing world, but the core of beliefs still remain the same as they were in 6 bce. Over time due to the different emperors and world events Shinto has had to change in order for it to remain in practice. A lot of Japanese culture such as dance, literature, and music stem from the religion, and even today in the 21st century you can see Shinto’s affect on Japanese culture. (Historyteacher, OMF International)

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.

Shinto is one of the prime religions side-by-side Christianity and Buddhism. People who have a lot of knowledge in Japanese culture are conscious of this, but how many people realize how much Shintoism has changed and evolved throughout time. In this research paper, I will reveal a bit more on what the Shinto religion is, their past beliefs with how that has affected their new beliefs and their old and new rituals.

Shintoism believes they should drive evil out completely in their lives. They conceive “good and evil in aesthetic terms.” The curved spirit, called the Magutsubi, is around and within humans. This spirit is the cause of evil deeds, misfortunes, or disasters. There are evil deeds and thoughts because of the works of the curved spirit. Motohisa Yamakage said it like this, “good or moral behavior is associated with balance of

Shinto is the indigenous religion of Japan. It can best be described as a structured system of animism. The word Shinto comes from Chinese characters (shen and tao), meaning “divine being” and “the way” respectively. Therefore the total meaning of Shinto is “The Way of the Divine Beings/Spirits.” (British Broadcasting Corporation, 2011) It is unclear when the Shinto belief came about, but it most likely has its earliest roots in animism. These animistic beliefs were expressed in the form of spirits called kami. The kami are beings that are present in all aspects of nature and consist of major deities, ancestor spirits, and minor spirits who have significance in a specific community. (Wilkinson, 2012, p. 263) Several of these kami have had extreme importance in Japanese creation mythology and Shinto belief.

Japanese mythology and folklore make up an extremely large portion of the Shinto religion, of which approximately 2,700,001 people follow worldwide (Pew Research Center). What has kept people fastened to this religion as opposed to the larger faiths such as: Christianity, Buddhism, and Hindus? The majority of people who are researching different religions do not look at less common religions such as this one. Shinto is a series of Japanese myths and folktales that are still passed from parent to child, many of which are quite interesting. Japanese myths and folklore were passed around orally until 712 AD. When the Kojiki, Records of Ancient Matters, was written; now anyone can access several of those such as the Creation Story and the Stone-cutter.

Both Shinto and Buddhism date back to thousands of years. Shinto, a spiritual principle, is an ancient religion of Japan based on the belief that powerful deities called kami (gods) inhabit both heaven and earth. According to mythology, various kanami were worshipped by their own individual clans. They often built shrines dedicated to their chosen kami and utilized a shaman or diviner to

The Shinto religion has a long identification with the island country of Japan and is considered by many to be the oldest religion practiced in Japan (Toshio). The religion does not appear to have any history that traces its founding to any particular individual which distinguishes it from other religions such as Buddhism, Christianity, or Islam. Additionally, Shinto has no sacred scriptures, no precise religious philosophy, or specific moral code. Instead, the Shinto religion is based on mixture of nature worship, fertility cults, hero worship, and shamanism. Shinto, in its early days, was so loosely defined that it did not even have a specific name to identify itself by until well into its tenth century of practice. For the ancient Japanese, Shinto was merely an appreciation of nature and the spiritual forces that they felt occupied nature. They were not concerned with ritual or doctrine and it was only after other religions began to infiltrate the island that the term Shinto was used in order to distinguish it from other religions.

Japanese mythology and folklore make up an extremely large portion of the Shinto religion, of which approximately 2,700,001 people follow worldwide (Pew Research Center). What has kept people fastened to this religion as opposed to the larger faiths such as: Christianity, Buddhism, and Hindus? The majority of people who are researching different religions do not look at less common religions such as this one. Shinto is a series of Japanese myths and folktales that are still passed from parent to child. Japanese myths and folklore were passed around orally until 712 AD. When the Kojiki, Records of Ancient Matters, was written; now anyone can access several of those such as the Creation Story and Momotaro

Most people outside of Japan think most of Japan is not religious and that religion does not have any impact on what they do, which is not true. In fact, most, if not all, of the Japanese practice at least two religions, which are Buddhism and Shinto. Kami are deities of the Shinto religion. The Japanese consider their Emperor a kami. In the Shinto religion, only the Japanese can practice and be considered part of the religion.

Shinto, an ethnic, ritualistic religion of Japan, has proved somewhat adaptable to social change and significantly more adaptable to political change within the nation since its initial emergence, with origins which trace back to 300BC . While experts argue that Shinto has been extremely influential in shaping Japanese culture and identity, its popularity has been diminishing since the religion was imposed by the State in Japan’s pre-World War II, evoking a surge of nationalism. In today’s society, the religion has made conscious efforts to regain popularity, however has not been able to wholly adapt to Japan’s modern social context, despite it being syncretic in nature (and popularly combined with Japanese Buddhist or Confucian practices).

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.

In the film, Spirited Away, there were many references displayed in regards to the Japanese culture of Shintoism. A major aspect of Shintoism is the belief in the kami (divine beings). They also include spirits that embody natural forces like wind and fire, animals, or an aspect of admiring landscape, such as mountains or waterfalls. Even regular human beings can ultimately be revered as kami after death as long as they lived a pure life. In Spirited Away, purity is one of the main themes prevalent throughout the film.