Shinto

History

Shinto has no known founder and is believed to have evolved during Japanese prehistory. In part because of the long history of Shinto, the belief system is closely tied to the ancient clans. For instance, as the Yamato (sun) clan gained prominence, its divine ancestor, the sun goddess Amaterasu Omikami, accordingly rose to prominence.

Japanese myths center on tales about Amaterasu Omikami, the ancestress of the imperial family, and stories of how her direct descendants unified the nation under her authority. A divine couple named Izanagi and Izanami, the parents of Amaterasu, gave birth to the Japanese islands as well as to the deities who became ancestors of various clans. This mythology belies an ancient Japanese inclination to regard nature as offspring from the same parents. This view of nature requires followers to reflect on their conduct concerning pollution of the earth.

In 1871, Shinto became the foundation for the emperor cult, when it was declared the state religion. [Page 1502]The word Shinto was used for what had earlier been simply called “worship of the kami” (noble, sacred spirits). Japanese nationalism was fostered through the formation of State Shinto, which ended with the conclusion of World War II in 1945. After the surrender of Japan, the emperor renounced all claims to divinity, and Japan's postwar constitution of 1947 prohibited the state from any involvement with religious affairs. Shinto again became a loosely connected group of shrines (jinja) dedicated to the innumerable kami.

The word Shinto means “kami way.” Because all beings have such sacred spirits, it is possible for anyone to become a kami. Examples of possible kami since the beginning of Shinto are the qualities of growth, fertility, and production; natural phenomena; natural objects (such as the Sun Goddess); some animals; and ancestral and guardian spirits. The unique belief in kami is one way to see that Shinto is more than a religion or set of beliefs. It is a mixture of attitudes, ideas, and customs that have become a way of life for the Japanese. Shinto is both a personal faith in the kami and a communal way of life as set forth by the kami.

Kami

To understand the concept of kami, it is important to dispense with a preconception caused by the use of the term god, which is the English translation often used. In Shinto, there is no concept of an absolute god who is the creator of both nature and human beings. The ancient Japanese never divided material and spiritual existence but, instead, believed they were inseparable. In other words, they did not draw a distinction between an object and the work of that object.

...