Shinto
Summary: Shinto, a loosely organized native Japanese religion, embraces a wide variety of beliefs and
practices. The variety is so wide that it is difficult to define Shinto precisely. In one sense, Shinto is a
religious form of Japanese nationalism. Its mythology describes the formation of Japan as a land that is
superior to all other lands; its shrines commemorate the great heroes and events in the history of Japan.
Historically, it has taught the Japanese people that their emperors were descendants of the sun goddess.
Western commentators have frequently compared Japanese Shinto to the feeling that Americans get when
visiting Gettysburg or the Washington Monument. Perhaps the closest comparison would be what takes
place in some American towns on Memorial Day, when people recall great events in national history,
visit the graves of war dead, and ask God to bless the nation on a beautiful late spring day. Shinto is
more than religious nationalism, however. It also involves the Japanese in a worshipful attitude toward
the beauties of their land, particularly its mountains and forests. It includes aspects of animism and
ancestor worship. Large-scale, public Shinto rituals take place in shrines throughout Japan. Private
family rituals are carried out in small shrines in Japanese homes. Highly organized and active religious
sects also have developed from basic Shinto. Thus, the term “Shinto” may refer to a multitude of varying
Japanese religious and cultural practices. The word “Shinto” itself was not officially coined until the 6th
century C.E., to distinguish native Japanese religion from the newer religions/philosophies—Buddhism,
Taoism, and Confucianism—being imported from China and Korea during the period. The word Shinto
actually comes from the Chinese words shen and tao, which may be roughly translated in this context as
“the way of the gods.” The preferred Japanese term that describes this native religion is kami-no-michi,
which also may be defined as “the way of the gods.”
A Timeline of Shinto
522
The term “Shinto” is used to distinguish Buddhism from local religion
8th c.
Composition of Shinto classics
800-1700
Shinto is combined with other religions
1700
Revival of the ancient tradition
1868
Meji state religion
1887
Buddhism is allowed
1889
Religious freedom
1946
State Shinto is abolished
Japanese Mythology: To understand Japanese religion before the sixth century C.E., we must look at
some of the traditional myths surrounding the origin of Japan, its native gods, and its early history. In the
beginning, there were the kami, usually defined as “gods,” which is inexact. Some scholars have chosen
to define kami as mana, which indicates “the occult force that preliterate man found emanating from
objects and experiences that aroused in him emotions of wonder and awe.” Others have identified kami
with the Greek term daimon, but that is also lacking. Even 18th century Japanese Shinto scholar Motoori
Norinaga confessed, “I do not yet understand the meaning of the term kami.” Kami certainly refers to the
deities of heaven and earth worshipped by the Japanese people, but it can also refer to the spirit that is in
human beings, animals, trees, plants, seas, and mountains. Any person, thing, or force that possessed
superior power or was awesome in any way was described by the ancient Japanese as kami. Although
kami may be defined in these broad terms, in mythology it generally refers to gods or to humans with
godlike powers.
The major source for our knowledge of Japanese mythology is the Kojiki, “Chronicles of Ancient
Events,” collected in the 7th and 8th centuries C.E. as a response to the entrance of Chinese culture and
religions. In these centuries, the Japanese, although willing to accept the advanced culture of the Chinese,
sought their own heritage. The results of this search yielded the chronicles, which contain a section called
“The Age of the Gods,” the mythological background of Japanese culture. The Kojiki includes stories
that describe the special creation of the Japanese islands by two kami, Izanagi and his consort, Izanami.
These two became the divine parents of the other kami in Japanese mythology. The chief of these spirits
is Amaterasu, the sun goddess. All of the Japanese emperors are believed to have descended from the
line of Amaterasu.
The History of Shinto
According to mythological tradition, the first Japanese emperor was enthroned in the seventh
century B.C.E., but most modern scholars agree that the actual history of Japan does not begin until the
third century C.E. At that point, Japan became known to other nations and began to keep historical
records. Therefore, Japan’s is among the youngest cultures of all of the Asian nations.
Early in its history, Japan became an object of interest to Chinese and Korean merchants and
missionaries, who brought with them much of the older culture of China, including its arts, language,
system of writing, and, of course, its various religions and ethical systems. After the fourth century C.E.,
Japan came under the influence of Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism. All of these had a lasting
effect on Japanese civilization. The Kojiki records the entrance of Chinese culture into Japan.
Before this period, the Japanese had no written language. They subsequently adopted the Chinese
script and many other elements of Chinese culture. Confucian ethics were welcomed because Japan was
governed by a feudal system, and Confucianism provided an ethical foundation for the Japanese political
system. Ancestor worship had always been practiced in Japan; thus, Confucian and Taoist elements that
emphasized filial piety were readily accepted. The Chinese arts, particularly those connected to Buddhist
ritual, were also adopted. Altogether, the period between the fourth and eighth centuries C.E. was one of
dramatic change for Japan.
According to the Japanese chronicles, the emperor was presented with an image of the Buddha
and several volumes of Buddhist scripture in 522 C.E. The emperor was delighted, but his advisers
warned him that the introduction of a foreign god might arouse the anger of the native kami. Shortly after
the introduction of the Buddha, a plague broke out in Japan. Afraid that the plague was the work of
vengeful kami, the emperor had the Buddha image thrown into a canal and the temple built to house it
burned. The chronicles explain that the emperor’s rejection of the foreign religion brought the plague to
an end.
In succeeding generations, however, other statues of the Buddha were introduced into Japan, as
well as prayers and rituals. By the end of the sixth century C.E., Mahayana Buddhism had taken a firm
foothold in Japan. Japanese reaction to Buddhism was four-fold. First was the introduction of the name
Shinto or kami-no-michi to distinguish the native Japanese religion from the new foreign religion.
Second, Japanese advocates of Shinto recognized the many Buddhas and Bodhisattvas of Buddhism, but
thought of them as the revelation of the kami to the Indian and Chinese people. Naturally, the Buddhists
tended to reverse this line of thinking and to identify the kami as Japanese revelations of the Buddhas and
Bodhisattvas.
The third reaction was Ryobu (Two Aspect Shinto), a syncretism between Shinto and Buddhism
that developed in Japan between the sixth and ninth centuries C.E. Little by little, the boundaries between
the two religions disappeared. Buddhist priests began to officiate at Shinto shrines. Buddhist
architectural elements were added to Shinto temples. Generally, Japanese life began to be divided into
two spheres. The concerns of day-to-day life became the domain of the Shinto side of the religion, and
concerns for the afterlife were served by the Buddhists. Thus, a traditional citizen of Japan might be said
to have been born a Shintoist but to have died a Buddhist. For ten centuries, Shinto and Buddhism lived
side by side in Japan, each serving a special need of the people.
The fourth reaction of the Japanese to Buddhism was the development of some distinctively
Japanese forms of Buddhism. Mahayana Buddhism is an extremely elastic religion, allowing for
variations to such a degree that it may be considered a family of religions rather than a single branch of
Buddhism. Buddhism had emphasized meditation as a means of insight into religious truth. The Chinese
Buddhists had picked up this emphasis through the missionary work of Bodhidharma and called it their
branch of Buddhism Ch’an. The Japanese developed meditative Mahayana Buddhism even further under
the name Zen. The Japanese also originated or developed other forms of Buddhism, such as Pure Land
and Nichiren. These and other forms of Buddhism became so popular in Japan that even though Shinto
was intermingled with them, it was almost forgotten as a viable religion for the people of Japan.
Many reformers wished to revise and revitalize the native religion of Japan. As early as the
fourteenth century, various scholars tried to point out the strengths of Shinto and restore it to a place of
prominence. However, it was not until the seventeenth century and the rise of the Tokugawa regime
(1600-1867) that Shinto received official support. In this era, the Japanese were unified by tough-minded
military leaders who sought to isolate the nation from outside influences. Because Buddhism and
Christianity were foreign-born, they were pushed aside; since Shinto was native to Japan, it was given
new strength and support by the national government. Large numbers of Christians were executed when
they refused to renounce their faith. A Japanese version of Confucianism was the only foreign system
that was allowed support during this period, because Confucian ethics were supportive of the militaristic
Tokugawa regime. One of the most colorful aspects of Japanese life during the Tokugawa era was the
feudal knight, called samurai. Throughout the history of Japan, individual warriors hired themselves out
as bodyguards or mercenary soldiers to lords; but in the Tokugawa era, the samurai was idealized and a
code of conduct was established for him. In the seventeenth century, the government set up the Chu His
(Shushi) School of Confucianism as the orthodox model for the conduct of the upper classes. A leader of
this school, Yamaga Soko (1622-1685) led in combining Shinto and Confucianism to develop the warrior
code called Bushido, “the way of the fighting knight.”
The standard of conduct established for the Japanese feudal knight was similar in many respects
to that of the idealized Christian knight of medieval Europe, except for the absence of romantic love.
Generally, Bushido required that a samurai be loyal to his master in the hierarchy of the feudal system;
must have great courage in life, in battle, and in his willingness to lay down his life for his master; must
be a man of honor; and must be a gentleman in every sense of the word, polite to his master and to people
in positions of authority as well as benevolent toward peasants, righting wrongs and bringing justice to
victims of injustice. The willingness of the proper samurai to commit suicide rather than face dishonor
and the attitude of the Japanese people toward suicide as a whole have long amazed Westerners. Many
European religious traditions forbid suicide. In Japan, however, suicide has often been encouraged as a
means of avoiding dishonor, as a means of escaping a bad situation, as a means of protest, and in World
War II as a very effective means of destroying enemy warships. Perhaps no other culture in the history of
this world has had this attitude toward suicide. In Bushido, the warrior is expected to kill himself in a
slow, painful manner called seppuku. (Westerners prefer the term hara-kiri, which means “belly
slitting”). This is suicide by disembowelment. At the proper time, the warrior is expected to slit open his
abdomen so his intestines fall out. In more recent times, it became common for a friend to chop off the
head right after the necessary slitting took place. This form of death was reserved for warriors and
nobility. Women and peasants were forbidden to commit seppuku and were expected to kill themselves
in a quicker manner by stabbing themselves in the throat. The willingness of warriors to die in such a
manner for personal honor or for the good of the Japanese nation may seem out of place to the Westerner
trained in the sacredness of life and the evils of suicide, but in the coming together of the Shinto’s love of
and worship for the nation and its heroic figures and the Confucian’s high sense of honor, seppuku is
considered very religious.
During the Tokugawa era, Japan did its best to avoid foreign influence in any form. It closed
itself off from foreign trade, diplomatic missions, and foreign religions. During this period, it attempted
to draw only from its native resources. In 1853, Japan was brought to a sudden confrontation with the
outside world when Commodore Perry of the U.S. Navy appeared in Tokyo Bay and asked that the
Japanese ports be opened and trade relations established between the United States and Japan. In 1854,
Perry appeared again with more ships, troops, and cannons; the Japanese rulers were forced to open their
nation to foreigners.
After a period of some confusion over what role religion was to play in the new Japan, it was
decided, in the Constitution of 1889, that the nation would follow the pattern of many Western nations in
that there would be state-supported religion but that all other religions would be allowed to exist and
propagate. There would be state-supported Shinto that would essentially consist of patriotic rituals at
certain shrines. The state took over the support of some 110,000 Shinto shrines and approximately
16,000 priests who tended these shrines throughout the nation. Each shrine supported by the state was
dedicated to some local deity, hero, or event; the grand imperial shrine at Ise was dedicated to the mother
goddess of Japan, Amaterasu. The visitor approaches the shrine through a distinctive Japanese archway,
called a torii, which is so inseparably connected to Shinto that it was become known worldwide as its
symbol. The typical major shrine consists of two buildings, an inner and an outer shrine. Both are built
of unpainted wood and must be torn down and rebuilt once every twenty years. Anyone may visit the
outer shrine, but the inner one is reserved for priests and government officials. The inner shrine contains
objects of importance to the deity or event it commemorates. For example, at the grand imperial shrine,
the sacred objects are a mirror, sword, and string of beads, all of which are important to the myth of
Amaterasu. On certain occasions or holidays, these relics are publicly displayed.
With the developments of the Meiji era (1868-1912), specifically when the government treated
Shinto as a nationalistic and militaristic institution, the religious side of Shinto was forced to identify
itself separately and find its own support, as were all other religions in Japan. The adherents of these
religions are thought to number more than 18 million; however, statistics regarding any religion are
always suspect, and this is especially true in Japan, where a person may in good conscience be a
Buddhist, a Confucian, and a member of a Shinto sect all at the same time). The thirteen major sects of
Shinto may be divided into three categories. First are the sects whose primary emphasis is on mountain
worship. The beautiful, graceful mountains of Japan have always been objects of reverence to its people.
At some point, it became popular for people to climb the mountains during seasonal pilgrimages. A
second category developed from the basic practices of shamanism and divination of the Japanese
peasants. The basic appeal of these sects in modern Japan is their promise of faith healing. A third type
includes sects classified as more or less pure Shinto. When the rulers took over the shrines of Shinto in
the Meiji era and used them for political purposes, this left behind a basic residue of the religious tradition
of Shinto, its mythology, and its rituals. Three major sects developed to emphasize these religious
elements and revived the myths of the origin of Japan from the ancient chronicles. They emphasized
purification of the body through fasting, breath control, bathing in cold water, chanting, and many other
devices similar to those of the Yoga cults of Hinduism. Today, these sects seem to be losing ground
among the people of Japan.
In addition to the organized forms of state and sectarian Shinto is another, more basic form. This
is the very simple and common form of Shinto that takes place in many Japanese homes. The basic unit
or symbol of domestic Shinto is the kami-dana (god shelf), which is found in many Japanese homes,
containing the symbols of whatever may be of religious significance to the family. It usually contains the
names of the ancestors of the family, because a part of the religion of the household is filial piety. It
might contain statues of the gods that have been beneficial to the family or are highly regarded. In the
homes and shops of many Japanese artisans are the images of the various patron deities. The literature of
Japan contains many stories of skilled workers creating masterpieces under the direction of an unseen
patron god. The traditional kami-dana contains objects that have been bought at the great shrines, such as
the one at Ise. Any object the family considers sacred is fit for veneration at the god shelf. There is a
story that the kami-dana in one household contained the cast-off shoes of a man who had been a
benefactor of the household when it was in trouble. The shoes were believed to be symbolic of the
friend’s goodness or to contain the mana or kami that prompted the good deeds. At any rate, they became
objects of veneration.
Worship at the kami-dana in the Japanese home is a simple affair. Offerings of flowers, lanterns,
incense, food, and drink may be placed before this altar each day. A simply daily service in which the
worshippers wash their hands, make an offering, clap their hands as a symbol of communication with the
spirits, and offer a brief prayer may also be held here. On such special occasions as holidays, weddings,
or anniversaries, more elaborate ceremonies may be held at the kami-dana. However, if the occasion is
decidedly religious—a funeral, for example—the Japanese family turns not to the Shinto deities or priest
but to the Buddhist priest. In the special religious syncretism of Japan, Shinto is for this life but
Buddhism is for the life beyond. Therefore, in addition to their kami-dana, many Japanese homes have a
butsu-dan, a Buddhist household altar, where worship of the Buddhist deities is also held.
Traditional Japanese holidays are a combination of secular, agricultural, Buddhist, and Shinto
celebrations. At times, one tradition or religion dominates; at others, all others blend together. Various
festivals are held at local Shinto shrines throughout the year. These include the Japanese New Year. New
Year used to be held in February when a lunar calendar was followed; today, it is celebrated January 1
through January 6. During this period, businesses close and people gather with their families, purifying
and cleaning the home for the New Year. On New Year’s Eve, special food is eaten and offerings are
made to the ancestors. At Buddhist temples at midnight, gongs are struck 108 times for 108 kinds of
passion to be purged in the coming year. On New Year’s Day, families visit places of worship: some to
Buddhist temples, but most to Shinto shrines. At the end of the season, New Year’s decorations are
burned in bonfires. On April 8, Japan celebrates Buddha’s birthday. At Buddhist temples, priests pour
flowers and sweet tea over the statues of the Buddha as a remembrance that on the day of his birth flowers
and sweet tea came down from heaven. December 8 is celebrated as the traditional day of Buddha’s
enlightenment. Zen Buddhists participate in an all-night meditation to welcome this day. Among
Japanese Buddhists, Ulllambana (the festival for dead ancestors, or All Soul’s Day), is celebrated in midJuly. As in other Buddhist nations, this holiday is an occasion to welcome the spirits of the dead into
homes. In this season, graves are swept and decorated. It also is at time of parades, dancing, and
bonfires. A combination agricultural and Shinto holiday is Niiname-sai, celebrated on November 23 and
24. At this autumn festival, the emperor offers the first fruits of the autumn harvest to Amaterasu and the
other kami at Ise. Although this is the national festival of the harvest, various local thanksgiving
ceremonies are held throughout Japan during October and November.
Following the defeat of Japan at the end of World War II, several events occurred that made the
future of Shinto uncertain. The most direct threat to this religion was the removal of official government
support for state Shinto. State Shinto was established to engender patriotism and loyalty toward the
nation of Japan. The Constitution of 1889 began with these words: “The Empire of Japan shall be reigned
over and governed by a line of Emperors unbroken for ages eternal…The Emperor is sacred and
inviolable.” This constitution also made the military leaders responsible to the emperor rather than to the
parliament. State Shinto therefore became an instrument of support for the military in the wars in which
Japan participated during the last part of the 19th and first part of the 20th centuries. It was particularly
supportive of the Japanese war effort during WWII. Shinto had become such an inseparable part of
Japanese militarism that they American occupation forces felt it necessary to abolish state support for
Shinto in December 1945. In January 1946, the occupation forces directed the emperor to issue a
statement declaring that he was not divine. Since 1945, the shrines once supported by the Japanese
government have continued to exist but are now sustained by the financial support of private citizens.
Immediately following World War II, attendance at these shrines dropped off and many fell into disuse.
In Japan’s remarkably fast industrialization post-WWII, Shinto competed with not only it own antiquity
against the modern world, but also its old rival, Buddhism. Most Japanese today consider themselves
Buddhists primarily, with Shinto viewed as a secondary practice. One might think that Shinto, with its
ancient myths, rituals, and shrines, would quickly fade away, but it remains strong in Japan today, with
interest in the shrines reviving, and new sects emphasizing faith healing, positive thinking and chanting
being accepted by millions of Japanese. Adherents of the some of these new sects have entered politics
and supported certain labor unions; new forms of Shinto have also provided an outlet for the day-to-day
stresses of the urban population in modern Japan. In its many forms, Shinto remains an important force
in Japanese culture.