SHINTO

Many communities in different parts of the world have their religious beliefs to which they owe their respect. It is the belief in a more supreme being and origin of the people that dictates how the members of the community go about their daily life activities and the code to which they stick. The Japanese are one such community and their religion, the Shinto is one big proof of the existence of such a culture. Evidence suggests that the Shinto practices have existed since the ancient times and are still observed to date. The Shinto faith is based upon strong belief on land and geographical ties. (Ono & Woodward, 2011).

Shinto beliefs are rooted in a myth that is out to enlighten the people on the origins of the Japanese land and the people in it. It came up when the Chinese culture was invading Japan and Buddhism practices were on a roll and there was a need to distinguish the two. The story behind the Shinto myth of creation is almost similar to the Jewish story about God creating and giving the Holy land to them. Just as Christians believe in a more powerful force beyond human comprehension, the kami concept of the Shinto faith is said to be a self-creative force of life (Mason, 2002) that saturates everything, both living and non-living. Its manifestation is in nature, in features such as waterfalls, mountains, hills, animals, rocks, trees, vegetation and people. None of the above can survive without this form of sacred energy.

The Shinto myth of creation states that long ago, in the beginning of the world, two gods, namely Izanagi no Mikoto and Izanami no Mikoto, floating like oil, were bestowed the power to prepare the land and put it in shape by the primal gods. The two gods, standing on the Floating Bridge of Heaven, cast the Heavenly Jewelled spear into the sea and brine trickled from it to become an island. It is on that island that the two gods underwent a marriage rite around a pillar. Izanami bore the Japanese islands and their deities, the gods of the seas, rivers, mountains, fields, trees, fire, stones, amongst others. Izanami died while giving birth to the fire god as she was burned and succumbed to death. Izanagi went after Izanami to beg her return in the Land of the Dead (Yomi no Kuni). While the gods agreed to consult for her return, Izanagi impatience made him sneak into the palace of the gods where he found Izanami’s corpse severely transformed. He had to flee Izanami who was pursuing him and blocked the exit with a huge boulder, straight to the river where he sought bathing purification. His cleansed left eye bore Amaterasu Omikami, the sun goddess while his right eye bore Tsukushi no Mikoto, the moon god. From his nose was born the god of storms Susanoo no Mikoto. Izanagi charged them with different roles including, to rule the High Plain of Heaven, the Realm of the Night and Plain of the Seas, respectively. That is how Japan and the surrounding world came to be. It is evident how the Shinto creation story is comparable to the Jewish story of God’s creation.

The Japanese worship in local shrines or built altars in their homes. Due to the many deities who cannot all be worshipped; the sun goddess Amaterasu is the most revered of all. Christians believe Jesus was the son of God sent to be their one and only leader, who would save them from the burning fire of hell. For the Shinto faith, the Emperor was known to be a direct descendant of the sun goddess and he could perform specific rituals and devotions that were considered divine (Fisher, 1997). Jesus cleansed his disciples’ feet. These actions were delegated to both the rulers, who were considered as descendants of their gods.

Cultures in ancient Rome and Egypt considered their rulers divine and treated them with the respect given to the gods. Other religions consider pieces of land divine, a belief called animism. It was practised by the Coast Salish tribe of India and the people from the Haida nation, on the Pacific Northwest coast of North America.

 

References

Ono, S., & Woodard, W. (2011). Shinto The kami way. Tuttle publishing.

Mason, J. W. T. (2002). The meaning of Shinto. Trafford Publishing.

Fisher, M. P. (1997). Living religions: an encyclopedia of the world's faiths. IB Tauris.