Shinto Religion

Guide Rating -

Because the Shinto religion has been integral to Japanese culture for millennia, understanding Japan requires some understanding of Shinto. In addition, most people may not realize that the development of Buddhism has been heavily influenced by Shinto: they are the two major religions in Japan, and many Japanese see no conflict in claiming adherence to both. Thus, each has affected the other in a myriad of ways.

Indeed, it is the very eclectic nature of Shinto which has allowed it to survive so well. There is no specific creed and no formal summary of the basic beliefs and dogmas which all Shintos are supposed to adhere to:

Syncretism ...has long been a feature of religious life in Japan, together with what in the West might be considered a high degree of "ambiguity tolerance." ...Broadly speaking, Shinto focuses on matters relating to this world, on procreation, the promotion of fertility, on spiritual purity, and physical well-being.

Sometimes, people will even go so far as to deny that Shinto should qualify as a religion, arguing that it is inseparable from basic Japanese culture. On the contrary, the distinctive aspects of Shinto point to the diversity of religious belief in the world - it is an error to assume that every religion must somehow look like Christianity.

Because Shinto beliefs are so different from those in Western religious traditions, they can be difficult to understand. Fortunately, C. Scott Littleton has written a book on Shinto which makes things much more comprehensible, even for people without experience with Eastern religious faiths.

Littleton organizes his book around nine basic topics: Origins and Historical Development, Aspects of the Divine, Sacred Texts, Sacred Persons, Ethical Principles, Sacred Space, Sacred Time, Death and the Afterlife, and Society and Religion. Each topic is explained and accompanied by a relevant passage from an original, historical text and his own commentary on that passage.

As Littleton explains, Shinto is an unusual religion in that it is this-worldly rather than other-worldly. There is no clear and comprehensive picture of an afterlife towards which people are supposed to strive. Religious life is thus focused more on this life - duties towards society, duties towards family and duties towards the kami, spiritual beings which constitute a fundamental, if unseen, aspect to existence.

Belief in kami forms an important aspect of Shinto. In some ways the kami may be considered "divine," but they often differ from the traditional Western notions of gods. The term kami can refer to a wide variety of spiritual beings and supernatural essences. Some are vengeful demonic spirits. Some inhabit local geographic features, like mountains or rivers. Others, and among the most important, are those which represent family members who have died.

This is not to say that the kami are simply ghosts of decease relatives. When a person dies, the personal aspect of their "soul," or tama, only exists for a short while. After that, it merges with the family's kami ancestors, resulting in a rather impersonal existence which is invoked and revered on a more abstract level by those who are still living.

From this the Japanese derive their emphasis on continuity over many generations and the collective identity of family and clan. This also forms the basis of Shinto ethics, ideas about society, sacred space and time, and more.

With its glossy pages and color photographs, Littleton's book may not appear very serious to some people, and it is true that, as a short introduction, it does not contain a tremendous amount of depth. However, it is an excellent starting point for someone who would like to get a basic grasp of Shinto without being overwhelmed by details.