Shinto and Japanese society

Shinto and Japanese Society

The relationship between Shinto or Shintoism and the Japanese society is akin to the one between the proverbial egg and chicken. It is arguable whether the Shinto religion has molded the Japanese society or the Japanese society has influenced the way in which Shinto has developed over the centuries. There is no doubt, however, that Shinto has played an important role in Japan's history and in the lives of the country's people to an extent that the two have become inexorably intertwined. This research paper traces the history of Shinto from the pre-historic times, discusses its philosophy and rituals, the extent to which it has influenced Japanese society, outside influences on Shinto, its revival after Meiji Restoration and how it was used to promote nationalism and military expansion, and a review of its current status in Japan.

Early History of Shinto

The early origins of Shinto are rather murky and opinion is divided among historians whether the earliest traditions of Shinto arose in the Jomon period (12,000 B.C. To 300 B.C.) or the Yayoi period (400 BC to 300 A.D.).

The Jomon civilization, which began with the introduction of pottery around 12,000 BC, was almost exclusively based on hunting and gathering while the Yayoi civilization revolved mainly around wet rice cultivation, which was adopted from the Asian continent in the fourth century BC. A number of writers link Shinto's origins to community rituals around the agricultural calendar of rice growing from this period. Indeed, excavations of ritual sites from the Yayoi period provide concrete evidence of kami worship and of people believing in, and worshipping spiritual powers that supposedly controlled the weather and the crops. The present style of the Ise shrine, which contains some of the most sacred buildings of the Shinto religion, dates back to the Yayoi period, as do the mirrors that adorn the innermost sanctum of most Shint? places of worship. At the same time, recent archaeological finds relating to the Jomon civilization have revealed more continuity than contrast between this period and the subsequent Yayoi period and, as a result, historians are forced to take into account the animism of the Jomon period as a possible ancestor of Shinto. Despite the evidence of continuity between them, archeological findings have revealed an interesting difference in the religious practice of the Jomon and Yayoi periods, i.e., Jomon period villages were constructed in a circle around a central square or cemetery, and rituals for the dead seem to have played an important role in community life. By contrast, in the Yayoi period the most of the Yayoi rituals focused on spirits associated with the forces of nature rather than on the dead as the dead were avoided and tabooed. This focus on worship of forces of nature later became one of the basic characteristics of Shinto.

Philosophy of Shinto

The word "Shint?" literally means "the way of the gods" but even the simple word consisting of the two kanji (the Han or Chinese characters in the Japanese language) can be interpreted in different ways -- reflecting the difficulty to precisely define Shint?. For instance the character for "Shin" can also be translated as kami and the character for "t?" is the same as the one used for arts and life-paths such as in ju? d?, bushi d? (the samurai way) and sho d? (calligraphy); hence even the word Shinto has a broader interpretation for the Japanese than its literal meaning.

Shinto has no fixed dogma, moral precepts, sacred writings, holy places for worship or a historical founder. It is an 'indigenous religion' that has emerged naturally within the historical development of an indigenous culture and remains confined to a single nation -- Japan. It is for these reasons that Shinto is sometimes categorized as merely a "cult" rather than a "religion." Others consider it as no more than a sophisticated form of animism or a primal shamanist religion.

Whichever way one chooses to look at Shinto, no one can deny its importance in Japanese history and the way in which it is intertwined with Japanese culture and the Japanese society. The fundamental philosophy of the Shinto religion is a great love and reverence for nature. As a result, almost anything in nature -- such as a mountain, a waterfall, a bird, a tree, the moon or even an oddly shaped rock may be regarded as a kami. The qualification for being considered a kami is not confined to physical objects either; abstract entities like growth and fertility or people (mostly dead, but sometimes even the living) can be a kami to a Shintoist.

Another notable characteristic of Shinto is its closeness to people and its 'folksy' character -- it is often referred to as the "layman's religion." For example, the kami in Shintoism, although considered to be divine, are far from infallible deities. They do not live in some other world than the one inhabited by ordinary people and may make the same mistakes as the rest of us. People who die are automatically added to list of kami regardless of their status and/or doings in life. As such, unlike other major religions of the world, Shinto places little emphasis on sin, reward and punishment, or the life hereafter. It is more concerned with the relationship of the living with the kami and the rituals that govern the relationship.

Kami Rituals

In the beginning, kami worship and the accompanying rituals were fragmented as each community had its localized cult and rituals. As the scale of rice cultivation increased around the country, the necessity arose for large groups of people to cooperate in a more systematic way. Clan chiefs took control over water resources and agricultural techniques, and sought to increase their own authority by linking these to specific kami. The chiefs also promoted the performance of kami rituals as they considered them important to maintain order within their communities.

At the end of the Yayoi period in the late fourth century, the Yamato court rose to a position of dominance over other clans and by the latter half of the fifth century; the Yamato chief had attained the position of the country's 'Great King'. The Yamato court gradually substituted the localized cults and kami rituals with the worship of a single 'Sun Deity'-the Amaterasu Omikam. A special government office the 'Ministry of Kami Affairs' (Jingikan in Japanese) was created taking inspiration from the Chinese law of the Tang dynasty. The Jingikan promoted an increasingly centralized rule by performing rituals for all the kami in the land and by declaring all the important shrines in different regions as "official shrines" (or kansha). The Ministry of Kami Affairs was also entrusted with the task of popularizing the idea that the sovereignty of the emperor was derived from his descent from the Sun-Deity Amaterasu. This was the start of 'Shinto' as a religious system and was the start of the period in Japanese / Shinto history, known as the classical period.

Shinto Shrines

Shinto shrines are another important part of the Shinto religion. In fact, Shinto is sometimes separated into four different types and one of the oldest and most prevalent types is called "Shrine Shinto." Shinto shrines are found all over Japan and have survived periodic loss of favor of Shinto with the authorities, most recently after the Second World War. They still form the center of neighborhood rituals and periodic festivals. The shrine buildings are maintained by the local people who in turn are protected by the particular deity who is remembered there. Most Shinto shrines are associated with deities with special powers, with the larger ones having a resident priest or priests. A 'special purpose' shrine may be dedicated to a deity who helps to cement marriages (visited mostly buy young couples); another may help with learning (thronged by schoolchildren and parents). Yet other shrines may specialise in performing a safety rite for motor cars. Although thousands of such shrines are spread in every nook and corner of Japan, the most famous and sacred shrine in the country is, of course, the one at Ise -- a shrine dedicated to the Sun-deity, Amaterasu Omikam, who is supposed to be the founding ancestress of the Japanese nation. Most Japanese make it a point to visit the Ise shrine at least once in their lives.

A typical ritual performed by a visitor to a Shinto shrine is as follows: After entering the shrine compound, visitors wash their hands and mouth, and approach the front of the shrine. They make a monetary offering, ring the bell to attract the attention of the deity, clap their hands and bow their heads in prayer. To round off the ritual, it is customary to buy a charm or amulet or to write a prayer on a receptacle provided at the shrine for the purpose.

Shinto Festival Processions

Japanese society is characterized by self-restraint in the daily interaction among the people. People, therefore, find it difficult to express alternate points-of-view even against perceived injustice for fear of offending others. As a consequence, the society provides a culturally acceptable outlet for such expression, i.e., while under the influence of alcohol during a Shinto festival procession (also known as Japanese matsuri).

During these public processions, which are generally held on annual basis, a large object (supposedly containing the spirit of a local deity) is carried shoulder-high through the streets, in order to revitalize the community with its supernatural presence. The bearers of the deity are required to "purify" themselves by drinking large amounts of sake before taking part in the procession. The intoxicated state of the bearers together with the bulk of the object they carry, conveniently "ensures" that the object may crash into the home or a shop owned by a greedy merchant or an intolerable official. As the object's movement is supposed to be "guided" by a deity, no one can be held responsible for the damage caused.

The Shinto Festival Processions are, therefore, a form of informal social sanction against undesirable personal behavior in a close-knit community. It helps to keep people of malicious or a despicable nature in check from fear of retribution. It may even influence such people into acts of kindness towards others, even though such generosity may be wholly insincere. Such Shinto ritual of punishing or threatening to punish undesirable behavior through an elaborate charade is so typically Japanese. It works around the reluctance of the Japanese people to directly offend others for their undesirable behavior and also reflects the practical and 'folksy' nature of the Shinto religion.

Outside Influences on Shinto

Similarity with East Asian Religions: Although Shinto is often described as being uniquely Japanese in character, it has absorbed a number of foreign influences. For example, recent research has shown that there is marked similarity between the kami worship of Shinto and other indigenous religions and folk beliefs of other East Asian countries. This includes similarities between kami cults and Taoism, as well as the influence of Chinese theories of Yin and Yang and the Five phases of matter (wood, fire, earth, metal and water) on Shintoism. Other characteristics of Shinto such as worship of spirits, syncretism, polytheism and animism are also not unique to Shinto and are present in East-Asian folk religions as well. Shamanism, which is considered to be part of Shinto, is similarly not unique to Japan -- it is found in folk religions throughout East Asia.

Influence of Buddhism: The most significant of all influences on Shinto has, of course been by Buddhism, which was introduced in Japan in the 6th century AD. Buddhism rapidly overshadowed Shinto as the kami started to be regarded as manifestations of Buddha in a previous state of existence. Buddhist images and rituals were introduced in Shinto shrines and some Buddhist priests even took over some of these shrines. By the 8th century AD, a doctrine uniting Buddhism and Shinto called Ryobu Shinto was introduced in which elements of Confucianism were also adopted. During the ascendency of Buddhism in Japan that lasted upto the end of the Edo period in 1867 AD, the Buddhist divinities were considered the "original source" and the kami their localized, manifest expression. With the Japanese elite and the emperors adopting the Buddhist religion, Shinto receded to the side lines and the remaining Shinto priests took up more mundane past-times such as fortune-telling and magic.

Ironically, the introduction of Buddhism in Japan contributed to the long-term consolidation of Shinto in ways that were not apparent at the time. For example, it was only in the 6th century AD that the name "Shinto" was given to the native religion of Japan to distinguish it from Buddhism and Confucianism. Secondly, as a reaction to the sophistication of the Buddhist and Confucian narratives of Chinese origin, the existing Japanese myths and legends were compiled into written record such as Kojiki ("The Record of Ancient Things" in 712 AD) and the Nihonshoki ("The Chronicles of Japan" in 720 AD). The narratives were meant to rival the clearly superior Chinese culture and to shore up support for the legitimacy of the Imperial house of Japan, by narrating the myth about its lineage from the Sun Goddess Amaterasu. Shinto thus managed to maintain its separate identity despite centuries of assault from outside influences.

Revival of Shinto and Japanese Nationalism

In the 18th century, certain Japanese scholars such as Motoori Norinaga (1730-1801) who were motivated by nationalistic sentiments attempted to revive Shinto as an important national religion through their writings. Although the attempt was largely unsuccesful, the nationalistic teachings set the stage for establishment of "State Shinto" that followed the Meiji Restoration in 1868.

When the western powers that had recently undergone the Industrial Revolution turned their attention towards the Far East and Japan in the mid 18th century, the Japanese found themselves to be nakedly vulnerable. The incident of the Black Ships in 1853, when just four American ships arrived in a Japanese harbor and managed to intimidate them into a one-sided trade treaty, was a rude shock for the nation. It paved the way for the overthrow of the Shoganate in 1867 and the rapid modernization program of the Meiji Restoration. While the Meiji emperors realized the importance of modernization, they also concluded that unless Japan was quickly unified, it would be soon colonized by the maurading Western powers. It was felt that the best way to unify the country was to stoke the nationalist sentiment, and what better way to do so than to present the ancient native religion of Shinto as the state religion? Shinto was thus made the official religion by the Meiji government in 1868 and the policy of Shinbutsu Bunri (the seperation of Shinto from Buddhism) promulgated.