Shinto-Buddhism in Japan
Japan's main religious tradition is a combination of the conventional Shinto beliefs integrated with the imported Buddhist practices. Long been considered the land of several million gods, Japanese base their traditional Shinto beliefs on this pantheon. But the introduction of Buddhism in the mid 500's A.D. forced an amalgamation of the two belief systems. Over time these two very different religious traditions blended together into a unique system practiced throughout Japan.

Shinto, also known as the "way of the deities," arose during Japan's earliest period and focused on what the early Japanese believed as gods, or kami, which inhabited the natural world. Kami were usually some extraordinary aspect of nature and could be anything including trees, rocks, mountains, rivers and even people. The introduction of agriculture began the association of Shinto rituals with the agricultural cycle and festivals and other religious events often coincided with times of planting or….

Shinto Today
Shinto is the indigenous religion of Japan. It is often called 'nature worship' because of the way the material world is invested with spiritual significance. The world is populated with kami: "the best English translation of kami is 'spirits', but this is an over-simplification of a complex concept - kami can be elements of the landscape or forces of nature" ("Kami," 2009). Kami may include nature, the spirits of the dead, or other supernatural beings. Worship in Shintoism "is highly ritualised, and follows strict conventions of protocol, order and control. It can take place in the home or in shrines. Although all Shinto worship and ritual takes place within the patterns set when the faith was centralised in the 19th century, there is much local diversity" and Shinto practices can be tailored to the needs of the adherents ("ituals," 2009). Shintoism in Japan is also characterized by a great….

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….

..as Shinto was hijacked by the military before the War to their own political ends." (1999) Lamont-rown states "...today members of the new religions-based spiritual regenerations tends to be both socially and politically conservative." (1999) the influence that is seen is the "contemporary trend for such member groupings to be more selective of their choice of candidates to support..." (Lamont-rown, 1999) Lamount-rown states that the Risshokosekai has five million members and has had considerable influence on the politics of Japan as have the Komeito which was founded in 1964 and is a political wing of Soka Gakkai." (Lamont-rown, 1999)
FINDINGS of the STUDY

The review of literature in this study has revealed that Shinto is so closely interwoven into the cultural of the Japanese people that it cannot fail to exert influence in politics in Japan. Furthermore, this study has found that not only has Shinto historically and traditionally exerted its influence….

eligion
State Shinto

As the BBC points out, "Shinto can't be separated from Japan and the Japanese." This fact led to the fusion of Shinto with Japanese national identity during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Prior to the age of nationalism, Shinto was used to create a sense of allegiance not necessarily with the state but with the lineage of emperors that were the spiritual and political leaders of the Japanese people. The Shinto sun goddess Amaterasu is said to be the mother of the Imperial family ("Shinto and Nationalism," 2009). Therefore, one of the reasons why Shintoism is connected with Japanese nationalism is that Shinto has been the heart and soul of Japanese identity for centuries. Shinto infuses every aspect of daily life in Japan, including social and political culture. The easiest way to create a national identity in the modern sense was to use Shinto as a means….

earliest origins of Shinto are unknown; just as the earliest origins of the Japanese people are fairly unknown. Both are, however, suspected to be rather ancient, with the groundwork of Shinto having been laid well before that of Christianity, in the late Jomon period in Japan. These early belief systems were quite fragmented from region to region and through the centuries until writing was introduced into Japan in the fifth century and Buddhism in the sixth century A.D. As a result of the former, the Kojiki -- the record of ancient things -- and the Nihonshoki -- the chronicles of Japan -- were put to paper shortly after writing took hold in Japan. Fundamentally, these two works were the first formal compilations of ancient belief systems and mythologies. The immediate result of the Kojiki and the Nihonshoki were that they officially legitimized the position of the Imperial Family. Additionally,….

Buddhism vs. Shinto
This report will compare and contrast the Shinto and Buddhism belief systems. There will also be a comparison between the art and architecture that is common to the two faiths. Some of the more Western religions have a place in countries like Japan but the Eastern religions obviously dominate in the area with Buddhism, Shinto and Zen being three of the major examples. These beliefs are so strongly entrenched with the Japanese people that they are part of the national identity and culture of the country, at least in the eyes of many of their people. While both of the religions are Eastern in their origin and they share some common traits, there are some obvious and easily explainable differences between the two as well.

Analysis

As noted in the introduction, many people in Japan regard the beliefs and religious habits of Japan as an inextricable and irreplaceable part of….

creation myth in the Shinto religion is a beautiful and poetic. The gods in the story appear out of nowhere and form the foundations of life. The story portrays Japan as the first land to be created. The story reads as follows (from a translation by Philippi and Joseph Campbell):
"When heaven and earth began, three deities came into being, The Spirit Master of the Center of Heaven, The August Wondrously Producing Spirit, and the Divine Wondrously Producing Ancestor. These three were invisible. The earth was young then, and land floated like oil, and from it reed shoots sprouted. From these reeds came two more deities. After them, five or six pairs of deities came into being, and the last of these were Izanagi and Izanami, whose names mean "The Male Who Invites" and "The Female who Invites" ... The first five deities commanded Izanagi and Izanami to make and….

Healthcare Philosophies of Christians and Shinto Followers
Christianity approaches healthcare from a rather different perspective as compared to Shintoism. The contemporary Western worldview is generally termed 'dualism', which incorporates the idea that evil and good are eternally and continuously locked in combat. Human advancement progresses via rhythms occurring within continuous environment-individual interaction. That is, nurses acquire knowledge of best caregiving practices by working with and understanding fellow human beings, engaging in honest communications with them, and viewing every patient as unique, from a biological, social, psychological, emotional, spiritual and cultural perspective. Christianity claims the Universe and its Creator ought to be considered the principal reality. Mankind views its surroundings using its respective cultural lens, experiences, and worldview. The world is not all evil and unethical; the existence of continuous aggression and brutality around us does not and, definitely, must not influence our worldview. Humanity is a biological specimen encountering immense complexity,….

Healthcare Philosophies of Christians and Shinto Followers
Every culture has its own worldview, and its own approach to the health of its people. The Christian philosophy when it comes to healthcare is quite different than the approach that believers in the Shinto faith take. This paper points to the worldviews of each of these faiths, and it uses the available literature to delve deeply into those worldviews and the differences / contrasts between the In the process of providing worldviews, this paper also offers answers to questions (hat is prime reality? hat is the nature of the world around us? hat is a human being? hat happens at death?

hy is it possible to know anything at all? How do we know right from wrong? hat is the meaning of human history?).

orldview / Faith & Health Philosophy from a Christian Perspective

In the book, Called to Care: A Christian orldview for Nursing, the….

These narratives were also intended to validate the Imperial house, showing its lineage back to the Sun Goddess Amaterasu, as other ethnic groups were warring against the Shinto and not accepting the Imperial House's rule.
Eventually, Shinto was made the official religion of Japan in hopes of unifying the country, and combining it with Buddhist beliefs was outlawed. Shinto beliefs spread to territories like Hokkaido and Korea. After World War II, it was no longer the state religion because the Emperor no longer claimed to be the living god. Shinto has remained, but without the same focus on mythology or divine Imperial family, and more focus on helping ordinary people have good relations with their ancestors. There are far less people that identify as Shinto today officially, but many offshoot religions in Japan remain highly influenced by Shinto..

The ritual is the most important aspect of Shinto; thus performing the ritual the right way is the most important part of worship in Shinto. The rituals serve to bind Japanese to their past as well; since the rituals themselves are sacred they do not change.
The other key element of Shinto is purification. iping clean restores the natural process, which is clean and beautiful, and free from pollution. For the Japanese, purity and religion are one and the same (Boyd & illiams, 1999).

Festivals are also important in Shinto. Adherents use festivals as a means to bring the community together. Festivals also become celebrations of ritual, or are held to ask the spirits for prosperity in a profession, or for a harvest.

orks Cited:

No author. (2009). Shinto at a glance. British Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved November 28, 2009 from http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/shinto/ataglance/glance.shtml

Boyd, J. & illiams, J. (1999). Artful means: An aesthetic view of Shinto….

Shinto, the indigenous religion of Japan, emphasizes nature to a considerable degree, a distinguishing feature of the faith. Buddhism offers a far more cerebral and philosophical approach, as well as pathways for personal psychological development. Unlike Shinto, Buddhism is not indigenous to Japan and is in fact a foreign religion that simply became entrenched there. In Japan, the two religions often fuse and their temples are found in close proximity to one another. They are not considered mutually exclusive or conflicting; they are both integral to Japanese identity, social norms, and culture.
Shinto places of worship are often referred to as shrines, although that translation is weak in the sense that in English, a shrine can convey a ritualistic altar to a dead person. Although Shinto does include ancestral worship as part of its core features, a Shinto shrine is simply a specific place that is deemed sacred space. To mark….

The Japanese myth partly resembles that of Adam and Eve present in the Bible and in the Quran. However, the first beings in Japan are considered to hold much more power than their equivalents in the west. Another resemblance between the Japanese legends and those in the west is the fact that the kami are considered to live in the high planes of Takamagahara, somewhat resembling mount Olympus, from Greek mythology. Japanese mythology is different from other mythologies through the fact that all of the deities involved in it are good in their character.

In the sixteenth century, when Buddhism entered Japan, the locals had a hard time keeping Shinto as their main religion, since it had not been an organized religion. Even with the fact that Buddhism had been spreading quickly around the country, the presence of Shinto could be felt everywhere, in people's lifestyles and in their culture.

Shintoists consider….

Another element shared in common by Shinto and Taoism is religious purity. The concept of purity is taken to a greater extreme in Shinto, in which physical illness is perceived as spiritual impurity. A Taoist is concerned with both physical and spiritual health, but practices Tai Chi and similar methods of calming and balancing body and mind.
Shinto is an indigenous Japanese religion, whereas Taoism originates in China. Although the two religions have different geographic origins and different means of worship, they share some elements in common. Both include reverence for ancestors or ancestral spirits, and both are concerned with physical and spiritual purity.

Written Assignment Unit Three

2. Discuss the process that led to the formation of the Talmud. Explain the basic contents of the Talmud and their relation to the Torah.

The Torah refers to the Hebrew Bible as a sacred text. The Talmud evolved as a living body of knowledge….