Shinto
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There are many religions in the world. Some are more well known than others. One of the lesser known Asian religion is the Japanese religion Shinto. It has been around for millenniums and it is among the many religions in Japan. It is the original religion of the Japanese empire.
The origin of Shinto is hard to pin down. There is no one person or group that is known to have started Shinto (Molloy p256). The mysteries history date back to the ancient people of Japan and their lore of how the world began. It seems this religion seems to have arisen from the humans awareness of the power of nature. This brings the people that practice Shinto closer to nature. They also have a belief that sprites in habit all parts of nature.
Now Shinto is more than just a nature religion. It has an ethic and dimensions. There is a sprite worship aspect of this religion. They worship the spirits of departed family members and ancestors. Also they worship Great people in the history of Japan, like the emperor that help modernized Japan (Molly p256). This is not uncommon in ancient religions that worship nature and spirits like this one.
The name of the religion is from the translation of a Chinese word shen-dao which means “the way of the gods”. The Japanese translation is Shinto. This only happen after Buddhist from China cam to Japan. Before then it did not have a name. It was just what every one did.
The heart of the Shinto beliefs is the sensitivity to the mysterious powers of nature. Their gods that are called Kami and are not thought to be beings living in another, distant realm. Rather as powers in or near this world whose presence might be felt. The Kami are seen in the trees and mountains and also in more terrifying storms or if someone is lost at sea (Molly 263). The kami are seen as the ones that animate nature. They make the wind blow and volcanoes to spew lava and the earth to shake.
The kami are treated as people and are given human names. This allows them to be approached by people and feel closely related to them. The have five major gods: Izanami the female who invites, Inzanagi the male who invites, Amaterasu the sun spirit, Tsukiyomi the moon spirit, and Susanowo the wind spirit (Molly 257-258). There are also lesser gods : god of fire, goddess of grain, ocean spirits, and mountain spirits.
Now Ancestors also seen to become kami. This is to live close and be ready to return to see how their descendants are fairing. By believing in this, this allows them to maintain a connection with family and clan members. They respect the dead for the love of past members of their family and also the fear of the unknown.
Shinto has no clearly defined code of ethics but a type of morality does flow from the Shinto system of values and its way of looking at life. There is no since of guilt or sin found in Shinto. The person is looked upon as fundamentally good, the body is good and this earthly life is good. Shinto worships fertility and the new life that is brings (Molly 264). Sex is seen as a positive and with out quilt. There are wooden carvings of sexual imagery in the temples.
Shinto, unlike other religions, does not focus on death. It does the exact opposite and focuses on life. This is due to the fact that Shinto worships the life force which it works to counteract whatever brings sickness or death (Molly 264). According to Shinto, one must keep body, clothing, house, and mind clean and unpolluted. If any of those things become dirty, they must be cleaned and blessed. In Japan cleaning, washing, and sweeping have religious implications. A persons character and relations must be unstained and healthy (Molly 264).
Since the kami are everywhere, living with them demands that we show them reverence. For one who practices Shinto, they can show this reverence by visiting a shrine, which are the kamis homes. Another way is to show respect to the nature around you. This is the reason for Japans high esteem for farming and carpentry. Respecting nature is also maintaining harmony with nature in all its processes.
There many shrines in Japan and surrounding islands. People visit these shrines to pray for health, success in their school work