Presentation (2) 031210

Shinto
What is Shinto?
• Shinto does not have a founder nor does it have

sacrared scriptures like the sutras or the bible.
• Propaganda and preaching are not common either
because shinto is deeply rooted in the Japanese people
and traditions.
• Shinto or Shintoism , is the religion
started in Japan.Classified as an East
Asian religion by scholars of
religion,its practitioner shintoists,
although
Adherent rarely use that term
• Shintō consists of the traditional Japanese religious practices as
well as the beliefs and life attitudes that are in accord with these
practices. Shintō is more readily observed in the social life of
the Japanese people and in their personal motivations than in a
pattern of formal belief or philosophy. It remains closely
connected with the Japanese value system and the Japanese
people’s ways of thinking and acting.
• The indigenous religion of Japan consisting
chiefly in the cultic devotion to deities of natural
forces and veneration of the emperor as a
descendant of the sun goddess.
• Shinto is polytheistic and revovles around
the kami, supernatural entities believed
inhabit all things.
• The link between the kami and the natural
world has led to Shinto being considered
animistic.
History 1900
• Much remains unknown about religion in Japan during the
Paleolithic and Neolithic ages. It is unlikely, however, that the
religion of these ages has any direct connection with Shintō.
Yayoi culture, which originated in the northern area of the
island of Kyushu in about the 3rd or 2nd century BCE, is directly
related to later Japanese culture and hence to Shintō. Among the
primary Yayoi religious phenomena were agricultural rites and
shamanism.
How did the Shinto religion start?
• Sect Shinto (Kyoha Shinto) is a relatively new

movement consisting of 13 major sects that
originated in Japan around 19th Century and of
several others that emerged after world war 2.
Each sect was organized into a religious body by
either a founder or a systematizer.
• During the Meiji era (1868 to 1912), Japan’s nationalist leadership
expelled Buddhist influence from kami worship and formed State Shinto,
which some historians regard as the origin of Shinto as a distinct religion.
Shrines came under growing government influence, and citizens were
encouraged to worship the emperor as a kami. With the formation of the
Japanese Empire in the early 20th century, Shinto was exported to other
areas of East Asia. Following Japan’s defeat in World War II, Shinto was
formally separated from the state.
Who is the God of Shinto?
• “shinto gods” are called Kami.

• They are sacred spirits which take the forms of things
and concepts important to life, such as wind,rain,
mountains,trees,rivers and fertility. Humans become
“Kami” after they die and are revered by their families
as ancestral Kami.
• Amaterasu Omikami – is the shinto sun goddess
from which the Japanese imperial family claimed
descent. Its said that she was birthed from the left
eye of Izanagi when he washed the remnants of
the underworld from his face after fleeing from his
wife Izanami.
• The Kami workshiped at kamidana household
shrines,family shrines and ninja public shrines.The
latter are staffed by priests, known as kannushi who
knows oversee offerings food and drinks to the specific
kami enshrined at that location.This is done to cultivate
harmony between humans and kami and to solicit the
latters blessings .
What is the traditional Japanese gate?
• “Torii” is a traditional Japanese gate most commonly found at

the entrance of or within a shinto shrine, where it sybolically
marks the transition from the mundane to the sacred.
• The presence of a torii at the entrance is usually the simplest
way to identify Shinto shrines and a small torii icon represents
them on Japanese road maps.
• The first appearance of torii gates in Japan can be
reliably pinpointed to atleast the mid HEIAN
PERIOD. The oldest existing stone was built in the
12th century.
• They belongs to a Hachiman Shrine in Yamagata
Prefecture.
What is there belief system?
• Shinto is an Optimistic faith, as humans ate thought to

be fundamentally good, and evil is believed to be
caused by evil spirits.
• Consequently, the purpose of most shinto rituals is to
keep away evil spirits by purification prayers and
offerings to the Kami.
• The main beliefs of Shinto are the importance of purity,
harmony, respect for nature, family respect, and
subordination of the individual before the group. There
are many Shinto gods or spirits and these have shrines
dedicated to them where people offer food, money and
prayers.
How does shinto affect Japanese culture?
• Shinto beliefs have become so intertwined with

Japanese culture that the two are often difficult to
separate. The Japanese have a great respect for nature,
family, and ancestors, and they often promote the group
above the individual. All of these ideas come from
Shinto.
Origin of Shinto
The origins lie deep in prehistory. Its main elements probably appeared from the 4 th
century BCE onward. Although most Shinto worship relates to earthly kami, Shinto
texts written around 700 CE also mention heavenly kami, who are responsible for
creating the world.
Shinto is often cited alongside Buddhism as one of Japan’s two main religions, and
the two often differ in focus, with Buddhism emphasizing the idea of transcending
the cosmos, which it regards as being replete with suffering, while Shinto focuses on
adapting to the pragmatic requirements of life.
Shinto Rituals
Purification – this takes place before the main ceremony.
Adoration – bowing to the altar.
Opening of the sanctuary.
Presentation of food offerings (meat cannot be used as an offering)
Prayers (the form of prayers dates from the 10th century CE)
• Music and dance.
Shinto afterlife beliefs
• The afterlife, and belief, are not major concerns in

Shinto; the emphasis is on fitting into this world instead
of preparing for the next, and on ritual and observance
rather than on faith.
Shinto Funerals
Death is seen as impure and conflicting with the essential purity of Shinto shrines. For the
same reason, cemeteries are not built near Shinto shrines.
The result of this is that most Japanese have Buddhist or secular funerals, and cremation is
common. Shinto funerals, when they occur, are called Sosai, and are largely developed from
Buddhist funeral rites.
• The funerals are usually conducted by lay people not priests (because the contact with
death would be too polluting for priests) and do not take place in shrines.
Shinto Today
• People seek support from shinto by praying at

a home altar or visiting shrines.A whole range
of talismans are available at shrines for traffic
safety,good health, success in business,safe
childbirth,good exam performance and more.
• “Acknowledging the good that we already
have in our life, is the foundation for all
abundance.”💖
thankyou!!

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Shinto

• Shinto does not have a founder nor does it have

• Sect Shinto (Kyoha Shinto) is a relatively new

• “shinto gods” are called Kami.

• “Torii” is a traditional Japanese gate most commonly found at

• Shinto is an Optimistic faith, as humans ate thought to

• Shinto beliefs have become so intertwined with

• The afterlife, and belief, are not major concerns in

• People seek support from shinto by praying at

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