Alongside of Buddhism, Shinto is Japan’s major religion that contributes to the Japanese philosophy of life. These two religions complement each other and coexisted for over a thousand years both culturally and socially to the life of Japanese people. It is also influenced by Confucianism and Taoism. Shinto is Japans state religion, created in the late 6th century. In 1868, the government forced Shinto and Buddhism to separate in the Meiji period. Meiji government ordered a separation of Shintoism and Buddhism in 1868 and proposed a state endorsement of Shintoism to complete a thorough elimination of imperialism (Nakao and Ohara, 2014). The religion and state split after World War 2. Unlike the bible, Shinto does not have a founder. Neither
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Shinto gods, also known as kami, are sacred spirits that take on forms of things like: animals, rivers, mountains, wind, rain, plants etc. The most important kami is Amaterasu, she is the greatest of all gods and goddess according to the oldest chronicle of Japan (Nakao and Ohara, 2014). Also known as, the sun goddess to her followers. The etiological myth of the Shinto dance is a key episode of Japanese mythology: when Amaterasu Omikami, the sun goddess, hid herself in a rock cave and darkness covered the world, the dancing of another goddess was the only means to lure out the sun goddess from her hiding place and restore the daylight (Klein, 2016). Kamis live in Shinto shrines which is also a place of worship. Shrines can be found in their homes or they can visit a public shrine. Shrines can be visited leisurely at their …show more content…
Followers of Shinto have a very optimistic faith. Shintos’ practice rituals that are in hopes to ward off evil spirits. The teaching of Shinto is that when bad things happen, it happens because of an evil spirit. They believe that the evils spirits corrupt us. Devilish Kamis are the ones to blame for trouble in Shinto. They try to keep evil spirits away by performing rituals such as: making offerings to the kami, purification and prayers. Harae (purification) is performed to reestablish order and balance between nature, humans, and deities (Bernard,
Shinto gods, also known as kami, are sacred spirits that take on forms of things like: animals, rivers, mountains, wind, rain, plants etc. The most important kami is Amaterasu, she is the greatest of all gods and goddess according to the oldest chronicle of Japan (Nakao and Ohara, 2014). Also known as, the sun goddess to her followers. The etiological myth of the Shinto dance is a key episode of Japanese mythology: when Amaterasu Omikami, the sun goddess, hid herself in a rock cave and darkness covered the world, the dancing of another goddess was the only means to lure out the sun goddess from her hiding place and restore the daylight (Klein, 2016). Kamis live in Shinto shrines which is also a place of worship. Shrines can be found in their homes or they can visit a public shrine. Shrines can be visited leisurely at their …show more content…
Followers of Shinto have a very optimistic faith. Shintos’ practice rituals that are in hopes to ward off evil spirits. The teaching of Shinto is that when bad things happen, it happens because of an evil spirit. They believe that the evils spirits corrupt us. Devilish Kamis are the ones to blame for trouble in Shinto. They try to keep evil spirits away by performing rituals such as: making offerings to the kami, purification and prayers. Harae (purification) is performed to reestablish order and balance between nature, humans, and deities (Bernard,