In today’s modern world societies know of the big religions like Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, but the majority of the world could not tell you about the Shinto religion. The Shinto religion is a very rich religion that beliefs in spirits, nature, and purity. This plays a part of everyday life in Japan. Shinto does not meet all the stipulations of most modern religions and there is not missionaries whom spread the religion outside of Japan. The Shinto religion utilizes shrines and various rituals like most eastern religions. One reason Shinto has survived for so long is that it is a state sponsored religion by the Japanese government. Shinto traits are seen in art, anime, television, movies, and books that make it out of Japan. This brings on the question, what is Shinto? The Shinto religion dates back to between 300 BCE to 700 BCE in Japan (“Religion Library: Shinto.”, Littleton 6).
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Everything in nature or the world is referred to as contain the nature of kami. They are not like a traditional deity and are usually broken up into three types. The first type of kami are associated with nature and the effects of nature on society. The second type of kami are associated with family ancestors who have passed away but continue to look after the family. The third type of kami are souls of auspicious dead, which are souls of soldiers and those whom die in war. Izangai and Izanami are the first kami. They are believed to have joined together to create the universe. When Izanami died, Izangai endured a purification ritual and created Amaterasu from his eye socket. Amaterasu became known as the Sun goddess and is one of the most prominent Shinto Kami. Japan is known as the land of the rising sun and Amaterasu is usually identified with Japan itself. Amaterasu is considered both a nature kami and an ancestor kami, whose lineage are the emperors of Japan (“Shinto
Everything in nature or the world is referred to as contain the nature of kami. They are not like a traditional deity and are usually broken up into three types. The first type of kami are associated with nature and the effects of nature on society. The second type of kami are associated with family ancestors who have passed away but continue to look after the family. The third type of kami are souls of auspicious dead, which are souls of soldiers and those whom die in war. Izangai and Izanami are the first kami. They are believed to have joined together to create the universe. When Izanami died, Izangai endured a purification ritual and created Amaterasu from his eye socket. Amaterasu became known as the Sun goddess and is one of the most prominent Shinto Kami. Japan is known as the land of the rising sun and Amaterasu is usually identified with Japan itself. Amaterasu is considered both a nature kami and an ancestor kami, whose lineage are the emperors of Japan (“Shinto