Kami

past and existing cultures, helping us to understand how others have lived and what they valued. During feudal Japan, the country was influenced by two main beliefs, Shintoism and Buddhism. Shinto was established first in Japan depicting mystical kami (gods) that would interact and shape the lives of the people of Japan. Later on Buddhism was brought to Japan, this brought to Japan a new set of ethics and deities. Throughout the years, these two melded into one belief, Zen. These religions were…

“It was an all black school no mixed, no white, just black, until I came forgot to mention I’m Kami I am going to let someone else take over the story. She was a brunette fading into strawberry blonde, skin as soft as a new peach that everybody admired. People never saw half-white, half-black girl before in their life. People wanted to be her friend everybody loved her. Then they realized why was my skin tone different. People started asking her why do you have light skin? What state do you…

1. In what sense are the two notions of Yin and Yang fundamental to the understanding of Chinese religions? According to Mark Cartwright, the Yin and Yan are fundamental to the understanding of Chinese religions because it explains the Chinese principle that all things exist as inseparable and contradictory opposites, for example, day and night, male and female or hot and cold. The two opposites attract and complement each other and, as their symbol illustrates, each side has at its core an…

Shinto originated in China before becoming a Japanese religion. It is an ancient religion. Shinto’s history specifies “that everyone who is Japanese is related to the creators of the island, (Durham, B. 2018).” This religion has no holy scripture, founder or specific instructions (Durham, B. 2018). “Shinto is a religion of formal rituals and inner feelings more than of doctrines, ethics, and organization (Voorst, 2013).” It didn’t get its name until much later so it wasn’t confused with Buddhism…

participants (no. 1), “…hindi naman nakakaapekto yung gender preference ko eh sa attraction ko…ang pagiging bakla kasi ngayon ay parang normal na lang diba dahil nga marami na kami ,...tsaka pantay na sa ngayon yung tingin sa mga bakla at babae (tumawa)… sa kapartner ko?, hindi naman nakakaapekto ang pagiging gay ko kasi tanggap naman kami ng mga jowa namin. “ …gender preference does not affect my attraction… nowadays, being gay is normal because our diversity is increasing simultaneously…also,…

500BCE or even earlier. The word ‘Shinto’ means, ‘The way of the Gods’. During the 8th century CE, both Shinto and Buddhism became the official religions of Japan. The ‘Buddha’ for the Shinto religion was the ‘Kami’. Kami were ‘Divine spirits that dwell within nature’. People believed that Kami could be found in many different forms, anything unusual or beautiful in nature or in exceptional people. They believed Izanagi-no-mikoto and Izanami-no-mikoto, a divine couple, gave birth to Japanese…

Japan in the 1600s and 1700s was controlled by a system of Tokugawa shoguns who ruled effectively. They instituted union, order, and peace during the reign. Japan was unified under 3 important leaders, Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and Tokugawa Ieyasu who enforced unification within Japan. During this time Japan was going through many changes too, like urbanization, creating an ordered society, and also sustaining traditional ways. The two major religions in the 1600s and 1700s were…

During the fifteenth century, the Muromachi culture arose in Japan, which was influenced by Zen Buddhism. The shoguns supported Zen Buddhism where it was associated with the school of Buddhism that dealt with meditation and mind-to-mind transmission of truth. Zen continued to flourish and influence the Japanese culture. The idea of Zen focused on the simplicity side of things and that idea permeated through the arts such as Nō theatre. The Ashikaga shoguns were patrons of the Nō theatre. This…

different. For example, Shintoism teaches its followers about the spirits called “kami” that inhabit the world, Confucianism teaches that personal excellence comes from virtues, and Taoism focuses on the balance of the yin and yang we have in our lives (Stanlick). These ways of thinking can represent a nation so…

Religion is additionally an important element and dimension the makes up the Japanese culture. Japan’s religious background is not always easy to grasp and can consequently present itself as unclear to western cultures. Outside of the indigenous spirituality of Shintoism, Buddhism arrived in Japan from Korea around the 6th Century, while the minority religion of Christianity was brought to Japan ten centuries later by Jesuit missionaries (Crane, Bruce, Salmon, Eich, & Brandewie, 2012). Japan’s…