The Shinto Religion
Brent Petersen
Basics
• Origin: Japan • Demographics
• When: 500 B.C.E or • Population: 2.8-3.2 million
earlier is the estimate
• Where: Japan • Geo distribution: Mainly
Japan but there are places all
• Founded by: over the world
Unknown
A Universal Religion
• Shinto is a universal religion; but it is
mainly practiced by those who are natives
of Japan
• Shinto is hard for foreigners to understand
because it is pasted down from generation
to generation through the family
Practices
• Worship takes place in many different
ways in the Shinto religion; from praying
in home, shrines to participation in
festivals, and even dancing the ritual
dances called Kagura. “when girls perform,
they must be virgins, and relatively young
of age. Masked dances by men as well as
single man dances are also common.” ( The way
)
of the gods
Practices cont…
• “There are "Four Affirmations"in Shinto:
• Tradition and the family: The family is seen as the main
mechanism by which traditions are preserved. Their
main celebrations relate to birth and marriage.
• Love of nature: Nature is sacred; to be in contact with
nature is to be close to the Gods. Natural objects are
worshipped as sacred spirits.
• Physical cleanliness: Followers of Shinto take baths,
wash their hands, and rinse out their mouth often.
• "Matsuri": The worship and honor given to the Kami and
ancestral spirits.” (SHINTO)
General Beliefs
• Theistic religion to a certain extant
• It is Polytheistic
• There are thousands of Gods but only one
of them stands out and she is called
Amaterasu the sun goddess
• The thousands of other Gods are called
Kami, who make up the rain, earth, sky,
animals, ect…
The priesthood
• The Priest hood is loosly put together
• There are women priests who make up
“there are about two thousand female
priests among twenty thousand priests in
total” ( )
Shinto online network
Priesthood cont…
• “There are six grades for the priesthood: the Superior,
the First, the Second, the Semi-Second, the Third, the
Fourth grades. There are also five ranks for priesthood
called Johkai, Meikai, Seikai, Gon-Seikai, Chokkai. As to
grades above the semi-second, they are given only to
those who have served in shrines for more than twenty
years as priests, though they are some exceptional cases
according to educational background and the rank of
each priest.
• To become Guji (or the chief priest),it is required to
obtain ranks higher than Meikai in the case of serving for
certain eminent shrines.” (Shinto online network associantion)
Creation story
• “creation story tells of the history and lives of the "Kami"
(deities). Among them was a divine couple, Izanagi-no-
mikoto and Izanami-no-mikoto, who gave birth to the
Japanese islands. Their children became the deities of
the various Japanese clans. Amaterasu Omikami (Sun
Goddess) was one of their daughters. She is the
ancestress of the Imperial Family and is regarded as the
chief deity. Her shrine is at Ise. Her descendants unified
the country. Her brother, Susano came down from
heaven and roamed throughout the earth. He is famous
for killing a great evil serpent.” (SHINTO)
Ethics
• “Shinto was originally a natural religion which became
into existence in a village community. So, the concept of
a sin or of ethics is also form according to the value
system of the community
• Sins described as Kunitsu-Tusmi include injury, murder
including infant murder, incest, poisoning, cursing
• These human deeds were punished by the law as crimes
at the time of Ritsu (the criminal laws)” (Shinto online network
associantion )
Sects
• The Shinto religion has four major sects
that follow the faith
• Each sect in a way carries out it’s own
Koshitsu
duties
• They are the Koshitou, Jinja, Kyoha, and
the Minzoku
Koshitsu Shinto (The Shinto of
the Imperial House
• “This involves rituals performed by the emperor,
who the Japanese Constitution defines to be the
"symbol of the state and of the unity of the
people." The most important ritual is Niinamesai,
which makes an offering to the deities of the
first fruits of each year's grain harvest. Male and
female clergy (Shoten and Nai-Shoten) assist
the emperor in the performance of these rites.”
(Shinto)
Jinja (Shrine) Shinto
• “This is the largest Shinto group. It was the
original form of the religion; its roots date back
into pre-history. Until the end of World War II, it
was closely aligned with State Shinto. The
Emperor of Japan was worshipped as a living
God. Almost all shrines in Japan are members of
Jinja Honcho, the Association of Shinto Shrines.
It currently includes about 80,000 shrines as
members. The association urges followers of
Shinto” (Shinto)
Kyoha (Sectarian) Shinto (aka
Shuha Shinto)
• ”This consists of 13 sects which were
founded by individuals since the start of
the 19th century. Each sect has its own
beliefs and doctrines. Most emphasize
worship of their own central deity; some
follow a near-monotheistic religion”
• (Shinto)
Minzoku (Folk) Shinto this is not
a separate Shinto group
• “it has no formal central organization or
creed. It is seen in local rural practices
and rituals, e.g. small images by the side
of the road, agriculture rituals practiced by
individual families, etc. A rural community
will often select a layman annually, who
will be responsible for worshiping the local
deity.” (Shinto)
Afterlife
• “According to the Shinto faith, a human
spirit is believed to remain forever like the
spirit of Kami does.
• It can be said that Shinto is not a religion
which centralized its interests in the life
after death, but in this world.” (Shinto online network
)
association
Works cited
• Shinto Online Network Association
http://www.jinja.or.jp/english/
• SHINTO
• http://www.religioustolerance.org/shinto.
htm
• Shinto: The Way of the Gods
• http://www.trincoll.edu/zines/tj/tj4.4.96
/articles/cover.html
• The Shinto online network association
• http://www.jinja.or.jp/english/