Shintō literature and mythology
- Key People:
- Hayashi Razan
- Motoori Norinaga
- Related Topics:
- Zen
- jinja
- gagaku
- State Shintō
- Shugen-dō
Broadly speaking, Shintō has no founder. When the Japanese people and Japanese culture became aware of themselves, Shintō was already there. Nor has it any official scripture that can be compared to the Bible in Judaism and Christianity or to the Qurʾān in Islam. The Kojiki (“Records of Ancient Matters”) and the Nihon shoki (“Chronicles of Japan”) are regarded in a sense as sacred books of Shintō. They were written in 712 and 720 ce, respectively, and are compilations of the oral traditions of ancient Shintō. But they are also books about the history, topography, and literature of ancient Japan. It is possible to construct Shintō doctrines from them by interpreting the myths and religious practices they describe.
Stories partially similar to those found in Japanese mythology can be found in the myths of Southeast Asia, and in the style of description in Japanese myths some Chinese influence is detectable. The core of the mythology, however, consists of tales about the sun goddess Amaterasu Ōmikami, the ancestress of the Imperial Household, and tales of how her direct descendants unified the Japanese people under their authority. In the beginning, according to Japanese mythology, a certain number of kami simply emerged, and a pair of kami, Izanagi and Izanami, gave birth to the Japanese islands, as well as to the kami who became ancestors of the various clans. Amaterasu, the ruler of Takama no Hara; the moon god Tsukiyomi no Mikoto; and Susanoo (Susanowo) no Mikoto, the ruler of the nether regions, were the most important among them. A descendant of Amaterasu, Jimmu, is said to have become the first emperor of Japan. Japanese mythology says that the Three Sacred Treasures (the mirror, the sword, and the jewels), which are still the most revered symbols of the Imperial Household, were first given by Amaterasu to her grandson. The Inner Shrine (Naikū) of the Ise-jingū is dedicated to this ancestral goddess and is the most venerated shrine in Shintō.
The Japanese classics also contain myths and legends concerning the so-called 800 myriads of kami (yao-yorozu no kami). Some of them are the tutelary deities of clans and later became the tutelary kami of their respective local communities. Many others, however, are not enshrined in sanctuaries and have no direct connections with the actual Shintō faith.
Doctrines
Concept of the sacred
At the core of Shintō are beliefs in the mysterious creating and harmonizing power (musubi) of kami and in the truthful way or will (makoto) of kami. The nature of kami cannot be fully explained in words, because kami transcends the cognitive faculty of humans. Devoted followers, however, are able to understand kami through faith and usually recognize various kami in polytheistic form.
Parishioners of a shrine believe in their tutelary kami as the source of human life and existence. Each kami has a divine personality and responds to truthful prayers. The kami also reveals makoto to people and guides them to live in accordance with it. In traditional Japanese thought, truth manifests itself in empirical existence and undergoes transformation in infinite varieties in time and space. Makoto is not an abstract ideology. It can be recognized every moment in every individual thing in the encounter between humans and kami.
In Shintō all the deities are said to cooperate with one another, and life lived in accordance with a kami’s will is believed to produce a mystical power that gains the protection, cooperation, and approval of all the particular kami.
Precepts of truthfulness and purification
As the basic attitude toward life, Shintō emphasizes makoto no kokoro (“heart of truth”), or magokoro (“true heart”), which is usually translated as “sincerity, pure heart, uprightness.” This attitude follows from the revelation of the truthfulness of kami in humans. It is, generally, the sincere attitude of people in doing their best in the work they have chosen or in their relationships with others, and the ultimate source of such a life attitude lies in one’s awareness of the divine.
Although Shintō ethics do not ignore individual moral virtues such as loyalty, filial piety, love, faithfulness, and so forth, it is generally considered more important to seek magokoro, which constitutes the dynamic life-attitude that brings forth these virtues. In ancient scriptures magokoro was interpreted as “bright and pure mind” or “bright, pure, upright, and sincere mind.” Purification, both physical and spiritual, is stressed even in contemporary Shintō to produce such a state of mind. The achievement of this state of mind is necessary in order to make communion between kami and humans possible and to enable individuals to accept the blessings of kami.
Nature of humanity and other beliefs
In Shintō it is commonly said that “man is kami’s child.” First, this means that people are given life by kami and that their nature is therefore sacred. Second, it means that daily life is made possible by kami, and, accordingly, the personalities and lives of people are worthy of respect. Individuals must revere the basic human rights of everyone (regardless of race, nationality, and other distinctions) as well as their own. The concept of original sin is not found in Shintō. On the contrary, humanity is considered to have a primarily divine nature. In actuality, however, this sacred nature is seldom revealed in human beings. Purification is considered symbolically to remove the dust and impurities that cover one’s inner mind.
Shintō is described as a religion of tsunagari (“continuity or communion”). The Japanese, while recognizing each human being as an individual personality, do not take each to be a solitary being separated from others. On the contrary, one is regarded as the bearer of a long continuous history that comes down from one’s ancestors and continues in one’s descendants. An individual is also considered as a responsible constituent of various social groups.
Motoori Norinaga stated that the human world keeps growing and developing while continuously changing. Similarly, Japanese mythology speaks of an eternity of history in the divine edict of Amaterasu. In its view of history, Shintō adheres to the cyclical approach, according to which there is a constant recurrence of historical patterns. Shintō does not have the concept of the “last day”: there is no end of the world or of history. One of the divine edicts of Amaterasu says:
This Reed-plain-1,500-autumns-fair-rice-ear Land is the region which my descendants shall be lords of. Do thou, my August Grandchild, proceed thither and govern it. Go! and may prosperity attend thy dynasty, and may it, like Heaven and Earth, endure forever.
Modern Shintōists interpret this edict as revealing the eternal development of history as well as the eternity of the dynasty. From the viewpoint of finite individuals, Shintōists also stress naka-ima (“middle present”), which repeatedly appears in the Imperial edicts of the 8th century. According to this point of view, the present moment is the very centre in the middle of all conceivable times. In order to participate directly in the eternal development of the world, it is required of Shintōists to live fully each moment of life, making it as worthy as possible.
Historically, the ujigami of each local community played an important role in combining and harmonizing different elements and powers. The Imperial system, which has been supported by the Shintō political philosophy, is an example of unity and harmony assuming the highest cultural and social position in the nation. After the Meiji Restoration (1868), Shintō was used as a means of spiritually unifying the people during repeated wars. Since the end of World War II, the age-old desire for peace has been reemphasized. The General Principles of Shintō Life proclaimed by the Association of Shintō Shrines in 1956 has the following article: “In accordance with the Emperor’s will, let us be harmonious and peaceful, and pray for the nation’s development as well as the world’s co-prosperity.”
Ritual practices and institutions
Shintō does not have a weekly religious service. People visit shrines at their convenience. Some may go to the shrines on the 1st and 15th of each month and on the occasions of rites or festivals (matsuri), which take place several times a year. Devotees, however, may pay respect to the shrine every morning.
Rites of passage
Various Shintō rites of passage are observed in Japan. The first visit of a newborn baby to the tutelary kami, which occurs 30 to 100 days after birth, is to initiate the baby as a new adherent. The Shichi-go-san (Seven-Five-Three) festival on November 15 is the occasion for boys of five years and girls of three and seven years of age to visit the shrine to give thanks for kami’s protection and to pray for their healthy growth. January 15 is Adults’ Day. Youth in the village used to join the local young men’s association on this day. At present it is the commemoration day for those Japanese who have attained their 20th year. The Japanese usually have their wedding ceremonies in Shintō style and pronounce their wedding vows to kami. Shintō funeral ceremonies, however, are not popular. The majority of the Japanese are Buddhist and Shintōist at the same time and have their funerals in Buddhist style. A traditional Japanese house has two family altars: one, Shintō, for their tutelary kami and the goddess Amaterasu Ōmikami, and another, Buddhist, for the family ancestors. Pure Shintō families, however, will have all ceremonies and services in Shintō style. There are other Shintō matsuri concerning occupations or daily life, such as a ceremony of purifying a building site or for setting up the framework for a new building, a firing or purifying ceremony for the boilers in a new factory, a completion ceremony for a construction works, or a launching ceremony for a new ship.
Varieties of festival, worship, and prayer
Each Shintō shrine has several major festivals each year, including the Spring Festival (Haru Matsuri, or Toshigoi-no-Matsuri; Prayer for Good Harvest Festival), Autumn Festival (Aki Matsuri, or Niiname-sai; Harvest Festival), an Annual Festival (Rei-sai), and the Divine Procession (Shinkō-sai). The Divine Procession usually takes place on the day of the Annual Festival, and miniature shrines (mikoshi) carried on the shoulders are transported through the parish. The order of rituals at a grand festival is usually as follows:
- Purification rites (harae)—commonly held at a corner of the shrine precincts before participants come into the shrine but sometimes held within the shrine before beginning a ceremony.
- Adoration—the chief priest and all the congregation bow to the altar.
- Opening of the door of the inner sanctuary (by the chief priest).
- Presentation of food offerings—rice, sake wine, rice cakes, fish, seaweed, vegetables, salt, water, etc., are offered but animal meat is not, because of the taboo on shedding blood in the sacred area. In the past cooked food was usually offered to kami, but nowadays uncooked food is more often used. In accordance with this change, the idea of entertaining kami changed to that of thanksgiving.
- Prayer—the chief priest recites prayers (norito) modeled on ancient Shintō prayers. These prayers were compiled in the early 10th century and were based on the old belief that spoken words had spiritual potency.
- Sacred music and dance.
- General offering—participants in the festival make symbolic offerings using little branches of the evergreen sacred tree to which strips of white paper are tied.
- Taking offerings away.
- Shutting the door of the inner sanctuary.
- Final adoration.
- Feast (naorai).
In the olden days naorai, a symbolic action in which participants held communion with kami by having the same food offered to the deity, came in the middle of the festival ceremony. The custom is still observed sometimes at the Imperial Household and at some old shrines, but it is more common to have communion with kami by drinking the offered sake after the festival. Since World War II it has become popular to have a brief sermon or speech before the feast.
Most Shintō festivals are observed generally in accordance with the above-mentioned order. On such occasions as the Annual Festival, various special rites may be held—for example, special water purification (misogi) and confinement in shrines for devotional purposes (o-komori), the procession of a sacred palanquin (o-miyuki) or of boats (funa matsuri), a ceremonial feast (tōya matsuri), sumo wrestling, horseback riding (kurabe-uma), archery (matoi), a lion dance (shishi mai), and a rice-planting festival (o-taue matsuri).
