Week 8, chapter 9 Shinto PDF

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Week 8, chapter 9 Shinto.

Name: Irving Chan

Using our text answer the following questions. Answer in complete sentences, in your own words. 1.Why is the concept of Kami so central to Shinto beliefs? Kami is the core of Shinto. Kami refers to anything that is out of the ordinary, awe-inspiring, mysterious, powerful, marvelous, and beyond human control or comprehension. The core belief of Shinto centers on the kami and Japan’s unique relationship with them. Kami holds mysterious and tremendous powers in nature and in the human world, and powers that have been the object of worship in Japan since prehistoric times. Blessing and protection are believed to come from kami; therefore, the worship of them is understood either as thanksgiving or as pleading for divine gifts. Kami is best describe in nature. Illustrious objects in the sky like the sun, moon, mountains, waterfalls, are all regarded as kami. The kami is also (to humans) the ancestors of clans and communities, the heroes and powerful individuals, the emperors and some of their high officials deserve to be worshiped because they all exemplify godly qualities. The kami makes the Japanese view nature and human community with awe and respect. 2. Discuss the role women play in Shinto. Shinto’s mythology includes many powerful female figures and forces. Shinto priestesses constitute as integral part of the Shinto clergy and are found in many of the larger shrines all over Japan. Females participate in Shinto rites performed by their male counterparts. A miko who is an unmarried female shrine attendant has importance too. All shinto shrines have miko performing a variety of important functions. They are entrusted to perform the sacred dance of kangaru at festivals and other ritual occasions. They also serve as secretaries in shrine offices, sell amulets and other trinkets at shrine gift shops. Japan’s New Religions have a noticeable amount of women who are founders. These new religious groups are heavily indented to Shinto beliefs. Women in Shinto play a considerable powerful role in Shinto. 3. What role does/did Shinto play in bolstering nationalistic sentiments in Japan? The divine origin of the imperial family and of the reigning emperor had been asserted right from the beginning. The principle of saisei-itchi, “unity of the religious and the political”, guided government operations. Nationalist and royalists expressed their Shinto beliefs in sentiments showing strong advocacy of japan’s special position and the emperor's’ sacred nature. Another sentiments is a work entitled Jinno shotoki, by Kitabatake Chikafusa. A Shinto revivalist movement took hold in Japan, that such sentiments came to be even more extravagantly expressed. There was also a Japanese Learning ( Kokugaku), which preserved the very essence of Japanese culture by ridding the country of all foreign elements. A prime moving force was the chauvinistic sentiments, buttressed by revived nationalistic Shinto, brought down the last feudal military government and ushered in an imperial Restoration.

4. While there are rivalries and competition among the three major Faith's in Japan, there has been an absence of religious wars, please explain why. There has been an absence of religious wars because the reaction of Shinto practitioners was accommodation and adaptation. Shinto adopted Confucian moral principles with little resistance. Shinto kami became the guardians and protectors of the newly arrived Buddha and his various manifestations. And sometime later, Buddhas and bodhisattvas in turn became saviors of the kami. Buddhist monks were also in charge of Shinto shrines. The convergence of Shinto and Buddhism and Confucianism in Japan has been credited with the formulation of the samurai. Shino is complemented by Confucianism and Buddhism to allow the Japanese the full experience of a religious life.

5. Why is the sun central to Japan’s national identity? The sun is the chief deity responsible for the rise of the Japanese state. It is the most illustrious object in the sky, portrayed as female. It signifies their god, the Sun Goddess Amaterasu, the ancestress of the Japanese royal family....