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{Dоwnlоаd/Rеаd PDF Bооk} a New History of Shinto A NEW HISTORY OF SHINTO PDF, EPUB, EBOOK John Breen,Mark Teeuwen | 280 pages | 19 Jan 2010 | John Wiley and Sons Ltd | 9781405155168 | English | Chicester, United Kingdom A New History of Shinto | Green Shinto But this is in no way to detract from the many strengths of the book. Curiously for a history, it provides a particularly useful survey of the contemporary scene, in which the reader learns about such matters as the financing of shrines, the number of visitors, and the percentage of the population that partake in Shinto rites. The suggestion is of a disconnect between policy makers and ordinary practitioners. Non-mainstream Shinto is also featured, with illuminating sections on Fushimi Inari, the Yasukuni controversy, and Sectarian Shinto. There are important matters discussed here that feature in no other book in English of which I know. The Golden Rock at Hie Shrine, where worship probably originated. Its influence is likely to be long-lasting. At the end one is left pondering what exactly is this puzzling thing called Shinto? Your email address will not be published. Your email:. Skip to primary content. Skip to secondary content. Search for:. The following book review by John Dougill first appeared this summer in Japan Review vol. Books on Shinto used to be scarce. Walk into a bookshop and you were lucky to find one at all. Buddhist priests were stripped of their status, and new Shinto priests were often appointed to shrines with a tacit mission to purify them. Once again, this zeal for the reformation and purifying of Shinto did not last, and within a few years shrines were cautiously re-incorporating elements from Buddhism or tribal tradition. Shinto was enthusiastically promoted by Japan's militaristic rulers, who stressed that the emperor was a divine being, directly descended from the gods who had given birth to the Japanese islands. Shinto became the glue that bound the Japanese people together with a powerful mix of devotion to kami, ancestor-worship, and group loyalty to family and nation. It was during this period that Shinto was declared 'non-religious'. Traditional historians say rather cynically that this was done to avoid any conflict between the imposition of Shinto by the Japanese state and the Japanese constitution's guarantee of religious freedom. In fact it was more subtle than that - Shinto was regarded as inseparable from the 'Imperial Way' and inseparable from the fundamental ethical and social code of Japan. This made Shinto so superior to other religions which, although of enormous value, were created by human beings that it counted as non-religious. In his criticism of popular conceptions of Shinto, historian Kuroda Toshio explains that it has come to be regarded as "the cultural will or energy of the Japanese people, embodied in conventions that precede or transcend religion". Shinto was disestablished in , when the Emperor lost his divine status as part of the Allied reformation of Japan. The Emperor wrote:. The ties between Us and Our people have always stood on mutual trust and affection. They do not depend upon mere legends and myths. They are not predicated on the false conception that the Emperor is divine, and that the Japanese people are superior to other races and fated to rule the world. One academic has written that the American Occupation Forces "undoubtedly wished to crush and destroy Shinto", and certainly the orders issued by the occupying forces were very hostile to Shinto which they seem to have regarded as either a government-run cult, or a religion that had been converted into a military and nationalist ideology. No religious organization shall receive any privileges from the State, nor exercise any political authority. Despite the loss of official status Shinto still remains a very significant player in Japanese spirituality and everyday life. And despite the non-divine status of the Emperor, considerable religious ritual and mysticism still surrounds many Imperial ceremonies. Experts don't agree as to when Shinto became a unified religion rather than just a convenient label to give to the different but similar faiths found in Japan, so any history of Shinto is bound to cover a wide range of beliefs and traditions. The scholar Kuroda Toshio has suggested that the traditional view of Shinto as the indigenous religion of Japan stretching back into pre-history is wrong. He argues that Shinto didn't emerge as a separate religion until comparatively modern times, and that this happened for political reasons. The traditional view, he says, is a modern construction of Shinto that has been projected back into history. The truth, he says, is that for most of Japanese history, Shinto amounted to no more than part of a complicated spiritual view of the world that for most of the time contained as much Buddhism as Shinto. Some writers suggest that Shinto is actually not so much a religion as "the seamless cultural-religious historical backdrop " in front of which the various religious experiences of Japan are played out - "a backdrop which transforms and interprets those religious experiences and imposes on them a continuity that they would otherwise lack". Although ancient and modern Shinto are not linked by a single institution, the shrines, structures, and rituals of modern Shinto are so similar to those of ancient Shinto as to provide a clear chain of identity. There have been several periods in Japanese history when attempts have been made, with varying success, to impose a centralised and imperial Shinto on various local shrine cults. These centralisations usually allowed local variations to flourish within the localities - and this freedom may well have accounted for the survival of Shinto throughout different Japanese communities. Search term:. Read more. This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets CSS enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets CSS if you are able to do so. This page has been archived and is no longer updated. Find out more about page archiving. Shinto history Last updated Introduction Shinto history Shinto has been a major part of Japanese life and culture throughout the country's history, but for the greater part of that history Shinto has shared its spiritual, cultural, and political roles with Buddhism and Confucianism. Periods of Shinto history One of the standard classifications of Shinto history reduces it to four major periods: Before the arrival of Buddhism in Japan Shinto and Buddhism together in Japan The Meiji reinterpretation of Shinto in the 19th century Shinto after World War II Historians encounter some problems when trying to understand Shinto history as a discrete narrative. Before Buddhism Before the arrival of Buddhism Tosho Gu shrine, Nikko During this period there was no formal Shinto religion, but many local cults that are nowadays grouped under the name Shinto. Shinto and Buddhism Shinto and Buddhism together From the 6th century CE the beliefs that are now known as Shinto were greatly altered by the addition of other ingredients. The Seven Lucky Gods, depicted here by Hokusai , are a mixed bunch, sharing influence with Buddhism and Hinduism among other traditions. The hall houses the Daibutsu or Great Buddha, the largest cast bronze sculpture in the world. During this period Shinto acquired a stronger intellectual tradition than it previously had. This change was evolutionary, as had been previous changes in the nature of Japanese religion. Meiji period painting of Jimmu, the first Emperor, by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi c. Shinto's 'non-religious' period It was during this period that Shinto was declared 'non-religious'. The Emperor wrote: The ties between Us and Our people have always stood on mutual trust and affection. Constitution article Problems in studying Shinto history Problems in studying Shinto history Experts don't agree as to when Shinto became a unified religion rather than just a convenient label to give to the different but similar faiths found in Japan, so any history of Shinto is bound to cover a wide range of beliefs and traditions. Shinto is a modern construction The scholar Kuroda Toshio has suggested that the traditional view of Shinto as the indigenous religion of Japan stretching back into pre-history is wrong. Shinto is a cultural backdrop Some writers suggest that Shinto is actually not so much a religion as "the seamless cultural-religious historical backdrop " in front of which the various religious experiences of Japan are played out - "a backdrop which transforms and interprets those religious experiences and imposes on them a continuity that they would otherwise lack". Shinto's chain of continuity Although ancient and modern Shinto are not linked by a single institution, the shrines, structures, and rituals of modern Shinto are so similar to those of ancient Shinto as to provide a clear chain of identity. In this sense it is unarguable that Shinto has been an integral part of Japan's history. ​A New History of Shinto on Apple Books Scholars have debated at what point in history it is legitimate to start talking about Shinto as a specific phenomenon. The scholar of religion Ninian Smart for instance suggested that one could "speak of the kami religion of Japan, which lived symbiotically with organized Buddhism, and only later was institutionalized as Shinto. Many scholars refer to Shinto as a religion. Scholars of religion have debated how best to classify Shinto. Inoue argued for categorizing Shinto "as a member of the family of East-Asian religions". Byron Earhart called it a "major religion".
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