This Kid’s Life in Religion Shinto Yvonne Crawford ©Yvonne and Brian Crawford, 2018 1 Table of Contents Introduction 4 What I Think Shinto is Like... 5 A Letter from Souta in Japan 6 Questions about Souta’s Letter 8 Shintoism in Pictures 9 Fun Facts About Shintoism 11 Shinto Symbols 12 Secret Code About Shintoism 13 Shinto Word Search 14 Make a Cherry Blossom Tree 15 Make a Daruma Doll 17 Shinto Prayers Writing Activity 19 Postcard from Japan 20 ©Yvonne and Brian Crawford, 2018 2 Questions about Shintoism 22 Shinto Sayings and Verses 23 Shintoism Crossword Puzzle 24 All About Shintoism 25 Similarities and Differences 27 Shinto Life 28 Shinto Coloring Page 30 ©Yvonne and Brian Crawford, 2018 3 Introduction This Kid’s Life is a series of booklets that focus on how children live their daily lives in different religions all over the world. This particular book explores the life of a boy named Souta who lives in the country of Japan. Before introducing this booklet to your class, you can choose to give your students a pre-test to see what understandings or misconceptions they have about Shintoism. Next, you can read a two-page letter from Souta to help your students learn about the daily life of Shinto children. Afterward, your students can fill out a comprehension printable to spark discussions about the information they have learned. ©Yvonne and Brian Crawford, 2018 4 What I Think Shintoism is Like... What is the first thing you think of when you think of the Shinto Religion? Draw a picture of it. Which of these symbols is the symbol of Shintoism? In which countries do you think Shinto is the main religion? Draw a picture of a child who practices Shintoism. Do you think Halloween is a Shinto holiday? Yes or No ©Yvonne and Brian Crawford, 2018 5 A Letter from Souta in Japan Hello my name is Souta and I’m from Japan! Me and my family practice the religion called Shinto. It is a religion that originated in the villages of Japan and then spread across Japan. You might be wondering who the founder of Shinto is, well actually there is not one founder like other religions. My father is a Shinto priest. It’s interesting I know because in some religions like Catholicism, priest can’t be married nor have children. In Shintoism priests can be married, have children as well as women can be priests. Shinto priests perform Shinto rituals and often live in the grounds of a shrine. We don’t live on the grounds of a shrine, but we live very close to a popular shrine in Osaka, Japan. Did you know that 80% of the Japanese population attend Shinto shrines and ceremonies today. Some people in Japan don’t just practice Shintoism, but they also are Buddhists. The religions work harmoniously together. As I mentioned we live near a Shinto shrine. A shrine is a building of worship. Shrines are marked by large portals sometimes painted red, called torii. These structures are iconic in Japan. Before people go to a shrine they must wash their hands and mouths, so there is always running waters by shrines. ©Yvonne and Brian Crawford, 2018 6 In Shintoism, worship consists of hand-clapping, silent prayer and offer- ings made at the shrine. People don’t have to pray only at public shrines. People can pray at home. Most Shinto people have a tiny shrines in their homes called a kami shelf where they make offerings of flowers or food and say prayers. It is called a ka- mi shelf because we call the spiritual powers and gods kami. The kami bring us benefits like health, business success and even good exam results like for my English test last week. Did you know there are over 100,000 registered shrines in Japan dedicated to different kami. There are up to 80 million different kami in Japan! These numbers are quite impressive. One day I’d like to visit Mt. Fuji near Tokyo. Many people make a pilgrimage here to this natural place of wor- ship. I better go, my mother is calling me! Talk to you soon. Sincerely, Louis ©Yvonne and Brian Crawford, 2018 7 Questions About Souta’s Letter Where does Souta live? What is a torii? Draw a picture of it. What things do people pray for in the Shinto religion? Write some facts about Shintoism. What are Kami? Draw what you think they may look like. ©Yvonne and Brian Crawford, 2018 8 Shinto in Pictures Here are some pictures of different things about the Shinto religion. What do you think about these different pictures? Shinto or Shintoism is a religion mainly Shintoism is a polytheistic culture. practiced in Japan. This means that they believe in more than one god. In Shintoism, gods are close and In Shintoism, nature and god are familiar beings. They are the viewed as one. guardians of the people. ©Yvonne and Brian Crawford, 2018 9 Shintoism started off from folk belief and nature worship in small There is no clear founder of villages. Because of this, there is not Shintoism. any clear holy text written down. In Shintoism, rituals called Saishi are Saishi are performed at Shinto a way to connect people and gods. shrines. A Shinto shrine is called a Jinja. ©Yvonne and Brian Crawford, 2018 10 Fun Facts About Shintoism Shinto means “The path of Gods.” • What does your religion’s name mean? Shinto is a polytheist religion. The number of gods is infinite and they are called “kami.” • What is the opposite of a polytheist religion called? The kami live in the world unseen by humans. • Have you heard of anything similar to a kami before? A kami stops existing when no one believes in it anymore. It reappears when a person starts believing again. • Do you believe in anything that you can’t see? Many Japanese people switch between Shinto and Buddhism during their life, sometimes believing in both religions. • What religion are you? The Shinto religion has no founder. • Who is the founder of your religion? There are over 100 million people who practice the Shinto religion, mostly in Japan. • What religion is most practiced where you live? ©Yvonne and Brian Crawford, 2018 11 Shinto Symbols The torii is a traditional Japanese gate most commonly found at the entrance of or near a Shinto shrine. The torii is the symbol that marks the transition from the mundane to the sacred. These are daruma dolls. They are hollow and round dolls to look like Bodhidharma, an Indian monk. It is a traditional custom for the owner to create a life goal and paint one eye. When they complete the goal, they pain the other eye. ©Yvonne and Brian Crawford, 2018 12 Secret Code About Indonesia Solve the puzzle to discover what is the name of the gods of the Shinto religion. Secret code key: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z ©Yvonne and Brian Crawford, 2018 13 Shinto Word Search V H W A J D S T Z U S M T A O L O S R S Y H P A A S I I Q A J A I U P V I E Y I N A T N Q U B H I S U I K I T N H T S H R I M A K O J Y X I G X Y Y Y Q J L Z D J P D K T C E O D H T E M P L E S P N A Words to find: Kami polytheist Shinto Japan path saishi rituals temples ©Yvonne and Brian Crawford, 2018 14 Create a Cherry Blossom Tree The cherry blossom tree is especially important in the Shinto religion, where is symbolizes renewal and the temporary nature of life. Materials: • tissue paper • crayons/markers/colored pencils • scissors • glue or paste · the cherry blossom tree printaable Instructions: Photocopy the following template. Your students should color the tree and make a background for the tree. Stu- dents should tear pieces of tissue paper, pink, rose or white and paste them on the tree. ©Yvonne and Brian Crawford, 2018 15 ©Yvonne and Brian Crawford, 2018 16 Make a Daruma Doll These are daruma dolls. They are hollow and round dolls to look like Bodhidharma, an Indian monk. It is a traditional custom for the owner to create a life goal and paint one eye. When they complete the goal, they pain the other eye. Materials: • Daruma doll template • crayons/markers/colored pencils • scissors • ribbon (optional) Instructions: Have your students make their own Daruma doll. Simply have them color the paper, cut it out leaving the eyes uncolored. Then, students can write a goal on the back of the paper and color in one eye of the doll. When they complete the goal, they can then color the last eye. They can hang the Daruma Doll by a ribbon. Usually it is on wood, but instead of wood, you could put the printa- ble on thicker cardstock paper. ©Yvonne and Brian Crawford, 2018 17 ©Yvonne and Brian Crawford, 2018 18 Shinto Prayers People who practice the Shinto religion ask for support in all aspects of their lives from the kami (gods). They pray at home or at a shrine. List some things you might ask for help in if you were Shinto. ©Yvonne and Brian Crawford, 2018 19 Postcard from Japan Pretend you are on a trip to Japan and want to mail a postcard.