Shintoism

A torii gate at the Takachiho-gawara shrine near Kirishima, Kagoshima Prefecture, which is associated with the mythological tale of Ninigi-no-Mikoto's descent to earth.

Shintoism

Shintoism Shintoism or Shinto (神道; Shintō) is a native religion of Japan and was once its state religion. It involves the worship of kami, which can be translated to mean “sacred spirits which take the form of things and concepts important to life, such as wind, rain, mountains, trees, rivers, and fertility.” Some kami are local and...

Yasukuni Shrine

Shinto Shrine

Shinto Shrine A Shinto shrine (神社, jinja, shinsha, “place of the god(s)”) is a structure whose main purpose is to house (“enshrine”) one or more kami, the deities of the Shinto religion. Overview Structurally, a Shinto shrine typically comprises several buildings. The honden (本殿, meaning: “main hall”) is where a shrine’s patron kami is/are enshrined. The honden may be absent...

Kamo shrine, Kyoto

Women In Shinto

Women In Shinto Women occupy a unique role in the indigenous Japanese traditions of Shinto, including a unique form of participation as temple stewards and shamans, or miko. Though a ban on female Shinto priests was lifted during World War II, the number of women priests in Shinto is a small fraction of...

Miko at the Ikuta Shrine

Miko

Miko A miko (巫女), or shrine maiden, is a young priestess who works at a Shinto shrine. Miko were once likely seen as shamans, but are understood in modern Japanese culture to be an institutionalized role in daily life, trained to perform tasks, ranging from sacred cleansing to performing the sacred Kagura dance. Appearance Main article: Miko clothing The traditional attire of a miko is a pair of...

Shinto purification rite after a ceremonial children's sumo tournament at the Kamigamo Jinja in Kyoto

Misogi

Misogi Misogi (禊) is a Japanese Shinto practice of ritual purification by washing the entire body. Misogi is related to another Shinto purification ritual called Harae – thus both being collectively referred to as misogiharae (禊祓). Background Every year, many people take pilgrimages to sacred waterfalls, lakes and rivers, either alone or in small groups, to perform misogi. Mount Ontake, the Kii...

An Obon offering

Obon

Obon Festival Obon (お盆) or just Bon (盆) is a Japanese Buddhist custom to honor the spirits of one’s ancestors. This Buddhist–Confucian custom has evolved into a family reunion holiday during which people return to ancestral family places and visit and clean their ancestors’ graves when the spirits of ancestors are supposed to revisit the household altars. It has been...

Kimpusen-ji

Setsubun

Setsubun Setsubun (節分) is the day before the beginning of spring in the old calendar in Japan. The name literally means ‘seasonal division‘, referring to the day just before the first day of spring in the traditional calendar, known as Setsubun; though previously referring to a wider range of possible dates, Setsubun is now typically held on February 3 (in...

Illustration and text of the tale of Issun Bōshi from Otogi-zōshi, published in circa 1725. The original Japanese prose narratives were written primarily in the Muromachi period (1392–1573).

Japanese Folklore And Mythology

Japanese Folklore And Mythology This article covers Japanese Folklore And Mythology in detail. Japanese folklore is heavily influenced by the two primary religions of Japan, Shinto, and Buddhism. Japanese mythology is a complex system of beliefs that also embraces Shinto and Buddhist traditions as well as agriculture-based folk religion. The Shinto pantheon alone boasts an uncountable...

Susanoo subduing and making a pact with various spirits of disease (dated 1860, copy of original work by Katsushika Hokusai)

Susanoo

Susanoo or Susanoo-no-Mikoto Susanoo (スサノオ; スサノヲ, ‘Susanowo’) is a kami in Japanese mythology. The younger brother of Amaterasu, goddess of the sun and mythical ancestress of the Japanese imperial line, he is a multifaceted deity with contradictory characteristics (both good and bad), being portrayed in various stories either as a wild, impetuous god associated with the sea and storms, as...

Susanoo slays the eight-headed beast Yamata-no-Orochi

Kusanagi No Tsurugi

Kusanagi No Tsurugi Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi (草薙の剣) is a legendary Japanese sword and one of three Imperial Regalia of Japan. It was originally called Ame-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi (天叢雲剣, “Heavenly Sword of Gathering Clouds”), but its name was later changed to the more popular Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi (“Grass-Cutting Sword”). In folklore, the sword represents the virtue of valor. Legends The history of the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi extends into legend. According to Kojiki, the...

Japan, 5/1882 Series: Sketches by Yoshitoshi Prints; woodcuts Color woodblock print Herbert R. Cole Collection (M.84.31.339) Japanese Art

Japanese Folktales

Japanese Folktales Japanese folktales are an important cultural aspect of Japan. In commonplace usage, they signify a certain set of well-known classic tales, with a vague distinction of whether they fit the rigorous definition of “folktale“ or not among various types of folklore. The admixed impostors are literate written pieces, dating...

Empress Jingū

Japanese Folklore

Japanese Folklore Japanese folklore encompasses the informally learned folk traditions of Japan and the Japanese people as expressed in its oral traditions, customs, and material culture. In Japanese, the term minkan denshō (民間伝承, “transmissions among the folk”) is used to describe folklore. The academic study of folklore is known as minzokugaku (民俗学). Folklorists also employ the term minzoku shiryō (民俗資料) or “folklore material” (民俗資料) to refer to the objects and arts...

Amaterasu emerges out of the Heavenly Rock Cave (Shunsai Toshimasa, 1887)

Amaterasu

Amaterasu Amaterasu (天照), Amaterasu-ōmikami (天照大神 or 天照大御神, Japanese: “Great Divinity Illuminating Heaven”) or Ōhiru-menomuchi-no-kami (大日孁貴神) is in Japanese mythology a sun goddess and perhaps the most important Shinto deity (神 kami). Her name, Amaterasu, means literally “(that which) illuminates Heaven.” Her myths are the most important of the indigenous Japanese faith, Shinto, “the way of the gods,” a set of ancient beliefs...

Yatagarasu the sun crow guiding Emperor Jimmu and his men towards the plain of Yamato

Japanese Mythology

Japanese Mythology Japanese mythology is a collection of traditional stories, folktales, and beliefs that emerged in the islands of the Japanese Archipelago. Shinto and Buddhist traditions are the cornerstones of Japanese mythology. The history of thousands of years of contact with China, Korea, Ainu, and Okinawan myths are also key influences in Japanese mythology. Japanese...

Religion Buddha Temple Spirituality Monk Prayer

Japa

Japa Japa (जप) is the meditative repetition of a mantra or a divine name. It is a practice found in Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism, Buddhism, and Shintōism. The mantra or name may be spoken softly, enough for the practitioner to hear it, or it may be spoken within the reciter’s mind. Japa may be performed while...

Bridge River Japan Shinto Boats Travel Landmark

State Shinto

State Shinto State Shintō (国家神道 or 國家神道, Kokka Shintō) describes Imperial Japan‘s ideological use of the native folk traditions of Shintoism. The state strongly encouraged Shinto practices to emphasize the Emperor as a divine being, which was exercised through control of shrine finances and training regimes for priests. The State Shinto ideology emerged at the...

Page from a copy of the Nihon Shoki, early Heian period

Nihon Shoki

Nihon Shoki The Nihon Shoki (日本書紀), sometimes translated as The Chronicles of Japan, is the second-oldest book of classical Japanese history. The book is also called the Nihongi (日本紀, “Japanese Chronicles”). It is more elaborate and detailed than the Kojiki, the oldest, and has proven to be an important tool for historians and archaeologists as it includes the...

Susanoo and Orochi in Izumo-ryū kagura

Kagura

Kagura Kagura (神楽 (かぐら), “god-entertainment”) is a specific type of Shinto ritual ceremonial dance. Once strictly a ceremonial art derived from kami’gakari (神懸 (かみがかり), “oracular divinification”), kagura has evolved in many directions over the span of more than a millennium. Today, it is very much a living tradition, with rituals tied to the rhythms of the agricultural...

A statue of Buddha meditating. Buddha Daibutsu, Kamakura

Shinbutsu-shugo

Shinbutsu-shugo Shinbutsu-shugo (神仏習合, “syncretism of kami and buddhas”), also called Shinbutsu-konkō (神仏混淆, “jumbling up” or “contamination of kami and buddhas”), is the syncretism of Shinto and Buddhism that was Japan’s only organized religion up until the Meiji period. Beginning in 1868, the new Meiji government approved a series of laws that separated Japanese native kami...