Kokugaku scholars worked to refocus Japanese scholarship away from the then-dominant study of Chinese, Confucian, and Buddhist texts in favor of research into the early Japanese classics. (27)īy the mid-17th century, Neo-Confucianism was Japan’s dominant legal philosophy and contributed directly to the development of the kokugaku , a school of Japanese philology and philosophy that originated during the Tokugawa period. The two religions would not be officially separated until the 19th century CE. Of the two religions, Shinto was more concerned with life and birth, showed a more open attitude to women, and was much closer to the imperial house. These different belief systems were not necessarily in opposition, and both Buddhism and Shinto found enough mutual space to flourish side by side for many centuries in ancient Japan.īy the end of the Heian period (794-1185 CE), some Shinto kami spirits and Buddhist bodhisattvas were formally combined to create a single deity, thus creating Ryobu Shinto or ‘ Double Shinto .’ As a result, sometimes images of Buddhist figures were incorporated into Shinto shrines and some Shinto shrines were managed by Buddhist monks. Other elements not to be ignored here are the principles of Taoism and Confucianism that travelled across the waters just as Buddhist ideas did, especially the Confucian importance given to purity and harmony. (27) Pre-State Shintoīuddhism arrived in Japan in the 6th century BCE as part of the Sinification process of Japanese culture.

Some spirits of dead animals can even possess humans, the worst being the fox, and these individuals must be exorcised by a priest. Ghosts are known as obake and require certain rituals to send away before they cause harm. Their power is usually only temporary, and they do not represent an inherent evil force. In contrast, evil spirits or demons ( oni ) are mostly invisible with some envisioned as giants with horns and three eyes.

In Shinto, gods, spirits, supernatural forces and essences are known as kami , and governing nature in all its forms, they are thought to inhabit places of particular natural beauty. Fuji , whose name derives from the Ainu name ‘ Fuchi ,’ the god of the volcano. Rivers and mountains were especially important, none more so than Mt. Most obvious amongst these are the sun goddess Amaterasu and the wind god Susanoo . For example, certain natural phenomena and geographical features were given an attribution of divinity. The peoples of ancient Japan had long held animistic beliefs, worshipped divine ancestors and communicated with the spirit world via shamans some elements of these beliefs were incorporated into the first recognized religion practiced in Japan, Shinto, which began during the period of the Yayoi culture (c. Unlike many other religions, Shinto has no recognized founder. Thus, Shinto’s key concepts of purity, harmony, family respect , and subordination of the individual before the group have become parts of the Japanese character whether the individual claims a religious affiliation or not.

The resulting flexibility in definition may well be one of the reasons for Shinto’s longevity, and it has, consequently, become so interwoven with Japanese culture in general that it is almost inseparable as an independent body of thinking. The faith has neither a founder nor prophets and there is no major text, which outlines its principal beliefs. Shinto , meaning ‘ way of the gods ,’ is the oldest religion in Japan.

Heian kami japan