Chapter 9 - Shintoism in Japan

Note: This lecture was delivered during the war between the Japanese and the Russians.

The history of the Japanese people is the history of their religions, and to understand this more dearly let us first consider the geographical and ethnological conditions which have fostered and developed them.

Japan is called the land of the sun’s origin or Dai Nippon. It is not a very large country, but consists of a group of islands about 150,000 square miles in area, the population being a little over forty-one millions of people. In size it may be compared to Great Britain and Ireland. The population includes about 20,000 savages, called Ainos, who dwell in the northern islands; with the exception of these aborigines the inhabitants have one language, though ethonologically speaking, the Japanese are a composite race having in their veins the blood of the Ainos, that of the Malayans, Mongolians, Koreans, and also of other non-Aryan tribes of Asia.

There are three religions in Japan: (1) Shintoism, native to their own soil; (2) Confucianism, which was introduced from China about the close of the 3rd century a.d. and (3) Buddhism, which came through Korea in 552 a.d. Of these three, Confucianism is not a religion. Strictly speaking, it is a system of ethics meant for regulating the political, social and domestic life as well as the conduct of the people, and is based upon the ancestor-worship. Therefore, we can say that Shintoism and Buddhism are the prevailing religions. These two religions have existed together in absolute peace and harmony for the last twelve centuries, moulding the character of the people, and making the great Japanese nation of today. No one who is not familiar with the history of Japan, can realize how much good has been done by Buddhism in that country, and how it has been the chief factor in civilizing the extremely superstitious descendants of the phallus-worshippers, the tree-worshippers, the serpent-worshippers, ghost-worshippers, and the ancestorworshippers. All these various forms were classed together under one name, ‘Kami-no-michi,’ that is, ‘the way of the gods’, and that was afterwards called Shinto. The word ‘Shinto’ is not a very ancient term. It was really of Chinese origin, and was adopted in Japan about the middle of the 7th century A.D., so as to distinguish the native religion or ‘way’ from the foreign religion of Buddhism, and that was called ‘Butsudo’ or the way of Buddha.

Before the advent of Buddhism in Japan, the people of Japan had no idea of heaven or hell, or of one supreme Being. The Japanese mythology did not develop and idea of an elysium or a Tartaru, nor of the god or the devil. The followers of Shinto or of the ‘way of the gods’ believe that the spirits of the dead continue to live in the world after their bodies have melted into earth, lingering somewhere, hovering either over the graves, or in the mourning-house called the ‘Miya’ or in the ancestral temple, or in the ghost-house called ‘Miya’, or perhaps moving in the winds, or in the waters, or dwelling in the upper world. By death they acquire the mysterious powers becoming the gods or ‘Kami’. They believe that all the human beings will become the gods after their death, the wicked will become the wicked gods, and the good and the virtuous men and women will become the good gods. These celestial beings were the original inhabitants of this earth, and the Japanese people trace their descent from them.

Now we understand the meaning of the claim of the Japanese that they are the descendants of the gods. The gods simply mean the spirits i.e. the spirits of their ancestors. All these Kami need the propitiation and are in some way able to share the pleasures and the pains of the living. They need food and drink and light. They can bestow benefits upon the people if they are pleased or displeased and they can injure the living. For its peace and repose, each Kami depends upon the nourishment, reverence, and devotion, and also upon the offerings made by its living kindred, and when these are not made or given they are incensed. If the funeral rites are not properly performed, according to the Novito Shinto rituals, if the food, drink and light be not regularly given by the living members, the spirits will suffer from hunger, thirst, and cold, and becoming angry, will bring misfortune to the offender. This was the principal belief upon which the whole structure of Shintoism was built. We find in it, as in ancestor-worship of all climes and ages, the same five principles. First, that the spirits continue to live after the death of the body, hovering over the graves or in their former homes, or in the Miya, and that they share in the life of the living. Secondly, that the spirits after death acquire the mysterious and supernatural powers, and become the gods, each retaining its peculiar characteristics, tendencies, and qualities which each possessed in its life-time. Thirdly, that the happiness of the living depends upon the goodwill and pleasure of the departed, and their pleasure and goodwill, in turn, are dependent upon the reverence, devotion, and offerings, made by the living. Fourthly, that all the good and the evil events of nature, whether plague or pestilence, earthquake or flood, plentiful harvest or good rain, caused by the powers of the spirits of the dead. Fifthly, that all human actions, good or evil, are controlled by the spirits. From these we can judge that in ancient times, their religion was nothing but a perpetual fear of the dead. This fear was so great that if any person died in the dwelling-house, that house was immediately deserted or burnt. If an emperor died in a capital, his successor would make another place, the centre of his government. If any member of the family had misfortune or serious disease, they were terribly frightened and tried to propitiate the offended spirit by the prayers, and by making the offerings of various kinds, sometimes sacrificing the living animals which were used by the person during his lifetime. For instance, if a person used to ride a horse, the horse was buried next to the master. Other animals were sacrificed, and the human sacrifices were not uncommon at that time. The servants used to be buried alive near the graves, so that their spirits could go and attend upon the spirits of their masters. As these could bestow the benefits, good fortune, and good luck when they were pleased, the living tried their best to propitiate them.

In ancient Japan, it was customary to build the mourning-houses or Miya outside the dwelling-houses, where dying persons were kept for a few days before death, and where funeral rites were performed before the interment of the body.

It is horrible to think of a person mortally ill-kept in a lonely place, or in a small hut made of wood with roof thatched with Straw, until death relieved him,. Gradually this mourninghouse has become transformed into the Shinto temple, but even today it retains the original simplicity and shape of a primitive hut.

This was the first phase of Shintoism in ancient Japan. Gradually, through the Chinese influence, the spirit-tablets and the cult of the ancestor-worship were introduced about the latter part of the 3rd century a.d., and were established in the Japanese home. Since that time every Shinto household in an inner chamber has a little model of a Shinto temple or Miya, placed on a shelf, attached to the wall about six feet from the floor. This is the house of the august ones or the great spirits, and the self is called ‘Mitama San-no-Tana’, that is, the shelf of the august spirits. In the shrine, there are thin tablets of white wood upon which the names of the departed ones are inscribed, and are called spirit sticks. They are the substitutes of the dead ones. These mortuary tablets suggest the miniature tomb-stones because of their shapes, and in a household the number of these spirit sticks will not exceed five or six, including those of the spirits of the grand parents and the parents who are recently dead. The names of the remoter ancestors are inscribed upon the scrolls which are kept in the shrine. The daily duty of the elders of the household, whether men or women, is to pray before that shrine and to offer some of the family cooking, some water and a light. However simple this form of the worship may be, it must never be neglected. It must always be observed everyday, once at least, sometimes twice, and the general belief is that these spirits dwell in the letters of the tablets from which place they watch everything that is going on in the household, and share the pleasure and the pains of the living. Sometimes, in cases of distress, these spirits appear in the materialized forms to console and comfort the members of the family. The purport of the daily prayer is this: “Oh, august one, for the aid received by night and day, accept our reverential gratitude”. This is the household religion of Shintoists in Japan. Even today you will find that, and in the case of the members who are both Shinto and Buddhist, have two Miyas, the one shrine for Shinto gods, and the other for the Buddhist.

Besides the ‘Kami’ or the spirits of the departed ancestors, there are countless other higher spirits who rule over the world, and dwell everywhere outside in nature. There are the gods of the mountains, the gods of the rivers, the gods of the winds, and the gods of the waters, and they possess the tremendous powers, which when united, are limitless. In time of national peril, when they are invoked together, their power is so great that it can remove danger and destroy the enemy. The recent victories of the Japanese over Russia were not achieved by the living, but by the spirits of the dead which dwell everywhere. Hirata, the great Shinto commentator, writes: "The spirits of the dead dwell in the invisible world all around us; they become the gods of varying character and degrees of influence; some reside in the temples built in their honour, or in the dwelling-houses, their former homes; but they are ever ready to help the living and to render service to their prince, wives and children, friends and relatives, as when in the body”.

As a Shinto shrine or the Miya is related to the household, so a Shinto parish temple is related to the community. Every community has such a temple. The Japanese people are divided into clans, and the spirit of the founder of the clan is worshipped in each of these parish temples. This spirit is called the Ujigami (‘uji’ means clan, and ‘gami’—god); and in every village, district and city, there are such places of worship. The worshippers and the priest are descendants of the same clan. The Shinto parish temple is most intimately related to the community as a body as well as to the individual members. If we study the Japanese life, what do we find? We find that when a child is born at the end of thirty-one days in case of a boy, and thirty-three days in case of a girl, the child is brought to the parish temple, the protection of the tutelar god is invoked, and in the presence of this Ujigami, the name of the babe is recorded. Always afterwards the child is brought to the temple on holy days, and is also brought during the time of festivals, and when he grows older, he goes to the temple freely, and plays in the surrounding gardens. When he is married, he takes his wife there, and worships the ancestor of the clan. In short, the Ujigami can bestow all good to the worshippers and the members of that particular clan. The prayers and the offerings are made for success in the business, for protection from the disease and the illness, for victory in time of war, and for health at the time of the plague, famine, or pestilence. There are about 195,256 Shinto parish temples, or the Ujigami temples, in Japan. Of these, about 304 are for the better classes, 2,828 for the middle classes, and the rest for the lower classes. This is the religion of the community in Shintoism. There is another phase of Shintoism, and that is the national religion. The national god of old Japan was the Mikado. The Mikado or Emperor or Arahito-gami, the deity incarnate, the descendant of the sun goddess (Amaterasu-no-ohogami), was the Lord, and was worshipped by the nation. His palace was the most holy sanctuary. Within it there was a small shrine where only members of the court could worship the ancestors of the imperial dynasty. But there is a public form of this cult, represented in the temple of Ise, the Mecca of Shintoism in Japan, and to this temple every Japanese or somebody representing him must go at least once during his lifetime. To the Japanese it is the holiest spot in the world. But besides this national temple of Ise there is another of similar importance at Kitzuki.

The Japanese mythology existed first in the form of tradition and story, and had neither the scriptures, nor the philosophy nor the cosmogony, nor the cosmology, but these traditions, mythologies and ancient stories were handed down through generations, afterwards being compiled in two books which exist today. The older one of the two is called ‘Ko-ji-ki’, and was compiled about 712 a.d. The meaning of the word 'Ko-ji-ki’ is “records of ancient matters”. The other book is called the “Nihongi”, or the “the chronicles of Nihon”, and was compiled about 720 a.d. Both profess to give the history of the world and the story of creation, the origin of the Japanese nation, and the origin of the gods, etc. They both have been translated into English. It is not necessary to enter into the details of the mythology or the stories, but it may be interesting to know something about the story of creation as given in the Ko-ji-ki.

It is said that in the beginning, everything or all the universe was in chaos, and the earth and the heavens were not separated. The world substance floated in the cosmic mass like the oil on the water. Somehow motion began in that substance, and the ethereal parts sublimated and formed the heavens, and the grosser residuum formed this earth. There were three Kamis or the celestial spirits, born in the upper world, in the high heavens. It is not known whether they lived or died, but it is said that they hid their bodies, and from the warm mould of this earth there sprouted a germ, and from that germ two Kamis were born, and then they died. Then begins the story of the creation of the habitable earth. These two Kamis are called in the Japanese language, Izanami and Izanagi, that is ‘the male who invites and the female who invites’. Commanded by the celestial spirits, they began to consolidate the earth, and gave form to the drifting land. Standing on the floating bridge of heaven, the male Kami plunged his jewelled spear into the unstable waters, and stirred them until they gurgled and congealed, and as he drew it forth, the substance of those waters, trickling from the point of the spear, dropped and formed an island, and ever since the island is called the island of congealed drops. This is now identified with the Island of Swaji, which is situated near the entrance of the inland sea. Then all the rest of the things of the world were created by these two, Izanagi and Izanami. When Izanami, after creating all these things, purified himself by taking a bath in the stream, when out of his body many gods were created, and from his left eye arose the heaven-illuminating sun-goddess, Amaterasu. The worship of this sun-goddess is the central object in Shintoism. From the sun-goddess the Mikado traces his descent through one hundred and twenty Mikados who preceded him. The first Japanese emperor, Jimmu Teno was the fifth in direct descent from the sun-goddess. He lived between the years 600-525 b.c.; and for this reason the Mikado claims to be superior to all other gods, and that all others must obey him—the gods of the mountains, the gods of the rivers, the gods of the waters and the winds, and the thunder and the lightning, and the ancestral gods must obey him. Since that time the people of Japan have revered the spirits cf their ancestors and other spirits, but they obey the Mikado. They cannot obey any deity or god, but must obey him; and this is the cornerstone of the national religion. He is considered as the living god on earth.

In Shintoism, there is no moral code or commandment of any kind, because, the Shintoist says that the old Japan was the land of the gods or the holy spirits, and was known as the Mikado’s empire and the land of the sun’s nest. The people were all gods; they were pure, holy and perfect, and whatever they did, was right. They could not commit any wrong, and, therefore, they did not need any moral code or commandment. The vice did not exist in the country. Because the people of Japan believed that all vice and wrong that exist in the country were brought by the foreigners, and, therefore, it is in the foreign countries which are unholy and impure, and so there is need of the moral code and commandment, but not in Japan.

The purification or the cleanliness of the body is the only virtue, emphasized in Shintoism. So to keep the body clean and pure, this is all that is necessary. The peculiar form of worship that is practised by the followers of Shinto, is to observe first the cleanliness. In the morning, they must bathe or wash hands, and shall rinse out the mouth, and cleanse the body, and then folding the palms they should clap twice reverentially. They must look towards the temple of Ise in the province of Yamato and bowing their heads to the ground, offer their petitions. If a worshipper goes to the temple of Upigami, or to the temple of Ise, the national place of the worship, he will not enter into the shrine, but standing outside the door, he will ring the bell by pulling the rope that is attached to it, and in that way, he calls the attention of the deity inside. Afterwards, he will touch the ground with his forehead, and then offer his petition. It must be in a very few words, because the gods must not be annoyed by greedy petitions of all kinds. ‘Give me this, and give me that’, because Mikado offers a prayer everyday on behalf of his people, and his petitions are much more effectual than those of his subjects. This is the nature of the Shinto prayer.

The believers in Shintoism pray like this: “From a distance, I reverently worship with awe before Arne no-Mihashira (heaven pillar) and Kuni no-Mi-Hashira (country pillar) to whom is consecrated the palace built with stout pillars at Tatsuta no-Tachinee. I say with awe deign to bless me, by correcting the unwitting faults which, seen and heard by you, I have committed, by blowing off and clearing away the calamities which the evil gods might inflict, by causing me to live long like the hard and lasting rock, and by repeating to the gods of the heavenly origin and to the gods of the earthly origin the petitions which I present everyday, along with your breath, that they may hear with the sharp earedness of the forth galloping colt”.

The Shinto temple must be very simple, without paint, lacquer, gilding, or any ornament. It must be made of that wood, called in Japanese hinoki or sunwood, and the roof to be thatched. No brick, metal, or stone is used in the temple, but it must be simple, and within the shrine there to have some wooden spirit tablets and a mirror. This mirror has a long mythological story, connected with it. The first mirror which came to the Mikado, was given by the Sun-goddess, Amaterasu, and it is said that he has kept it in the temple of Ise. He also received a sword which he keeps with himself. On the days of the big festivals, thousands and thousands of the worshippers come to the temple, and make their offerings. The regardful offerings which are made today, consist of the fruits of the land, the products of the sea, and the fabrics of the loom. Besides the gods of the nature and the departed spirits, one will find that in Shintoism there is a belief in regard to numerous other gods the gods of the household, the gods of the kitchen or the cooking-range or saucepan, the gods of well and the cauldron and also of every utensil that is used for the household purposes. This is undoubtedly a phase of animism but this is a religious faith And reverence.

The religion of Shinto has been in existence in Japan for centuries. We do not know when it first began, as the Japanese people had no history (though which may properly be called the history) before 712 or 720 a.d. Some people say that it existed for centuries before the Christian era, but at any rate it is the indigenous religion, and existed when Buddhism was introduced in the year 552 A.D. At first Buddhism did not flourish, and for two centuries it struggled hard to absorb Shinto. But at last it did succeed in the year 800 a.d. through the wonderful ability and genius of a Buddhist priest, Kobo Daishi, the founder of the Shingon sect. It was the incarnations of the various Buddhas.^[1] You know the Buddhism which was introduced into Japan was the Northern Buddhism, the same which prevailed in China and Tibet. It is a peculiar development of Buddhism and a mixture of the mythology and the worship of various deities. The Buddhism which we find in Ceylon, does not exist in Japan, nor in China, nor in Tibet, and that is called the Southern School. But the Northern School admits the one superior deity, Amitabha, the Buddha of the eternal wisdom, powers, and greatness. But Kobo Daishi tried to mix Buddhism with Shintoism, and from that time there grew up a peculiar dual form of religion, partly Shinto and partly Buddhist, which was called the ‘Ryobu Shinto’. The Ryobu Shinto means the two departments or the two religions, Buddhism and Shintoism, gaining the imperial approval; and these two have domiciled in Japan for centuries, living together in peace and harmony, moulding the character of the Japanese nation, and making the people as they are today. In Shintoism, we find that these gods have existed, but Buddhism created a wonderful influence in every possible way. It did not destroy them, but gave the different interpretations of them. These spirits of the dead were the Buddhas and the Pi tars, the earth-bound spirits, as they were called by the Buddhists. They could worship these spirits of the ancestors, but that is not the highest. “The influence of Buddhism upon Japan”, says Lafcadio Hearn, “was immense, was profound, multiform and incalculable”. It became as much an official religion as Shintoism itself, and influenced the lives of the higher as well as that of the poorer classes. It made the monks of the emperors and the nuns and of their daughters. It had a voice in everything, and even the government, and in the management of the affairs. It described the nature of the decree, the conduct of the rulers, and the administration of justice. Everything that has been done for the last 1,200 years, has been accomplished through’ the influence of Buddhism. In every community, the Buddhist parish priest is a public official as well as the spiritual teacher. We must not forget that it was Buddhism, which, for the first time, brought the public educa-cion in Japan. The religion of the great Buddha has brought a more humanizing influence and a gospel of tenderness and love, which did not exist in Shintosim. It has brought the new systems of science and philosophy, and it has shown the most wonderful civilizing power. It has taught the people a new respect for life, and kindness towards all human beings, nay, towards all the living creatures. It has given them the arts and the industries of China and of India. The architec* ture, painting, sculpture, engraving, printing, and gardening, nay, every art and industry which makes life aesthetic and beautiful, were the result of the introduction of Buddhism.

Buddhism gave to the Japanese people the proper educa* tion, the dramas and the higher forms of poetic composition, the fiction and the history. It has given all the best refinements which we find, among the Japanese people, and it has made the nation as it is. If Shintosim had not come in touch with this civilizing, humanizing and spiritualizing power of Buddhism, the people of Japan today would be as barbarous as the Sandwich Islanders. Everything that is interesting, attractive and beautiful in Japan is either directly or indirectly connected with the civilizing powers of Buddhism. It has given the Japanese people the majority of the diversions and amusements which they enjoy. Shintosim never produced any of these things. The toleration of Buddhism shown in Japan was so great, that not one single individual was ever persecuted on account of his religious belief. The Shintoists lived and worshipped their gods without molested or persecuted by the Buddhist priests, and Buddhism tolerated the three phases of Shinto religion which I have described, that is, domestic, communal and national, which constitute the vital points of the Shinto cult.

The space will not permit me to describe the horrible and cruel destructions, robbery, murder, slaughter the of innocents, and the brutal and diabolical things that were introduced into Japan by the Jesuit Christians about the middle of the sixteenth century; and how at last, when the schemes of the Christians became so powerful and so harmful to the nation as to threaten and overthrow the empire, the Japanese Emperor was compelled to pass the laws and publish the the edicts in 1603 and 1614, prohibiting all the Christian missionaries and the priests were driven out of the country, and these edicts not being withdrawn till 1873. In 1871, Shintoism revived once more as a political power, and from that time Shintoism has been separated from Buddhism. Today the Shintoists are trying to bring out that patriotism and national feeling which Shintoism always preached, and which has reached its climax recently in the late war with Russia.^[2]

A Japanese scholar has beautifully described the friendly relation that exists between Shintoism and Buddhism. He says the one and the same Japanese is a Shintoist, a Confucianist, and a Buddhist. He says: “Our religion may be compared to a triangle; Shintoism furnished the object, Confucianism offers the rules of life, and Buddhism shows the way of salvation”. Thus it is understood that Shintoism has a close relation with both Confucianism and Buddhism. Though their customs, beliefs and the religious practices are different from one another to same extent, yet they are interlinked with one another in their moral codes, conducts and ideals, living the tie of brotherhood.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

That is various imanations [emanations?] of Buddha, those are known as Pratyeka-Buddhas or Bodhisattvas.

[2]:

During the time of conflict between Russia and Japan.