The Religions Book

83

See also: Making sense of the world 20–23 ■ Animism in early societies 24–25 ■ Beliefs for new societies 56–57
■ Devotion through puja 114–15 ■ The performance of ritual and repetition 158–59 ■ Jesus’s divine identity 208

ANCIENT AND CLASSICAL BELIEFS

Buddhism and also Confucianism
to become influential in Japanese
theology and philosophy. In
response, the Japanese imperial
court consolidated Japan’s native
beliefs with a name—Shinto—
and in the early 8th century, at the
request of the Empress Gemmei,
the great Shinto texts such as the
Kojiki (“Record of Ancient Matters”)
and Nihon Shoki (“Continuing
Chronicles of Japan”) were compiled.
These books recorded the oral
traditions of Japanese history and
myth, alongside the lineage of the
Japanese emperors, said to be
descended from the gods. They
also defined a body of ritual that
has remained key to Shinto ever
since—perhaps more so than belief.
Shinto still permeates every aspect
of Japanese life, and its rituals, in
which purification plays a key role,
are performed in both spiritual and
secular situations—for example,
to bring success and good fortune to
sporting events, new car assembly
lines, or construction projects.
During these rituals, which carry

a great weight of tradition, sacred

beings called kami are prayed to

and honored. The word Shinto

literally means “Way of the Divine

Beings,” and Shinto is known in

modern Japanese as Kami no

michi, the “Way of the Kami.”

The essence of everything

The word kami means “that which

is hidden” and can be translated

as god, spirit, or soul. However, in

Shinto belief, the term designates

not only a vast range of divinities

and spirit beings, but also the

spiritual energy or essence that

is found in everything, and which

defines that thing: kami are

present, for example, as essences

of natural phenomena (such as

storms and earthquakes) and the

geographical environment (rivers,

trees, and waterfalls, for example).

Mountains, especially Mount Fuji,

are held to be particularly sacred.

As entities, kami include gods,

goddesses, and the souls or spirits

of family ancestors (ujigami) and

other exceptional human beings.

Shinto teaches that these kami

occupy the same material world

as people, rather than existing on

a supernatural plane. They respond

to prayer and can influence events.

However, unlike the divine beings

in many other religious traditions, ❯❯

Great Japan is the Land of

the Gods. Here the Deity

of the Sun has handed

on her eternal rule.

Account of the

Righteous Reigns of the

Divine Emperors

Rituals honoring the kami link us to our past.

The world was created by the gods

at the beginning of heaven and earth.

Some kami are great creative beings, some are

natural forces, some are the souls of the ancestors.

It is full of sacred energies, or kami.

The kami created our nation and shaped our culture.