Introduction to Japanese Beliefs

Fujiyoshida, Japan at Chureito Pagoda and Mt. Fuji in the spring with cherry blossoms Japanese mythology is a system of beliefs that embraces Shinto and Buddhist traditions as well as agriculturally-based folk religion, customs, practices, and rituals. The Shinto pantheon comprises innumerable kami (Japanese for gods or spirits). It’s important to recognize that many Japanese people continue to practice Buddhism and Shinto today, and the two religions have intertwined through the centuries.

Buddhism and Shinto: Overview

Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices. It is largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha (also known as Pāli in Sanskrit, which means "the awakened one"). The Buddha lived and taught in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent sometime between the 6th and 4th centuries BCE.

Shinto (神道：Shintō) or Shintoism, also called kami-no-michi, is the indigenous spirituality of Japan and the Japanese people. It is a set of practices to be carried out diligently, to establish a connection between present day Japan and its ancient past. Shinto practices were first recorded and codified in the written historical records of the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki in the 8th century. Still, these earliest Japanese writings do not refer to a unified "Shinto religion," but rather to disorganized folklore, history, and mythology. Shinto today is a term that applies to public shrines suited to various purposes, such as war memorials, harvest festivals, romance, historical monuments, as well as various sectarian organizations.

Temples and Shrines

Generally, the temples in Japan are structures for Buddhist worship, often featuring grand buildings like Chureito Pagoda pictured to the right above. Meanwhile, shrines tend to be associated with Shinto worship. The image to the left features a set of paper lanterns leading up to the Meiji Shrine for its 90th anniversary. In Japan, many shrines have what’s called a torii gate, consisting of two upright poles and two cross poles, all painted a distinctive red (there is a Torii gate pictured in the overview section of this module). According to the Japanese National Tourism Organization, "A torii gate is the boundary line between holy ground and the secular world.”

As a reminder, many people who hold religious beliefs in Japan adhere to multiple traditions - often retaining ancestral customs (Shinto) while belonging to a separate organized religion (eg. Buddhism or even Christianity), so a person might go to a Shinto shrine to pay homage to an ancestor then head over to a Buddhist temple for another type of worship.

If either Buddhism or Shinto interests you, there are many excellent resources available online to learn more. You can learn more about shrines and temples by visiting the Japanese National Tourism Organization, while online encyclopedias or sources like National Geographic can provide more info on the belief systems.

Kojiki and Nihon Shoki

Records of Japanese myths are in two written collections, compiled from a combination of customs, stories, and historical accounts, all passed down through the oral tradition.

古事記：Kojiki, which was collected and written down around 712 CE. Kojiki means "Records of Ancient Matters"
日本書紀：Nihon Shoki, which was collected and written down around 720 CE. Nihon (日本) is the Japanese name of their homeland, so Nihon Shoki means "Chronicles of Japan"

Interestingly, a courtier by the name of Ō no Yasumaro contributed to both Kojiki and Nihon Shiki. Mainstream Japanese myths, as generally recognized today, are based on Kojiki, Nihon Shoki, and some complementary books. Kojiki is the oldest recognized account of Japan's legends and history. An additional book, called Shintōshū, explains the origins of Japanese deities from a Buddhist perspective, while another, called Hotsuma Tsutae, records a substantially different version of mythology.

Politics and Mythology

An initial goal of writing down Japan's history and mythology was political. Influenced by China's record-keeping, the Japanese ruling class saw value in creating an account of their rise to power and then justified their rule, citing this account. By beginning with the origin of the gods and the universe and then tracing history up to the modern (8th century at the time) ruling class, they made a divine connection for their emperor.

In fact, the Japanese word for the Emperor of Japan 天皇：tennō, means heavenly emperor. As you can see, one notable result of this method of mixing history and mythology is that it explains the origin of the imperial family and assigns them godhood. These books told of the origin of the ruling class and sought to directly strengthen its power and authority.

Reflection

Japanese cultural beliefs are layered with connections to different religious traditions and politics. Even the name tennō means heavenly emperor. However, this is not the first time we've encountered a ruling class that assigns divinity to their leader. Remember the Egyptians and their pharaoh, or even the later Roman Empire, which assigned godhood to their emperors. Why do you suppose that various cultures with distinctly different belief systems settled on this notion of a god-like leader? For what purpose do you think these rulers were interested in obtaining supernatural status?

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