Shinto Research Paper

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Shinto, unlike other Vedic faiths, such as Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism, does not have a founder it is rather thought that either Shinto or something like it began around 300 BCE, due to an abundance of Shinto Iconography. Due to the lack of a Founder and the old age of Shinto, it is very hard to pinpoint where it began, though there are speculations, like the one above In fact the name Shinto did not come from the indigenous people, it was given to the native religion by the Buddhist missionaries who went there. The name, Shinto means “way of the gods”. Before the missionaries went to Japan it is important to note that the Religion we know today as Shinto had no name, it didn't need one because everyone participated in it. The Kami …show more content…
Though people worship at a Jinja, or shrine, one can distinguish an Otera from a Jinja by the Torii, or sacred gateway. Some also consider the specific natural structures, such as Mount Fuji, to be sacred. Before you enter a complex, by passing under the Torii, which looks like two upright parallel posts with two top cross bars, the highest overlaps the two parallel posts, you must cleanse yourself by washing some water on your hands and pouring a little in your mouth, thus cleaning both the outside and the inside of the body. When they pray kami they clap or ring a bell to get the kamis’ attention, bows and presses the hands together like in prayer, asks for a favor silently then claps and leaves. The individual shrines are managed by lay people who pay the Guji and the Kannushi, head priest and other priest respectively. Traditional Japanese homes have a Kamidana- God shelf that as a list of ancestors that are honored as Kami. It is thought that when a person dies the kami inside is released, that kami is honored for a time until it merges with the families’ kami, which appears to be a conglomeration of all the clans’ spirits. An elderly person tends to the Kamidana by putting out Saki and a dish of rice and vegetables. Priests also put out similar offerings at shrines to nourish the
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