Final Exam - Shinto

Question 1

What is Shinto?

Answer 1

Religion that originated in Japan. It incorporates the worship of ancestors and nature spirits and a belief in sacred power. The purpose of most Shinto rituals is to keep away evil spirits by purification, prayers, and offerings to the kami.

Question 2

Meji Restoration ins 1868

Answer 2

Shinto was reorganized and separated from Buddhism. Shinto became the official state religion of Japan, and many shrines were supported by state funding. Later, Shinto was regarded as inseparable from the ‘Imperial Way’ and inseparable from the fundamental ethical and social code of Japan. This made Shinto so superior to other religions that it counted as non-religious.

Question 3

What is kami?

Answer 3

Shinto deites. Anything that can fill us with wonder or awe. Perceived as outside oneself and greater than oneself, though still bound to a particular place. Not just a personal experience, kami belongs to a group of people.

Question 4

Yasukuni Shrine

Answer 4

Yasukuni =”Pacification of the Nation”; A shrine that honors the spirits of all those who have died in Japan’s modern wars. Keeps alive memories of war and death.

Question 5

Kami Shimenawa

Answer 5

Sacred straw rope used for ritual purification in the Shinto religion. A space bound by Shimenawa typically indicates a sacred or ritually pure space, such as that of a Shinto shrine. Believed to act as a ward against evil spirits.

Question 6

Torii gate

Answer 6

The distinctive gateway demarcating the precincts of a Shinto shrine. Demarcates boundary between the outer world of pollution, and the kami-world of purity.

Question 7

Misogi ritual

Answer 7

purification ritual by washing the entire body. Before encountering misogi, members undergo preliminary purification, such as prayers, fasting or physical activity. Then they put on traditional clothing and engage in an activity to become unified with the spirit’s presence within them(warm up). Then enter waterfall while continuously chanting a phrase asking the kami to wash away impurities from the senses and the mind.

Question 8

Jinja

Answer 8

The place where the spirit of a deity is enshrined or to which it is summoned.

Question 9

Honden

Answer 9

The inner chamber of a shinto shrine , where the shintai or divine presence is housed. Normally only approached by priests.

Question 10

Animism

Answer 10

Animism is the belief that objects, places, and creatures all possess a distinct spiritual essence. Potentially, animism perceives all things—animals, plants, rocks, rivers, weather systems, human handiwork, and perhaps even words—as animated and alive.

Question 11

Omamori

Answer 11

Omamori are Japanese amulets commonly sold at Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples, dedicated to particular Shinto kami as well as Buddhist figures, and are said to provide various forms of luck or protection.

Question 12

State Shinto

Answer 12

Shrines and practices deliberately intended to reflect state ideology. State Shinto refers to any use of Shinto practices incorporated into the national ideology during the Meiji period. Any state-supported, Shinto-inspired ideology or practice intended to inspire national integration, unity, and loyalty.

Question 13

Shrine Shinto

Answer 13

Focusses on worship in public shrines, in contrast to folk and sectarian practices. They no longer receive financial support from the government but are dependent on private contributions for their maintenance and for the support of their priests.