Kategoria BISAC: Religion >> Shintoism

Shinto is finally receiving the attention it deserves as a fundamental component of Japanese culture. Nevertheless, it remains a remarkably complex and elusive phenomenon to which Western categories of religion do not readily apply. A knowledge of Shinto can only proceed from a basic understanding of Japanese shrines and civilization, for it is closely intermingled with the Japanese way of life and continues to be a vital natural religion. This book is a convenient guide to Shinto thought.

As a reference work, the volume does not offer a detailed critical study of all aspects of Shinto....

The deity Inari has been worshipped in Japan since at least the early eighth century and today is a revered presence in such varied venues as Shinto shrines, Buddhist temples, factories, theaters, private households, restaurants, beauty shops, and rice fields. Although at first glance and to its many devotees Inari worship may seem to be a unified phenomenon, it is in fact exceedingly multiple, noncodified, and noncentralized. No single regulating institution, dogma, scripture, or myth centers the practice. In this exceptionally insightful study, the author explores the worship of Inari in...

These devotions inspired by ancient Shinto rituals are a series of calls-and-response that directly address the awesome power of the natural world to heal and restore the soul. Readers are invited to stand before rivers, stones, and trees, to listen to thunder, and to be touched by the wind and rain in order to cultivate a spirit of reverence for Nature and awaken the cosmic content within the human. Included are steps for conducting misogi (waterfall purification) and resources for learning more about Shinto practice in North America.

Stuart Picken, an ordained...

Of Japan's two great religious traditions, Shinto is far less known and understood in the West. Although there are a number of books that explain the religion and its philosophy, this work is the first in English to focus on sites where Shinto has been practiced since the dawn of Japanese history. In an extensive introductory section, authors Joseph Cali and John Dougill delve into the fascinating aspects of Shinto, clarifying its relationship with Buddhism as well as its customs, symbolism, and pilgrimage routes. This is followed by a fully illustrated guide to 57 major Shinto shrines...

Shinto is the indigenous spirituality of Japan. A combination of myth, history and ritual designed to connect the present with the ancient past, Shinto is practised by the vast majority of the Japanese but is not regarded as a definable religion. Over the last two centuries Japan has repeatedly responded to the challenges of modernity, but it has struggled to define the spiritual and moral essence of Shinto. Shinto has been viewed as a national religion, a non-religious patriotic cult, a moral way, a private religion of Shinto shrines, and an ancient form of animism offering a contemporary...

The book hopes to differentiate between the religious systems of Japan and those of other Asian countries, and also between eastern and western cultures. Although different and unique, the book...