Shrine Shinto

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Jinja Honchō building in Yoyogi, Shibuya , Tokyo

Shrine Shinto ( Japanese 神社 神道 jinja shintō ) is the collective term for the religious tradition as it was and is practiced in thousands of Shinto shrines in Japan. It differentiates itself from the imperial Shinto , the rites of the imperial family of Japan , as well as the sect Shinto , religious communities that split off at the end of the 19th century.

Based on the written sources, Shinto shrines and their inextricably linked own orientation of Shinto already existed at the same time as the oldest sources that report on Shinto itself.

There is currently no central authority in Shrine Shinto. In the history of Japan, however, there have been repeated attempts at political appropriation, especially at the time of State Shinto from the Meiji Restoration to the capitulation of Japan .

overview

The umbrella organization of the shrines is Jinja-Honchō ( 神社 本 庁 , literally: "Shrine Main Office"), which was founded in 1946 after the dissolution of the State Shinto . It is a loose association of the shrines organized there. The Jinja-Honchō defines shrine Shintō as everything that is performed by Shintō priests ( kannushi ), as well as cultic acts in connection with kamidana , provided that they have received an o-fuda ( 御札 ) issued by a real shrine . Street and rice field kami are excluded from this definition, as they are often worshiped by Buddhist priests.

Other shrine organizations also exist, and some large shrines such as B. the Yasukuni Shrine and the Fushimi Inari Taisha , are independent and not organized in any organizations.

No holy scriptures are binding for the shrine Shinto. However, the Kojiki , Nihonshoki, and other writings from the seventh and eighth centuries are considered central sources for various myths.

In 1956, the Jinja-Honchō issued a book entitled "General Way of Worshiping the Kami ". Their main points are:

  1. To be grateful for the blessings of the kami and the support of the ancestors, to be conscientious in the execution of the Shinto rituals and to devote oneself to them in sincerity, happiness and purity of heart
  2. To be helpful to others and to the world as a whole through charitable acts without expectation of reward, and to seek the further development of the world as someone whose life expresses the will of the kami
  3. To bond with others in harmonious recognition of the will of the emperor, praying for the country to prosper and for other peoples to live in peace and prosperity

The chief priest is the Tennō , the Japanese emperor, but more in a ceremonial than in a dogmatic sense. The highest shrine is the Ise shrine , the shrine of the sun goddess Amaterasu .

Ultimately, however, the shrine Shinto is a union of many individual shrines with a multitude of venerated kami, local traditions, ceremonies, festivals ( matsuri ) and myths. Between 80 and 90 million Japanese people visit a shrine at least once a year, usually on the Japanese New Year ( hatsumōde ).

literature

  • Wilhelmus HM Creemers: Shrine Shinto after World War II . EJ Brill, 1968 (English).

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