Do you believe in Shinto?
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alantin
日本語を勉強する者
- 17 Oct 2007
- 273
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Shinto is native to Japan but in many ways, it doesn't seem to be as strict as Judaism when it comes to what is required of a follower so I would imagine it too much easier for a foreigner to be a Shintoist than a Judaist.
A non-jew turning into Judaism isn't unheard of either though.
I am very much a monotheist and don't believe in the kind of worship that Shinto (way of the gods/spirits) suggests.
I think comparing Judaism and shito might get quite hard because of their fundamentally different nature.
Christianity and its history through Japanese animation: anime
This article explains the integration of Christianity and its history through japanese animation, anime.
web.archive.org
Japan anime & Christianity: western influences
Japan anime & christianity, integration of Christianity and other Judeo-Christian elements into Japanese culture through a look at Japan's most popular art form; anime.
web.archive.org
Ancient Jew's religion was also "the way of god", that is, Shinto
what is " the way of God"?
just check Joseph Eidelberg and Marvin Tokayer out
it is very interesting for me though I basically doubt it...
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alantin
日本語を勉強する者
- 17 Oct 2007
- 273
- 10
Yes. You could translate it "Shinto" but it wouldn't be accurate since it doesn't differentiate between singular and plural. The idea of what god is is quite different in Judaism and Shinto.
It is just speculation but if the Japanese truly were a lost tribe of Israel, they would have come a long way from the rest. Just read the Jewish scriptures dating thousands of years back. The ideology is quite different from the Japanese polytheist Shinto.
Those were interesting links about the Judeo-Christian influence on anime and I'll have to check those up later!
Now I only took a quick peek though.
El Elohim echad!
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I think so.
The doctrine might have been lost in the long years during the journey
however, it is said its costume is very similar.
ancient Yamato history was lost because of Book burning in 645. that is all document of Yamato were burnt.
after that, The history was written by the hereditary role of the narrator in the early imperial court. That is, nothing of the part of especially old age more than the legend about which the people who understood the history from the mind talked.
Therefore, how Nohonshoki is compared with the Bible?
The event that repeatedly looks like well is recorded in both books though
there are many differences.
There is a description written about the god's descendant race in Nohonshoki.
What was happen until making the Smera (sumera) kingdom on the ground of Yamato?( Japanese emperor is called Sumera Mikoto)
Sumera mikoto - Law Dictionary and Research Guide
Sumera mikoto - The Emperor (天皇 tennō, literally "heavenly sovereign") is currently a constitutionally-recogniz
It is understood that ten tribes existed at least by 800 years from captivity
in a Bible and an ancient record while maintaining race's identity.
That is, it was not lost yet..
according to the Successive history of Bible?, It is being written that they were the opposite Euphrates, BC4th century
according to Josephus Flavius, 800 later from captivity,
( http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/josephus/josephus.htm )
Ten tribes descend to the other side of the Euphrates side now, become huge crowds, and the population is inscrutable.
It is the second Ezra book written in the first century though the place is not specified............they are there from the Euphrates for the distance of one and a half years.
and they passed through a place called Aruzaret?
it is said it was Afghanistan.
The people who say Israeli's descendant lives in Afghanistan today.
The meaning called Afghan is a proselyte in Aramaic.
It took four months to return to Jerusalem by the Babylonian captivity. (ezura7-9)
if they went through silk road by this pace, where would they get to...central Asia around Kirgiz
It is the vicinity of present Kirgiz recorded for just ten tribes to have been
kidnapped in the Bible.
They lived in Central Asia in Afghanistan and Kirgiz, etc. for about 800 years.
A Mongoloid race of the Halha , the Uighur people, Uzbek, and Turkman, etc. lived in Central Asia.
They intermarry gradually and are changed into Mongoloid features.
However, I think that it maintained the identity though features are changed at this time.
It is because of relating through the silk road. It is because there was the traffic of the thing, information and person.
It seems that there was the race's communication through the silk road until
the first century.
The silk road separates from Luoyang of China into two at the previous huge Taklamakan Desert exceeding the desert area.
It joins both routes again in Mashhad in Iran when westering further.
the caravan comes to Mediterranean sea district by way of Hamadan
They pass the territory in Israel named Hera and Habol(?). The description of the Ezra writing information at end of the 1st century can be understood.
why did 10 tribes head to Japan from central Asia.?
I don't know? LOL.I just guess Climate change from 1st~ 3rd century
Taklamakan Desert is the big desert between Kirgiz and Afghanistan.
Land went to ruin by desertification and the town became ruins. People aim at the new land.
The name of Taklimakan (Takla Makan) means the town that became ruins by the Hebl Aramaic. (Tikla makom)
According to Sven Hedin,
Sven Hedin - Wikipedia
The legend of the town that buried in the sand for a long time is described to the
race around here.
In the legend, it was a pagan that lived in this town.
Damnation happened because they had refused to teach Islam.
Sand fall for several days like rain and the resident was buried in the sand
with the ground and the town.
Hedin has seen trees of the popular in the shore in ruins in the town in the lake that is ashore and the river before.
According to Ellsworth Huntington,
Ellsworth Huntington - Wikipedia
there was rich life because the bridge in the desert, the glass, the kneading thing, the neck decorations, and etc are seen.( coins were made in Han Dynasty)
They do after a while and arrive at Kaifeng of China.
Kaifeng - Wikipedia
they are called Chinese -Jewish today
William Whyte wrote, "The discovered ancient inscription shows that the Jew came here first during the Han dynasty."
They have been changed into other similar Chinese and Mongoloid features.
The knowledge that means where the ancestor has already come is lost, too.
Large majority advances toward northeast further and will arrive at a Korean
peninsula before long.
They hear that there is a big island in the place in which it goes across the
sea in the east.
First of all, the island really was suitable for the living or, might have sent the advance force.
( then I understand the relation between Korea and Japan at that time)
The native people' subjugation might have quoted Yevusi= Emishi from the Bible. ( it mean the Enemy to conquer the land of promise in the Bible)
The communication with the Jew in Jewish land before was completely lost.....
I think that was the 2~4th century
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Hata clan was also one on them
jref.com
circumcision of emperors are very famous in Japan
http://search.yahoo.co.jp/search?p=天皇+割礼&ei=UTF-8&fr=top_ga1&x=wrt
it is said in 1912
www.ndl.go.jp
Japanese Royal Tomb Opened to Scholars for First Time
"A rare visit by archaeologists to a fifth-century imperial tomb offers hope that other closely guarded graves in Japan might soon be open to independent study. This month a group of 16 experts led by the Japanese Archaeological Association released results from their February visit inside...
jref.com
circumcision of emperors are very famous in Japan
http://search.yahoo.co.jp/search?p=天皇+割礼&ei=UTF-8&fr=top_ga1&x=wrt
it is said in 1912
National Diet Library
The official website of the National Diet Library. The Library collects and conserves materials and information both from Japan and abroad, serving as a foundation of knowledge and culture. In addition to assisting the activities of the National Diet, the Library also provides library services...
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kireikoori
Sempai
- 3 Aug 2007
- 264
- 7
Well, wouldn't Pantheism technically be a form of Monotheism?
If all gods add up to the existence of one spiritual whole, then it's worshiping one God.
I've read several places claim that Japanese religion is Pantheist.
So any sort of Polytheistic religion that has Shamanistic leanings would be softer Polytheism. Most Polytheistic religions don't have that sort of strong Polytheism you would find in the Greco-Roman world.
But by the way Monotheism is commonly meant, which is strong Monotheism, which is to mean Abrahamic religion, yes Shinto is markedly different from any of them.
But even as for that "strong monotheism" is concerned, even Christianity believes in angels and demons.
alantin
日本語を勉強する者
- 17 Oct 2007
- 273
- 10
Well.. I guess it comes down to what one means with a god. (or "theos" in greek. "mono" + "theos" --> one god, "pan" + "theos" --> all is god, "poly" + "theos" --> many gods)
In Christianity the word "God" is reserved for the personal being that created everything as some of the defining attributes attached to the word in Christian circles are "all knowing", "all powerful", and "with no beginning or end". That's why it is usually written with capital "G".
Angels and demons aren't considered as "gods" although in Japanese you might call them that. Still I think the common words used in Christian circles in Japan are "み使い" for an angel and "悪霊" for a demon but I haven't heard or seen them being called "神" ever once. It doesn't mean it isn't possible though..
Also when speaking about the God of the Christian teaching it is often elaborated, like "天地造られた神" for example, to avoid confusion due to the general nature of the word "神".
When defined extremely loosely, I guess someone might even call Pantheism a form of Monotheism although I don't really see any reason for that. The terms exist to describe the different nature of the ideas.
"all is god" <----> "only one God"
A question of terminology.
Ps. To give some background to my previous comment; I'm a protestant Christian.
- 17 Sep 2005
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Seeing as Shinto is not exclusive of other religions, I would say that the very concept of "converting" is alien to Shinto.
hanachan
先輩
- 10 Mar 2007
- 265
- 16
I think so.
Deities are everywhere you believe that they are.
They are the personifications of natural phenomena or objects, animals like snakes, foxes and raccoon dogs, mythological heroes and great persons in the history.
- 15 Mar 2002
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It is very common for there to be a Shinto shrine on the grounds of Buddhist temples. Also very common for family tombs centered on Buddhist iconography to feature a Shinto torii as their rearmost element.
This is true. Shinto is an animist religion that recognizes all spiritual matter on the planet in one way or another, so long as it doesn't clash with their own Shinto belief. They merely focus on the spirits from their country and hometowns. A person who visits Ise-Jingu is partial to Amaterasu, that does not mean he does not believe in Inari or Odin. The members of Gallhammer wear Mjölnir on their neck, so they can possibly be seen as partial to Thor. But that does not make them not Shintoists.
Japan even has a word for foreign spirits. But that word is also used for Japanese spirits as well. Which especially refers to the Western concept of fairy. So the Japanese, in Shinto, also believe in the Western concept of fairies, just as Youkai. And there's even considered to be some Japanese overlapping. That word is Yousei, written in kanji as 妖精 .
Since Wikipedia claims it has legends of Japanese fairies in Iwate, I should like to look more into this next time I go there. Instead of just visiting Kenji Miyazawa related sites again.
Dogen Z
aka YOSUQUE
- 23 Apr 2007
- 1,072
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A Natural Religion
Shinto encourages simplicity and cleanliness as signs of inner goodness. There is a steady emphasis on spiritual and physical purity. Shinto asks its followers to be pure in heart and mind and to be grateful for the many blessings of the kami. How they fulfill those obligations is left to consciense of the individual.
The purpose of Shinto worship is to maintain close harmony between people, nature, and the kami.
Shinto encourages simplicity and cleanliness as signs of inner goodness. There is a steady emphasis on spiritual and physical purity. Shinto asks its followers to be pure in heart and mind and to be grateful for the many blessings of the kami. How they fulfill those obligations is left to consciense of the individual.
The purpose of Shinto worship is to maintain close harmony between people, nature, and the kami.
Dogen Z
aka YOSUQUE
- 23 Apr 2007
- 1,072
- 22
The core belief of Shinto is the reverence of nature, which many Japanese seem to have lost in this age.
Shinto was a basic part of Japanese school curriculum up until the 50's when MacArthur banned it. This act contributed to the ensuing urban sprawl. helter skelter utility lines, dams, and concreting (?) of rivers.
I think Japan should reinstate Shinto teaching in schools. After centuries, its beliefs are part of the social fabric and should be reinforced as part of the moral code.
Shinto was a basic part of Japanese school curriculum up until the 50's when MacArthur banned it. This act contributed to the ensuing urban sprawl. helter skelter utility lines, dams, and concreting (?) of rivers.
I think Japan should reinstate Shinto teaching in schools. After centuries, its beliefs are part of the social fabric and should be reinforced as part of the moral code.
Haruspex
先輩
- 30 Aug 2007
- 2,324
- 96
Why teach something on a compulsory basis that hasn't even been proven? That would be defying logic.
let`s talk
Kouhai
- 2 Apr 2009
- 83
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Don`t worry.Whatever blonde/blue-eyed you are, they will easily wed you to J-person in the shrine after you paid a load of money.
let`s talk
Kouhai
- 2 Apr 2009
- 83
- 5
If you are with strangers or in formal/business situations, with kids, etc.But it is not a taboo to discuss it among friends or equals.That is what all the related societies, clubs, uni-groups do.Not sure if it is acceptable for an open forum.Also not sure that it is not.
Air America
Registered
- 19 Jan 2009
- 23
- 0
Shinto is the only religion on earth that currently has a living god.
Isn't the Emperor seen as the equivelent as the Christian Jesus Christ?
Isn't the Emperor seen as the equivelent as the Christian Jesus Christ?
