by Olivia and Farida
Shintoism, the most practiced “religion” in Japan along with Buddhism, fits into the daily life of its citizens almost perfectly. We use the quotation marks around religion tentatively, and ultimately at the preference of most Japanese citizens. Despite the existence of over 80,000 Shinto shrines in all of Japan and around 83 million citizens who participate in its daily rituals, you would be hard pressed to find any Japanese citizens who openly admit to practicing a religion. During our first day in Japan, we had to confront our Western conceptions of religion as we engaged with this core part of Japanese culture.
Upon arriving at Meiji Shrine (or Meiji Jingu, if you’d prefer the romanization of the Kanji), we met with Moriyasu-sama, a classmate of Professor Ng from undergrad who went on to become a Shinto Priest at the Meiji Shrine. He’s wearing pure white undergarments, called shitagi, representing purity; hakama, the pants of a Shinto Priest’s vestments, whose deep, royal purple color signify both his rank and seniority; and traditional split-toed socks known as tabi with traditional Japanese clogs called geta to complete the look. Normally, these vestments would be made of an expensive material such as silk for higher-up priests or cotton, but due to the rain of the day, we got the less luxurious experience of seeing a Shinto Priest in polyester.
Shintoism as a whole is essentially a reverent belief and honor of kami, which is translated literally as “spirits” in English, although that translation lacks much of the nuance that belongs to Shintoism as a whole. Kami, while most understood to us as deities, are more so non-personified feats of nature. There is a kami of the sun, a kami of the Earth, a kami of the sea, and so much more. Shintoism is rooted in both gratitude and awe of the incandescent feats of nature and the power of all beings’ life force. While the Meiji Shrine was built to honor Emperor Meiji after his death in absence of a tomb, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the people of Japan worship him or his wife– rather, they honor their deified spirits. Shintoism isn’t about belief or worship; it is about ritualistic practice.
We had the opportunity to engage in this practice as we stepped into the sacred grounds– before entering the area of the shrine, we cleansed our hands and mouths, purifying ourselves both literally and spiritually. We bowed at the base of each torii gate, before finally participating in a purification ritual, also known as harae.
This ritual commenced with the banging of the drums, or taiko, before Shinto liturgies were recited in a pitchless, rhythmic manner. We bowed as an onusa, a purified paper shaker, was passed over us. More Shinto liturgies were recited to the tune played on a traditional Japanese flute known as a kagurabue, when Shinto shrine maidens known as Miko danced with flowers. At the end of the ritual, we walked out and received a sugary sweet chrysanthemum candy. The chrysanthemum is in honor of the imperial family as it appears on their crest, and the sugar acts as a preservative. Oftentimes, sugar is used in Shintoism as an offering to the kami through foods (shinsen).
Overall, Shintoism reinforces cultural ideas of the ways in which spiritual and bodily health are intertwined. There was initially a lot of pushback against Buddhism in Japan in favor of Shintoism before realizing that it was a necessity as Shintoism tends to focus on the importance of life and doesn’t dabble much in thoughts of death, as it is seen as “unclean.” Because Shinto Priests often refused to perform death rituals, the job then fell to Buddhist monastics, making them a necessity in Japanese society. As we continue to look into how commodities such as sugar and textiles are used culturally in Japan, the Meiji Shrine and Shinto practices acted as a friendly entry point for us to recognize the different ways in which things as basic as cloth and sugar becomes something with meaning in different cultural contexts.