Challenges to Shintoism• Up until World War 2, the Japanese held their emperor as divine.After World War 2, the Japanese government dropped theemperor's divinity, leading to the decline in Shintoist belief and thespread of Zen Buddhism, Christianity, and many other religiousbeliefs in Japa

The East Asian Belief Systems and Religions SHINTOISM Unlike the two East Asian beliefs, Shintoism is a legitimate religion with creationist theories, multiple gods and goddesses, and a moral code. Though the moral code of Shintoism has been altered, the core of its beliefs have remained throughout history remains to be an essential part of Japanese life. Origins of Shintoism Most of what we know about Shintoism is based on two books: the Kojiki and the Nihon Shoki. Both details how gods and goddesses of the Shintoist belief were created, leading to man and woman's eventual creation. THE ORIGINS OF JAPAN While the Nihon Shoki presents a slightly different creation story, most have accepted both versions as Shintoism's creation myths. Kojiki remains to be the more familiar one. According to the Kojiki, there were seven pairs of kami than were born and were scattered throughout the universe. After some time, a brother-sister pair of kami was born: "Izanagi," the brother, and "Izanami," the sister. The original gods resided in the High Plain of Heaven. They tasked Izanagi and Izanami in creating the islands of Japan. To do this, they were given a bejeweled spear to stir the ocean with which they made the islands. The two then proceeded with the creating of other kami. They failed at first but succeeded later on. That was until Izanami gave birth to the fire kami, which burnt and killed Izanami. Saddened by this, he killed his fire-child, which resulted in more kami. In his grief, Izanagi went to the underworld to see Izanami but was mortified by her deathly appearance. Izanagi returned to the living world dirty. As he rinsed himself in a river, the dirt that came off became kami: the sun goddess "Amaterasu" was born as he washed his left eye; the moon god "Tsukuyomi" was born as he washed his right eye; and the god of wind, thunder, and storms, "Susano'o" who was born as he washed his nose. Out of the three, Amaterasu became the most important as she became the future ruler of Heaven's High Plain. Susano'o eventually did a lot of terrible things, which angered Amaterasu. She decided to live alone in a cave and, in so doing, deprived the world of her light. The kami of the High Plain of Heaven became worried and decided to perform acts to persuade Amaterasu to come out of the rock-cave. But, these acts failed until a kami, Uzume, danced that made the other kami laugh. Curious, Amaterasu came out of the cave, and the world was bathed in her light once more. To prevent the same darkness from consuming the world, the cave was sealed with a rope. Uzume, for her efforts, became the kami of dance, culture, and literature. This creation story explains why Japan was known as the "Land of the Rising Sun" (due to Amaterasu's legend), why dance, culture, and literature were of sheer importance to the Japanese (due to the acts of Uzume) Basic Shintoist Beliefs They generally believe in the 'kami,' or the 'gods.' Mentioned in the tale above are essential kami in Japanese culture. For almost anything in Nature, human existence, and events, the Japanese believe that a kami has something to do with it. But, most significantly, there plentiful of kami in Nature. Some have grouped the kami to understand further its diverse pantheon of gods. 1. Nature Kami • They include the kami residing in trees, animals, mountains, geological and astronomical entities such as clay, stones, lightning, stars, moon, minerals, food, and water forms. 2. Mythic Kami • They consist of all the kami in the Shinto myth, including Izanagi, Izanami, Amaterasu, Tsukuyomi, Susano'o. 3. Clan Kami SH1910 05 Handout 1 *Property of STI  [email protected] Page 2 of 2 • They include the kami that serve as protectors of divine clans, the highest among Amaterasu. The members of the imperial family are believed to be descendants of Amaterasu. 4. Guild Kami • They consist of the kami worshipped by various guilds (craftsmen and artists). Similar to Chinese beliefs, the Japanese believed their emperors to be divine. This is because the Japanese believe that the first human Japanese emperor, a descendant of Amaterasu, inherited the goddess's divinity. Thus, all of his descendants are divine as well. Process of Purification and Worship For Shintoists, their central value is the purity of the human soul. Thus, anything related to cleaning has some form of religious significance in it. When one commits a wrongful act, purification must be done to atone for the sins. This process usually includes praying in their shrines and must show respect towards themselves and Nature, depending on the kind of misdeed done. Other practices involve washing oneself in a river or a waterfall. They believe the spirit of these water forms will cleanse your transgressions, similar to how Izanagi washed after being dirtied in the underworld. Challenges to Shintoism • Up until World War 2, the Japanese held their emperor as divine. After World War 2, the Japanese government dropped the emperor's divinity, leading to the decline in Shintoist belief and the spread of Zen Buddhism, Christianity, and many other religious beliefs in Japan. • There is also a concern about the relevance of nature worship in the current state of the world. With the more predominant belief of Nature bearing no soul, Shintoist views clash with the more modern philosophy. • With the popularity of Japanese manga and anime, which feature the Japanese legendary gods and goddesses, there is a distortion of the meaning of 'kami' and what the gods and goddesses represent. For example, Amaterasu was the main reason why the Japanese flag symbolizes the rising sun. Nowadays, mention Amaterasu, and most kids will say the famous anime "Naruto," which used Amaterasu, Tsukuyomi, Susano'o, Izanagi, and Izanami, its fictional world and altered their meanings.

Social and economic problems in Japan at the end of the Edo Period led to dissatisfaction among the Japanese people. One result of this was:A) Japan had to turn to the USA and some European nations (England, France, Russia and the Netherlands) for financial aid to prevent the Japanese people from uprising and overthrowing the government.B) Japan creating a feudal society in the hope that this social structure would aid Japan's economy and help stabilize society.C) The resignation of the Shogun, reforms and the installation of the Emperor in the 'Meiji Restoration.'D) Japan attempting to take the focus off its' problems and to unite the Japanese people by attacking Russia with the aim of gaining control over Russia's trade with Europe.

“In the aftermath of World War I, Japanese imperialism came to be rethought radically in the context of pan-Asianism, the new discourse of civilization that began at the time to burgeon in Japan and many other parts of [Asia]. Pan-Asianism meant different things to different people, even within Japan. There were those . . . who saw the Japanese role in pan-Asianism as nondomineering—oriented toward solidarity and the revival of Asia. [For others] pan-Asianism called for a final war between the West and the East led by Japan, which had amply demonstrated its leadership abilities. Pan-Asianism also had a special meaning for Japanese nationalists and thinkers during the 1920s because of the growing perception that, despite Japan's effort to become a world-class nation-state . . . , the Japanese continued to encounter racism and discrimination.Discrimination was perceived in the international conferences in Washington (1922), the London Naval Conference (1930), and wherever Japan was allotted a lower quota of ships than the British and Americans. But most of all, it was the buildup of exclusionary policies in the United States and the final Exclusion Laws prohibiting Japanese immigration in 1924 that galled Japanese nationalists. In their view, Asian civilization did not exhibit inhuman racist attitudes and policies of this kind, and for [Japanese] militants . . . these ingrained civilizational differences would have to be fought out in a final, righteous war of the East against the West.”Prasenjit Duara, Indian historian, article published in an academic journal, 2006 QuestionIn your response, be sure to address all parts of the question. Use complete sentences; an outline or bulleted list alone is not acceptable. Use the passage to answer all parts of the question that follows.a) Identify ONE piece of evidence that Duara uses in the passage to support his claim regarding Western racial attitudes and Japanese militarism in the second paragraph.b) Explain ONE development in the period before 1930 that would support Duara’s claim that Japan had “amply demonstrated its leadership abilities” as stated in the first paragraph.

“In the aftermath of World War I, Japanese imperialism came to be rethought radically in the context of pan-Asianism, the new discourse of civilization that began at the time to burgeon in Japan and many other parts of [Asia]. Pan-Asianism meant different things to different people, even within Japan. There were those . . . who saw the Japanese role in pan-Asianism as nondomineering—oriented toward solidarity and the revival of Asia. [For others] pan-Asianism called for a final war between the West and the East led by Japan, which had amply demonstrated its leadership abilities. Pan-Asianism also had a special meaning for Japanese nationalists and thinkers during the 1920s because of the growing perception that, despite Japan's effort to become a world-class nation-state . . . , the Japanese continued to encounter racism and discrimination.Discrimination was perceived in the international conferences in Washington (1922), the London Naval Conference (1930), and wherever Japan was allotted a lower quota of ships than the British and Americans. But most of all, it was the buildup of exclusionary policies in the United States and the final Exclusion Laws prohibiting Japanese immigration in 1924 that galled Japanese nationalists. In their view, Asian civilization did not exhibit inhuman racist attitudes and policies of this kind, and for [Japanese] militants . . . these ingrained civilizational differences would have to be fought out in a final, righteous war of the East against the West.”Prasenjit Duara, Indian historian, article published in an academic journal, 2006 QuestionIn your response, be sure to address all parts of the question. Use complete sentences; an outline or bulleted list alone is not acceptable. Use the passage to answer all parts of the question that follows.a) Identify ONE piece of evidence that Duara uses in the passage to support his claim regarding Western racial attitudes and Japanese militarism in the second paragraph.b) Explain ONE development in the period before 1930 that would support Duara’s claim that Japan had “amply demonstrated its leadership abilities” as stated in the first paragraph.c) Explain ONE way in which the ideology of Japanese pan-Asianism as described in the passage differed from the ideologies of other militarized states in the 1930s.

During the Heian period, Japan experienced a golden age. That period was followed by civil war. During this time of strife, a powerful warrior class arose—the samurai.Minamoto Yoritomo came to power in Japan in 1185 and, by 1192, had taken the title of shogun, or commander-in-chief. Yoritomo did not replace the emperor, but he did set up a military government with its own capital in the city of Kamakura. While the imperial court remained in Heian-kyo, emperors played an increasingly less important role in the government of Japan.The start of the Kamakura government marked the beginning of a new era in Japanese history. Eventually, professional warriors—the samurai—became Japan's ruling class. The era of the samurai lasted for 700 years, until the emperor was restored to power in 1868.Over time, an elaborate culture and code of conduct grew up around the samurai. A samurai was expected to be honest, brave, and intensely loyal to his lord. In fact, the word samurai means “those who serve.” The samurai code was very strict. Samurai sometimes killed themselves with their own swords rather than “lose face,” or personal honor.The samurai were more than fearless fighters. They were educated in art, writing, and literature, and many were devout Buddhists. Their religious faith helped them prepare for their duties and face death bravely.In this lesson, you will meet Japan's samurai. You will learn about their armor, weapons, and the physical training needed for their strenuous battles. You also will find out about their mental training in self-control, their code of conduct, and the role they played in the military society of medieval Japan.