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Shinto
According to the myth, the sun goddess Amaterasu Omikami was driven to hide herself in a cave by the boisterous behaviour of her younger brother, Susanoo no Mikoto, god of the oceans. The sacred mirror was used to lure her from her hiding place. When she emerged, the deities of heaven presented her with the sacred jewels. The sword was removed from the tail of a serpent by Susanoo and presented to his sister as a sign of his submission.
Modern Shinto
After World War II, the Allied Occupation separated Shinto and the state and this break was written into the new constitution. So visits by leading politicians to Yasukuni Jinja, which enshrines the Japanese war-dead, are always protested as being provocative by Japan's Asian wartime foes. The emperor issued a statement renouncing all claims to divinity and the use of Shinto symbols for nationalistic purposes was forbidden. Even today, protests against these and other changes are a favourite rallying call of right-wing extremists. In addition to the hundreds of festivals, many Shinto ceremonies play an important part in modern daily life.Many marriages are carried out in shrines, building plots are purified and sometimes even new cars are blessed for safety. In a rite called oharai, the white-clad priest waves a stick with white strips of paper attached to carry out the blessing. Most family homes have a kamidana (god shelf) as well as a Buddhist butsudan (Buddha altar). The main teaching centers for Shinto priests are Kokugakuin University in Tokyo and Kogakukan University in Ise. Shinto was originally a natural religion which became into existence in a village community. So, the concept of a sin or of ethics is also formed according to the value system of the community: that is to wish prosperous continuation and development of the community. It is the same consciousness to hold rites and festivals.Accordingly the Shinto concept of the sin and also the concept of the Shinto ethics have no identical difference from the secular sin or social ethics which is taught through the social education in order to support the continuous development of the community.Historically, it was the time of Emperor Suiko, the 33rd Emperor (593-62 cool when Japan started to rise as a nation, forming its administrative structure, from the stage of a united clans under the emperorship. It was between the eras of the 38th Emperor Tenchi and the 40th Empeor Tenmu (661-686) when Japan could proceed a step farther to become a state with the centralized government. The form of the Shinto rituals is considered to be established at this time including Haraekotoba. In this Haraekotoba, which was chanted for a purification ceremony at that time and is still chanted, the sins are listed and they are categorized into two: Amatsu-Tsumi and Kunitsu-Tsumi. At this time, Ritsu (or the criminal law) were established under the influence of the Chinese Law of the Tang Age. It is convenient to see these laws in order to look at the Shinto concept of the sin and those sins which were prohibited by the secular laws. The gravest sin called Amatsu-Tsumi described in the Oharai is those deeds which were committed by Susanoo-no Mikoto, the brother deity of Amaterasu Omikami, the supreme Kami. According to the myth, he was so rejoiced by being able to prove that he had no ill feelings against his sister deity, Amaterasu Ohmikami, that he committed vulgarity such as destroying the paddy fields of Amaterasu Ohmikami to have crop for Niinamesai (Rice-crop rite), the weaving shop where the cloths for the deities were woven and also several other violent misdeeds. It means that all these deeds were against divine festivals. It is described in the myth that because of these vulgarity, a part of Susanowo's assets was taken away from him and purgedfrom Heaven. According to the Ritsu, these deeds correspond to the sixth sin which is described as one of the grave eight sins: the sin to destroy a shrine and to steal divine object. Stealing of the symbolic object of the divine spirit was ruled to be punishable by death and other destructive deeds were ruled to be punishable by exile. These punishment almost correspond to those which was given to Susanowo-no Mikoto.The other sins described as Kunitsu-Tusmi include injury, murder including infant murder, incest, poisoning, cursing. At the same time, natural hazard brought by a thunder, the birds, and the reptiles (creeping things) are included in Kunitsu-Tsumi. It means that all the human deeds and natural hazard which endanger continuity of a community are considered to be Kunitsu Tsumi. These human deeds were punished by the law as crimes at the time of Ritsu (the criminal laws). In the case of natural hazards, people tried to wipe off the evil elements by holding religious rites. Traditionally in Japan, a religion has never had its own commandments which are different from the secular laws mentioned before. The religion has always put its main value on the continuity and development of a community. It is a historical fact that, since the secular laws were established, Shinto has performed as a religion which believes in the rites of purification in order to pacify negative forces both man and nature have, and to strengthen positive forces for constructing a better community. According to the Shinto faith, a human spirit is believed to remain forever like the spirit of Kami does. The spirit, however, is not conceived as a substantial existence. It is believed because of its work, and the places where the spirit dwells are often mentioned as the other world in the classics such as Kojiki (The Ancient Matters), Nihonshoki (the Chronicles of Japan), Manyoshu (Anthology of Poems), etc. In each other world, there live Kami. The most well known other world is 'the other world of Heaven' where the most venerable deities live, and then it comes to 'the other world of Yomi' where Izanami who gave birth to the land of Japan lives. This world is long considered to be underground, and it is believed to have the connection with the habit of burial of the dead. (But nowadays it is regarded that there is no academic base for this). The third other world is called 'Tokoyo; which is believed to exist somewhere beyond the sea. According to the folk faith which originates in agricultural culture, there is a belief of 'the other world in the mountains'. This faith has the connection with a fact that grave yards were on a hill which has a panoramic view over a village and also a fact that people often expressed their wish to watch their descendants even after their death. These other worlds, however, are not described as heaven nor as a hell. There is no difference at all from this world. It reflects a faith in the spirit of the dead who can visit this world if people make a ritual to revere the spirit, like the divine spirits visits this world whenever people show their reverence holding festivals. There is also a faith in that Kami and ancestral spirits protect their descendants as far as the descendants continue to hold festivals. It can be said that Shinto is not a religion which centralized its interests in the life after death, but in this world. Having an awe to Kami and revering it as their guardian, the majority of the Japanese has also a warm and close feeling to Kami, and they always wish Kami's protection against any disasters and its grace with divine blessings.However, according to the authentic Shinto faith based on the Japanese myth, Japanese are originally given birth by the couple of deities Izanagi and Izanami, they have Kami nature in themselves. So, it is the utmost importance for every individual Japanese that one should endeavour oneself to help and assist the emperor, the ascendant of Amaterasu Omikami, whose mission is to make this land prosperous and stabilize and to make the land where the human life meaningful and joyful. Accordingly, to live means to work, and basically working is the source of joy. This is considered to be the base of the Japanese vocational ethics as well as their philosophy of life. This is because the individual life is, of course, given by the parents, yet, the root of the life is imbedded in Kami. Shinto has no eschatology and thus no appeal for the spiritual relief before it by God, nor belief in Mappo that tells about the arrival of the time of no hope and no relief, which is the source of human agonies. Shinto believes in that the human life will be prosperous as far as one keeps one's endeavour in this world following the divine words, even if there was a time of ups and downs in life. Yet, there is no idea of a utopia in Shinto.In order to understand the concept of Kami of the Japanese, it is important to wipe off a preconception caused by the word, god, an English translation which is often used for the word Kami. In Shinto, there is no faith in the concept of the absolute one god who is the creator of both nature and human beings. The ancient Japanese had never divided material and spiritual existence, but considered that the both were inseparable, seeing everything to be spiritual. In other word, they did not draw a border between a certain object and the work of that object. According to the Shinto myth, there was one thing in the beginning of this universe. Later that thing was divided into two things: Heaven and Earth. From Heaven, Kami appeared and a couple of Kami who were male and female appeared last gave birth to the various Kami, the land of Japan and her nature as well as people. The Shinto faith starts with a belief in this mythology. Therefore, Shinto does not acknowledge the existence of the substantial difference or discontinuation between Kami and man, nature and human beings. It can be said that Shinto is basically the faith in the life-giving power.However, Shinto is not pantheism which sees all the existence on this world as Kami itself. If it is necessary to define its concept, it might be the best to refer to the opinion of Motoori Norinaga, a scholar in the late 18th century, which is now widely accepted. He wrote, "Whatever seemed strikingly impressive, possessed the quality of excellence and virtue, and inspired a feeling of awe was called Kami". Here "the quality of excellence" means an enormous power which gives great influence on many things. It is beyond the human power or human works. It brings a good luck and happiness to man but at the same time it could bring a misfortune or an evil as well. On the other hand, both natural elements (or phenomenon) and man are given a possibility to become Kami, because both the land and the people of Japan were given birth by Kami. So, they are all children of Kami.Nevertheless, all of them are not Kami by themselves. The principle of the polytheism is reflecting here that the only thing that has a great influence on human life could be Kami. For instance, relating to natural phenomenon, Kami of Rain, Kami of Wind, Kami of Mountains, Kami of Seas, Kami of Rivers, Kami of Thunders are worshipped. Thus, objects of worship are limited to those which are closely associated and have great influences on human life. In the case of human beings, all people are revered after their death at their home as ancestral Kami. However, people whose spirits are enshrined after death are limited to those who have had a great contribution to a community or the state. People who are enshrined during their lifetime are especially limited to those who have enormous spiritual power over human life.Occidental theologians have long regarded the human attitude of having an awe towards the mystical power of nature as 'Nature Worship'. Shinto, however, does not impersonate nor divinize nature itself, which is the physical existence that works according to its own system. Shinto considers that people feel awe to some natural elements which have especially great influence to human life, and worship their spirituality and pray for their blessing. In the case of animals, their spirits are called 'mono', a kind of spirit. Because they were considered sometimes to do mischief to human beings, people performed rites in order to console animal spirits. This faith is still observed nowadays. In medical faculties of some universities, for instance, Shinto or Buddhism rites are performed in order to console the spirits of animals which were killed for experimental purposes. There are another cases of performing a rite: to console the spirits of some tools which were made and utilized by men in everyday life such as needles, knives, shoes; or to purify buildings before inaugurating them including even nuclear power stations or factories of computer machines, wishing that all the labour works and productions involved in there would be done properly and safely. The same attitude is applied to Shinrei (or divine spirits). Since people worship divine spirits as they have great influences to their life, the spirit which brings evils to human beings called 'Magatsuhi Kami' is also awed as Kami. According to Shinto, Kami in general also gets angry and brings some misfortunes to people although Kami usually guards and blesses people. Accordingly, it is very important to practice the faith by performing rites for Kami.It is necessary to call attention to a fact that Shinto is polytheism in order to understand the concept of Kami. At the same time, it might be useful to shift the question of the Kami concept to the question of the Japanese value system, so that we could be able to avoid unnecessary misunderstanding. In the case of Monotheism, which worships one absolute god, it seems that the concept of the absolute truth is dominating. If there is any conflict between two people or groups, one of them is considered to be right and the other is wrong and untrue. On the other hand, polytheism which is based on pluralism does not consider the existence of the absolute truth, and accordingly there is distinctive difference between the two. If there are two things which contradict each other or cause a conflict between the two, both of them are wrong and right at the same time. Any quarrels or disputes are not judged by the one-value orientation. As the result, both sides will be punished equally. Also it can be said that people who believe the absolute truth tend to think that coexistence is possible only among those who share the same value. People who stand on the pluralism, on the other hand, consider that coexistence is possible even among those who have different opinions or ideas because each individual has a truth in its individuality, so they have to give tribute to each other. It is coexistence by harmony. Shinto based on the pluralism takes up the plural-value orientation, It can be said that Shinto - in this case, the Japanese had accepted foreign religions such as Buddhism, Confucianism and Yin-Yang thought, as the Japanese always have followed according to this plural-value orientation. In fact, the Shinto mythology does not mention about the omniscient and omnipotent Kami.Kami who gave birth to this land had failed at first, and they requested other Kami in heaven to show them the right way. Then, Kami in heaven responded that one may search the answer through practicing divination. Even the supreme Kami, Amaterasu Omikami, once failed at judging her brother's inner mind. In the case of Kami called Kuebiko who is believed to have an exceptionally great power, for example, he knows everything happening in the world, yet, he can not move even a step because he has no feet. Thus, according to Shinto, there is no Kami who has no defect . After the Meiji era, when Japan opened the door to the west in order to exchange with them officially, the hereditary system of the Shinto priesthood was abolished, although there still exist some shrines for which priests who have a certain family background can exclusively serve. There are six grades for the priesthood: the Superior, the First, the Second, the Semi-Second, the Third, the Fourth grades. There are also five ranks for priesthood called Johkai, Meikai, Seikai, Gon-Seikai, Chokkai. As to grades above the semi-second, they are given only to those who have served in shrines for more than twenty years as priests, though they are some exceptional cases according to educational background and the rank of each priest. To become Guji (or the chief priest), it is required to obtain ranks higher than Meikai in the case of serving for certain eminent shrines, and in the case of serving for ordinary shrines, to obtain those ranks which are higher than Gon-Seikai.There are several institutions to give education and examinations to those who wish to become priests or to prepare for obtaining higher grades and status as priests, After the Second World War, the priesthood has been opened to women, and presently there are about two thousand female priests among twenty thousand priests in total. Even those shrines served only by male priests, the dance of Kaguramai (sacred dance offered to Kami) is always performed by women. This is a tradition followed in Japan from the mythological time. In some agricultural areas, we can see festivals or rites which are performed by a community member who has no education as a professional priest, but just rotating annually a religious obligation among the community members, as mentioned in the section of the Folk Shinto.

The Kami are the Shinto deities. The word "Kami" is generally translated "god" or "gods." However, the Kami bear little resemblance to the gods of monotheistic religions. There are no concepts which compare to the Christian beliefs in the wrath of God, his omnipotence and omni-presence, or the separation of God from humanity due to sin. There are numerous other deities who are conceptualized in many forms: Those related to natural objects and creatures, from "food to rivers to rocks." 2
Guardian Kami of particular areas and clans
Exceptional people, including all but the last of the emperors.
Abstract creative forces

In order to understand the concept of Kami of the Japanese, it is important to wipe off a preconception caused by the word, god, an English translation which is often used for the word Kami. In Shinto, there is no faith in the concept of the absolute one god who is the creator of both nature and human beings. The ancient Japanese had never divided material and spiritual existence, but considered that the both were inseparable, seeing everything to be spiritual. In other word, they did not draw a border between a certain object and the work of that object. According to the Shinto myth, there was one thing in the beginning of this universe. Later that thing was divided into two things: Heaven and Earth. From Heaven, Kami appeared and a couple of Kami who were male and female appeared last gave birth to the various Kami, the land of Japan and her nature as well as people. The Shinto faith starts with a belief in this mythology. Therefore, Shinto does not acknowledge the existence of the substantial difference or discontinuation between Kami and man, nature and human beings. It can be said that Shinto is basically the faith in the life-giving power.

However, Shinto is not pantheism which sees all the existence on this world as Kami itself. If it is necessary to define its concept, it might be the best to refer to the opinion of Motoori Norinaga, a scholar in the late 18th century, which is now widely accepted. He wrote, "Whatever seemed strikingly impressive, possessed the quality of excellence and virtue, and inspired a feeling of awe was called Kami". Here "the quality of excellence" means an enormous power which gives great influence on many things. It is beyond the human power or human works. It brings a good luck and happiness to man but at the same time it could bring a misfortune or an evil as well. On the other hand, both natural elements (or phenomenon) and man are given a possibility to become Kami, because both the land and the people of Japan were given birth by Kami. So, they are all children of Kami.

Nevertheless, all of them are not Kami by themselves. The principle of the polytheism is reflecting here that the only thing that has a great influence on human life could be Kami. For instance, relating to natural phenomenon, Kami of Rain, Kami of Wind, Kami of Mountains, Kami of Seas, Kami of Rivers, Kami of Thunders are worshipped. Thus, objects of worship are limited to those which are closely associated and have great influences on human life. In the case of human beings, all people are revered after their death at their home as ancestral Kami. However, people whose spirits are enshrined after death are limited to those who have had a great contribution to a community or the state. People who are enshrined during their lifetime are especially limited to those who have enormous spiritual power over human life.

Occidental theologians have long regarded the human attitude of having an awe towards the mystical power of nature as 'Nature Worship'. Shinto, however, does not impersonate nor divinize nature itself, which is the physical existence that works according to its own system. Shinto considers that people feel awe to some natural elements which have especially great influence to human life, and worship their spirituality and pray for their blessing. In the case of animals, their spirits are called 'mono', a kind of spirit. Because they were considered sometimes to do mischief to human beings, people performed rites in order to console animal spirits. This faith is still observed nowadays. In medical faculties of some universities, for instance, Shinto or Buddhism rites are performed in order to console the spirits of animals which were killed for experimental purposes. There are another cases of performing a rite: to console the spirits of some tools which were made and utilized by men in everyday life such as needles, knives, shoes; or to purify buildings before inaugurating them including even nuclear power stations or factories of computer machines, wishing that all the labour works and productions involved in there would be done properly and safely. The same attitude is applied to Shinrei (or divine spirits). Since people worship divine spirits as they have great influences to their life, the spirit which brings evils to human beings called 'Magatsuhi Kami' is also awed as Kami. According to Shinto, Kami in general also gets angry and brings some misfortunes to people although Kami usually guards and blesses people. Accordingly, it is very important to practice the faith by performing rites for Kami.

It is necessary to call attention to a fact that Shinto is polytheism in order to understand the concept of Kami. At the same time, it might be useful to shift the question of the Kami concept to the question of the Japanese value system, so that we could be able to avoid unnecessary misunderstanding. In the case of Monotheism, which worships one absolute god, it seems that the concept of the absolute truth is dominating. If there is any conflict between two people or groups, one of them is considered to be right and the other is wrong and untrue. On the other hand, polytheism which is based on pluralism does not consider the existence of the absolute truth, and accordingly there is distinctive difference between the two. If there are two things which contradict each other or cause a conflict between the two, both of them are wrong and right at the same time. Any quarrels or disputes are not judged by the one-value orientation. As the result, both sides will be punished equally. Also it can be said that people who believe the absolute truth tend to think that coexistence is possible only among those who share the same value. People who stand on the pluralism, on the other hand, consider that coexistence is possible even among those who have different opinions or ideas because each individual has a truth in its individuality, so they have to give tribute to each other. It is coexistence by harmony. Shinto based on the pluralism takes up the plural-value orientation, It can be said that Shinto - in this case, the Japanese had accepted foreign religions such as Buddhism, Confucianism and Yin-Yang thought, as the Japanese always have followed according to this plural-value orientation. In fact, the Shinto mythology does not mention about the omniscient and omnipotent Kami. Kami who gave birth to this land had failed at first, and they requested other Kami in heaven to show them the right way. Then, Kami in heaven responded that one may search the answer through practicing divination. Even the supreme Kami, Amaterasu Ohmikami, once failed at judging her brother's inner mind. In the case of Kami called Kuebiko who is believed to have an exceptionally great power, for example, he knows everything happening in the world, yet, he can not move even a step because he has no feet. Thus, according to Shinto, there is no Kami who has no defect.