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I live in Japan, so reading this was entertaining. Most Japanese I've met have no idea what the specific meaning is for many of the rituals associated with visi
by RayVR 4y ago
I live in Japan, so reading this was entertaining. Most Japanese I've met have no idea what the specific meaning is for many of the rituals associated with visiting a shinto shrine.
The saying in Japan is that you are born Shinto, married Christian, and die Buddhist.
I am not a historian, but here is my understanding of the current "history" of Japan.
Shinto had an artificial resurgence during the meiji restoration as money was pumped into it. Shinto was seen as a way to push society back toward an emperor-centric governance model. Shinto at the time was closely aligned with the powers that believed propping up the emperor was important.
If you travel around Japan you'll see many jinja (shinto shrine). Within a few minutes walk from my house there are three large shrines and maybe six small shrines. Most of these were built during and immediately after the meiji restoration.
The modern view of the 'history of Japan' was actually heavily influenced and curated by the powers that shaped Japan in the second half of the 19th century. Many things that people believe are part of 'ancient Japan' are mostly handpicked tools used by the political elites of the time.
- earthboundkid 4y agoYes, although this is true of history everywhere. Why are there statues of Columbus and Pulaski in the park by my house? Because my city had active Italian and Polish communities in the twentieth century, and having mythic great American ancestors helped them cement their identities.
- RayVR 4y agoI 100% agree. The amusing/frustrating thing is that these types of articles/essays usually really lack any context, so that's what I'm adding here. It's very doubtful Shinto could be called the 'Soul of Japan'
- cobbzilla 4y agoFunnily enough there is another, much older book also called Soul of Japan, that may actually capture its essence. https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/12096 https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/12096 https://librivox.org/bushido-the-soul-of-japan-by-inazo-nitobe https://librivox.org/bushido-the-soul-of-japan-by-inazo-nito...
- rubin55 4y agoGreat book, just finished it for the second time. Also recommend (both on Gutenberg btw) "Japan: An attempt at interpretation" (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/5979 https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/5979) and "Tales of Old Japan" (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/13015 https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/13015) Especially "Japan: An attempt at interpretation" I found remarkable, It really struck a cord and goes in-depth on cultural expectations and habits in Kami (villages). "Tales of Old Japan" is a great collection of mythological tales.
- earthboundkid 4y agoJapan and America really are different, but any explanation you create to systematically explain the differences (communitarian vs individualist, Shinto vs Christianity, Plato vs Buddha, etc) will only be correct to a limited degree and miss many important edge cases.
- rfreytag 4y agoCasimir Pulaski served with remarkable distinction in the American Revolution. See #2 on this list: https://www.history.com/news/6-foreign-born-heroes-of-the-american-revolution https://www.history.com/news/6-foreign-born-heroes-of-the-am... ... as did his countryman, Tadeusz Kościuszko, #4 on that same list.