page_title: Shinto
section_title: Cosmology and afterlife
hierarchical_section_title: Shinto / Beliefs / Cosmology and afterlife
context_page_description: Shinto, also known as kami-no-michi, is a religion originating in Japan. Classified as an East Asian religion by scholars of religion, its practitioners often regard it as Japan's indigenous religion and as a nature religion. Scholars sometimes call its practitioners Shintoists, although adherents rarely use that term themselves. There is no central authority in control of the movement and much diversity exists among practitioners.
  Shinto is polytheistic and revolves around the kami, supernatural entities believed to inhabit all things. The link between the kami and the natural world has led to Shinto being considered animistic and pantheistic. The kami are worshiped at kamidana household shrines, family shrines, and public shrines. The latter are staffed by priests who oversee offerings to the kami and the provision of religious paraphernalia such as amulets to the religion's adherents. Other common rituals include the kagura ritual dances, age specific celebrations, and seasonal festivals. These festivals and rituals are collectively called matsuri. A major conceptual focus in Shinto is ensuring purity by cleansing practices of various types including ritual washing or bathing.
context_section_description: The origin of the kami and of Japan itself are recounted in two eighth-century texts, Kojiki and Nihon Shoki. These were texts commissioned by ruling elites to legitimize and consolidate their rule, and drew heavily upon Chinese influence. These texts were never of great importance to the religious life of the Japanese. Views regarding the truth of the cosmological stories recounted in these texts have varied. In the early twentieth century, for instance, the Japanese government proclaimed that it was irrefutable history.
  These texts recount that the universe started with ame-tsuchi, the separation of light and pure elements (ame, "heaven") from heavy elements (tsuchi, "earth"). Three kami then appeared: Amenominakanushi, Takamimusuhi no Mikoto, and Kamimusuhi no Mikoto. Other kami followed, including a brother and sister, Izanagi and Izanami. The kami instructed Izanagi and Izanami to create land on earth. To this end, the siblings stirred the briny sea with a jewelled spear, from which Onogoro Island was formed. Izanagi and Izanami then descended to Earth, where she gave birth to further kami. One of these was a fire kami, whose birth killed Izanami. Izanagi then descended to the netherworld (yomi) to retrieve his sister, but there he saw her body putrefying. Embarrassed to be seen in this state, she chased him out of yomi, and he closed its entrance with a boulder.
  Izanagi bathed in the sea to rid himself from the pollution brought about by witnessing Izanami's putrefaction. Through this act, further kami emerged from his body: Amaterasu (the sun kami) was born from his left eye, Tsukuyomi (the moon kami) from his right eye, and Susanoo (the storm kami) from his nose. Susanoo behaved in a destructive manner, and to escape him Amaterasu hid herself within a cave, plunging the earth into darkness. The other kami eventually succeeded in coaxing her out. Susanoo was then banished to earth, where he married and had children. With humans now living on Earth, the "age of the gods" came to an end. According to these texts, Amaterasu then sent her grandson, Ninigi, to rule Japan, giving him curved beads, a mirror, and a sword: the symbols of Japanese imperial authority.
  In Shinto, the creative principle permeating all life is known as mutsubi. Within traditional Japanese thought, there is no concept of an overarching duality between good and evil. The concept of aki encompasses misfortune, unhappiness, and disaster, although does not correspond precisely with the Western concept of evil. 
  Texts such as the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki attest to the presence of multiple realms in Shinto cosmology. These present a universe divided into three parts: the Plain of High Heaven (Takama-no-hara), where the kami live; the Phenomenal or Manifested World (Utsushi-yo), where humans dwell; and the Nether World (Yomotsu-kuni), where unclean spirits reside. The mythological texts nevertheless do not draw firm demarcations between these realms.
  Shinto places greater emphasis on this life than on any afterlife. As the historian of religion Joseph Kitagawa noted, "Japanese religion has been singularly preoccupied with this world, with its emphasis on finding ways to cohabit with the kami and with other human beings". A common view among Shinto priests is that the dead continue to inhabit our world and work towards the prosperity of their descendants and the land. One traditional belief formerly widespread in Japan was that the spirits of the dead resided in the mountains, from where they would descend to take part in agricultural events.
caption: Izanami-no-Mikoto and Izanagi-no-Mikoto, by Kobayashi Eitaku, late 19th century
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