Shintoism & Shamanism

Karl Marx

“Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a hopeless world and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people.”

An Introduction to ‘Critique Hegel’s Philosophy of Right,’ 1844

Redistribution of Wealth

People’s Republic of China (1949)

• Reeducating people who thought they deserved more than other people

  • Sent business owners into the rice fields to work—what do you think of the working class now?

• A million people died during this at the beginning

Suppression of Religion

People’s Republic of China (1949)

• Persecution of Buddhists in Tibet

  • Dalai Llama had to leave

  • Many Muslims currently in China, but they too are repressed by China

  • Why are you following an ancient religion when we have science today? The religions were meant to keep people down

Kami-No-Michi

They way of the kami

Shintoism

Native religion of Japan

• For the last few hundred years, Buddhists had more power in Japan than […], but the […] religion has experienced a rise over the last hundred

Jurōjin and the Black Deer

• In the story, […], similar to a god, lived to be 2,000 years old

  • Kami of Longevity

• The [///] symbolizes 2,000 years

  • Not only people have kami, animals do too ([///], white foxes, white dolphins); also Mount Fuji and Mount Kami

  • Some creatures have more kami than others

Kami of Longevity 

Living to be in old age 

• Ex.) Jurōjin

Okinawa

Where the sacred grove is

• Shamanism is big in East Asia (huge in the Koreas), and in different forms all over the world

Miko

Female shamans who channel kami from the forest in Okinawa

• Can access kami through them (nature)

Amateratsu

Biggest god in all of Japan, and she is a woman; created the Japanese people and Japan

• In the image shown, a female priestess uses a seductive dance to lure the goddess out of the cave

• She is the red sun on the Japanese flag

  • She is in the cave during the night, and when she comes out she is the rising sun

• Japanese imperial family and the emperor are descendants of her

  • Can access kami through the emperor

Amateratsu → Emperor family → Clans/Tribes → Families → Individuals

Power flows down

State Shintoism

Sources of Kami via Emperor

• After WWII, the US made the emperor come out and denounce his divinity—say that he is not a god

  • Took separation of church and state and multiplied it times 100

    • Made it illegal to practice […]—no political parties supporting the emperor, no emperor or emperor’s family in politics

    • Big reason why many (especially young) people in Japan say they are not religious

Nature Shintoism

Sources of kami in nature (mikos)

Fukushima Nuclear Accident

First time since the 40s where Japan surrendered to the US where the emperor went onto TV, and it was to comfort the Japanese people

• People in Japan are very worried about radiation—effects of WWII is still seen today in the younger generations through deformities

State Shintoism today

Kim Jung Un

Claims to be a descendant of the Korean god who created the Korean people, who was a bear

• North Korea is very communist, but people worship and see their leader as a god

  • Similar to Japanese imperialism 150 years ago (in a way)

Pentecostalism

Channeling the holy spirit, performing miracles—looks very similar to Shamanism

• Dominant religion of South Korea today is this form of Christianity, but there is a lot of syncretism

• 65% of South Koreans are Christians, but less than 1% of people in Japan are Christians