The first religion in Japan-Shinto

Shinto is a major religion in Japan alongside Buddhism and it does not have a founder. The literally meaning of Japanese word "Shinto" is "the way of the gods". Also, Shinto has sacred scriptures like the sutras in Buddhism or the Bible in Christianity.

The Shinto gods are called "kami" and they are represented as sacred spirits which take the form of things and concepts important to life like wind, rain, mountains, trees, rivers etc. Humans become kami after they die. The number of Shinto's gods is about 8 million or even more because everything that is unusual like a really big tree can be a god. The most important "kami" is the Sun Goddess Amaterasu. One of the Shinto myths says that her great-grandson was the first emperor of Japan.

Sun Goddess Amaterasu.



The most important and sacred shrine – Ise Jingu. This shire is dedicated to Goddess Amaterasu.







Komentarze

  1. englishdiary8 listopada 2017 23:53

    Does everyone become a god after death? That would mean there should be many more than just 8 mln gods. Do non-believers have a chance too?

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    1. Natalia Ciuchta15 listopada 2017 12:40

      Everyone can become a god after death but only their family members believe in them. As for the non-believers, I did not find any information about them. It is probably because people in those days did not consider something like ‘unbelief’.

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