Shinto and Japan

A big factor for the Japanese has been to truly identify themselves after 1945. “The subordination of the individual to the group has so long been a part of the life of Japan that Japanese are hardly aware of it until they experience the contrast in a country more individually oriented.” (12, pg 169) Ross meant that in a world where societies around the world are trying to bring back the importance of the group over the individual, Japan is a culture in which the individual must be stressed more than the group. This is because for the Japanese, “it is hard for a sense of individual responsibility to emerge [to the state].” (12, pg. 170) As the Japanese continue to find themselves and how they will continue to develop in this post world war nation, Shinto continues to be immersed in their culture and play a very significant role to the nation.

Shinto was used as a way to promote nationalism within the country and now it can be the strand that still holds the Japanese nation together. It is apparent in every part of Japanese culture. It is an important part of their history that can be used as a defining force for the Japanese. Shinto to the Japanese can be analogous to the founding of the Americas based on a Christian background. The only exception would be that Japan has kept its roots much more intact than America has with its own in an external and ritualistic way. Shinto can be seen not only in the rituals still performed but in the other cultural aspects of society as well. An example would be in Japanese business. The way the nation handles its business partners and contracts is in a very Shinto like way. Deals and agreements with the Japanese can be made much smoother if there is a sense of a relationship and kinship between the two parties. In dealing with Western cultures, the Japanese confuse some western folk because foreigners don’t understand this Japanese mentality of a “friendship.” It is not a one time meeting type of occasion but to the Japanese it is the longevity in the relationship and continuity throughout the years of doing business with certain companies.

Japan has also taken the stance in keeping Shinto alive within their youth as well. If you take a look at Japanese television, specifically anime, you will see the themes of Shinto over and over. Many of the anime, though dealing with a range of topics from bread making, to being ninjas and “soul reapers” that harvest dead people to the other world, have very apparent Shinto themes dealing with nature and using character names that have many Shinto subtleties that cannot be denied. Children are growing with these themes of Shinto and are being raised to not see the difference between what we Westerners would call “religion” and what the Japanese would simply call their life.

In this modern era of Japan, it is the first time in which the Shinto priests and shrines have true freedom. In the Meiji restoration, the government continually tried to manage and take control of the growth of the religion as a way to control the populace and the people. This freedom, that was promised by the Meiji Restoration, but never actually given, is something where Shinto and Japan can freely express themselves and see the change it brings. As Japan continues to interact more and more with the outside world and influences, Japan is coming to a crossroad. It is a decision in which to accept these new ideas and to do as it has always done in cultivating these new ideas and combining them with the old to form a new Japanese product or it would be to give in, like the rest of the world, to the growing Western influences in that of politics, economics and society. Japan can become a bridge between Western and Eastern culture if it can adapt once again, not only in a religious context as Shinto has allowed it to do, but a social one as well¹¹.