Japanese Culture and Politics Essay

The historical development of Shinto cannot be separated from the entire history of Japanese religion, culture and politics holding the Japanese mentality to the path of creative progress and versatility of self-development. From the fate of the Emperor’s courts in different eras, with the rise and fall of other religious orders such as the Buddhist groups and the overall destiny of the nation, the fate of Shinto is intertwined in every aspect. Shinto had already started to about 300 B. C. E. and was considered as the most significant religion in Japan. In reality, there is no specific dates nor enough data or hard evidence of Shinto’s origins, as such, it may trace back even before the 300 B. C. E. Just like Shinto’s origins, the origins of civilization on the Japanese islands remain cloudy. Various communities gathered together during the Stone Age. As early as the 300s and 200s B. C. E. , tightly knit societies were appearing, but the mountainous terrain of the home islands kept settlements relatively isolated. Although Shinto tradition traces the ancestry of the Japanese imperial family back to the 600s B. C. E., there is no evidence of an organized Japanese government before the 300s or 400s C. E. Body The history of Shinto is connected to the development of growth of states. The first imperial state was ruled by the Yamato family, starting in the 300s or 400s C. E. From the start, the Shinto religion- which remained important even after the arrival of new faiths like Buddhism- legitimated the emperors, declaring them descendants of the sun goddess. The Yamato initially ruled from Nara, which, until the late 700s, serves as Japan’s capital. During the Nara period (ca. 300-794 C. E. ), the foundations of the Japanese nation were laid. Japan also came into contact with Korea and China. The Chinese had a tremendous influence on the development of Japanese art, architecture, literature and religion. It was from China and through Korea that, in 522 Buddhism arrived in Japan (McCannon 2006). However, Shinto was already greatly present in early Japan, as such, they were able to develop their own state different from that of China Shinto has been considered to be the creative spirit, and on the contrary, as a firmly fixed source of nationalism in Japan. Although the roles need not be incompatible, the question draws attention to two faces of Shinto. There are folk origins as well as cults encouraged by governments, and these have not always coexisted harmoniously. During the development of State Shinto, the conflict and peace reaches its peak. The Meiji period government, in the interests of manipulating Shinto as a state ideology, was prepared to sacrifice the entire popular spirituality of Shinto to the extent of suppressing shrines and removing kami from communities. This underlines the dual origins of Shinto and the ways in which local and national interests have not always been harmonized. The august status of the Grand Shrines of Ise, the Amaterasu greatly shows how Shinto had affected the people’s respect towards the Imperial tradition (Picken, 1994). Shinto religion became the core of some social classes and basis for economy, traditions and customs. During the time when sengoku daimyo and the three great unifiers were struggling for political supremacy, they adopted and utilized various methods with varying degrees of success to overcome basic administrative difficulties. Sengoku daimyo and the national hegemons encountered difficulty in bringing the commercial segments of the society under their control. The existence of a growing national market in central Japan where most of the large scale transactions involving goods from the distant provinces were conducted in the sixteenth century and which remained relatively free of any political control during much of that century, did not permit the sengoku daimyo and the national hegemons to regulate the growing commercial activities to their advantages (Hall et. al. 1983). Through Shinto, the society was divided into classes, where many sengoku daimyo introduced the system of rule by law to strengthen their authority in their respective domains. Also, by focusing on Shinto religion, sengoku daimyo was able to have the absolute loyalty of its subordinates, discouraging localized or scattered loyalties. Moreover, early believers of Shinto greatly respected animals. They believed that these are God’s messengers and because of these, the early Japanese created statues such as â€Å"Koma-inu† on their temple grounds. Japanese culture also flourished with ceremonies correlated to the practice of Shinto and some of these include cleansing, prayers and dances greatly attributed to Kami. In addition to this, they also practiced Kagura, a dance perfected by its performers with an accompaniment of ancient musical instruments (Robinson 1995). Conclusion The historical development of Shinto cannot be separated from the entire history of Japanese religion, culture and politics holding the Japanese mentality to the path of creative progress and versatility of self-development. From the development or origins of Shinto, the states of early Japanese period came into realization. State Shinto is one of the great examples of the states created using Shinto as its foundation. Aside from its states, the rulers of state before the Tokugawa period were chosen with the blessings of the gods of Shinto. The divine providence given to these rulers strengthened their power over their subordinates. Just like the power of the sengoku daimyo during the Warring period. They were able to obtain absolute loyalty from their subordinates and the other classes. Shinto did not only create Japan’s early states and leaders, but also molded its culture, customs and traditions. Early beliefs on Shinto gave life to the Japanese society, illuminating it with dances and ceremonies. As a whole, early Japanese culture and politics developed its own identity becoming one of the countries with great sense of nationalism because of Shinto. Works Cited Hall, John Whitney, Nagahara Keiji, and Kozo Yamamura. â€Å"Japan before Tokugawa: Political Consolidation and Economic Growth, 1500 to 1650. † Public Affairs 53. 2 (Summer 1983): 332-34. McCannon, John. Barron’s How to Prepare for the Ap World History Advanced Placement. New York: Barron’s Educational Series, Inc. , 2006.