33 Introduction
The word Shinto literally means “way of the deities.” The word first appeared in the sixth century CE when new technologies and learning from Korea and China began to flood Japan. This word, Shinto, was used to define ancient practices of reverence for the local deities of Japan, called kami. Worship and reverence for the kami is indigenous to Japan. “Indigenous” refers to cultural practices that arose in a particular place. When we study Shinto we are studying the rituals, narratives, and ethical teachings of the indigenous religion of Japan that focuses on reverence toward the kami, the native deities of Japan.
Kami are nearly always linked to a specific place. There are two types of kami: first, there are the natural deities of a locality, who reside in a mountain, a beautiful landscape, a magnificent tree or an unusual rock formation. These natural locations may be marked with a gate called a torii. The torii is a structure with a curved upper bar and two strong supports. It often frames a natural scene or several torii may be arranged in a kind of corridor up a mountain trail.
The kami of natural places can benefit the local people by bringing the rains at the right time for the crops and making everyone thrive. Offerings to the kami and festivals to entertain them are important functions of the many Shinto shrines scattered throughout the country. A shrine may be a building, but it is often a simple altar up in the hills overlooking the fields. There, performances are held in the summer and at New Years to thank the kami and ask for their continued support. The motivation is to keep such native deities happy so that they do not take revenge on a whole area through natural disasters.
Another type of kami is linked to the ancestor of a clan. The idea is that those who are deceased continue to take an interest in the life of the family. The proper term for this kind of kami is ujigami. “Uji” means clan, and “gami” is the same as kami. As with the kami of a natural area, it is important to continue to care for the ancestors of your clan in order to keep them happy and inclined to send benefits to you.
