まゆの部屋

Shintou

term 言葉
deities　神
coincide　一致する　同時に起きる

After having gone through a long history since then, this indigenous faith, Shinto, has been developed into four main forms: the Koshitsu Shinto ( Shinto of the Imperial House), the Jinja Shinto (the Shrine Shinto), the Shuha Shinto (the Sect Shinto), and the Minzoku Shinto (the Folk Shinto).

indigenous　土着の

The Koshitsu Shinto (Shinto of the ImperialHouse)

The Koshitsu Shinto is a general term forconclave rites performed by the emperor, (who is now 'the symbolof the state and of the unity of the people' under the Japanese Constitution,) in order to pray myriad deities centering Amaterasu Ohmikami (a goddess who is the ancestral deity of the emperor according to the Japanese myth) and the imperial ancestral deities for a long continuation of the state, for happiness of the people and for world peace, and it has an independent system. Daijosai,or Great Festival of Thanksgiving, is the first Niinamesai (arite of Thanksgiving) performed by the newly crowned emperor of Japan in a palace called Daijokyu which is temporarily built inside the Imperial Palace. Besides this rite, rites performed at the Grand Shrine of Ise are to be included in this category, since Amaterasu Ohmikami is enshrined in there.

forconclave
Constitution　憲法
myriad　無数　万
arite

Niinamesai is the most important Shinto rite which is performed in order to make an offering of the first fruits of a year's grain harvest thanking the deities for their blessing and also sharing the food produced by these first grains with the deities. Accordingto the Japanese myth, it was Amaterasu Ohmikami who performed this rite for the first time.

When the capital of Japan was transferred from Kyoto to Tokyo in 1869, three imperial shrines were erected inside the Imperial Palace. Kashikodokoro,which enshrines the imperial ancestral deity, Amaterasu Ohmikami,is centered among the three, and on the east side, there is Shinden which enshrines the deities of heaven and earth, and on the westside, Koreiden which enshrines the spirits of successive emperors.In addition to them, Shinkaden was built in order to perform Niinamesai there. These shrines are connected by corridors, and all the rites of the Koshitsu (Imperial House) Shinto are performed in these shrines.

erected　建てる

In connection with Niinamesai, Emperor Showa,(the124th Emperor and the father of the present Emperor) started to cultivate rice in the water-field inside the Palace, doing all the procedures by himself including seeding, bedding young plants,harvesting, in order to make an offering of the harvest produced by himself to the deities.

procedures　進行　手順

There are clergy men and women called Shoten (men) and Nai-Shoten(women) are serving in order to assist the emperor to perform the rites. The number of rites performed by the emperor reaches several tens a year including Genshisai, the first rite of a year.There are scholars who call the emperor the king of the ritual.It is considered that the true nature of the emperor is to bealways

clergy　牧師
ritual　儀式の
bealways

The Shuha Shinto (The Sect Shinto)

The Shuha Shinto (the Sect Shinto) can be classified into two categories:the Sect Shinto and the New Sect Shinto. The Sect Shinto is the groups ofthe Shinto believers that started individual religious activities before 1868 and after 1882 when Shinto Shrines were secluded from other religious institutions as the place for rites and festivals conducted by the State(the beginning of so-called State Shinto); they are Kurozumikyo, Shinto Shuseiha, Izumo Oyashirokyo, Fusokyo, Jikkokyo, Shinshukyo, Shinto Taiseikyo,Ontakekyo, Shintotaikyo, Misogikyo, Shinrikyo, Konkokyo, and Tenrikyo (*)according to the date of establishment. Each group has a founder and it sown doctrines. Although they worship traditional deities of heaven and earth,following traditional forms of rites and festivals of Shinto, they often have the central figure of divinity to revere. In the case of the New Sect Shinto, they have a notable tendency to make a compromise among Buddhism,Confucianism, and folk faiths such as Yin Yang school. There are some groups which even show characteristics of monotheism as the extreme case.

secluded　引きこもった　人里はなれた
sown　種をまくの過去分詞
doctrines　教義
revere　尊敬する
compromise　妥協　和解
monotheism 一神教

The Folk Shinto

The Folk Shinto is a Shinto faith which was customarily practiced by common people without being systematized. Thus it is inseparable from the Shrine Shinto. However, in the time of the 40th Emperor Temmu (673-686),it was segregated from the Shrine Shinto when the government of the time set up a certain system relating to the Japanese traditional rituals and festivals, which had been long practiced in parallel with rituals of Buddhism,the state religion of Japan at that time. After that, the Folk Shinto gradually developed by itself forming an complexed form of rituals and festivals which sometimes amalgamating even with Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism. Among them, those which have not lost traditional forms of Shinto are considered now to be the Folk Shinto.

segregate　分離する
parallel　平行の
amalgamating　融合する
Taoism　道教
Confucianism　儒教

In an agricultural community, for instance, there is a custom that rituals are performed by a lay-man without involving a priest. A memberof the community (often young boy) is nominated as "Toya", and he performs rites to worship the deity of the locality for one year under the rotation system.

lay-man

Another examples of the Folk Shinto are rites of passages of life and the year-round observances. They are all closely related to rites and festivals performed at the Shinto Shrine.

passages　通過　経過
observances　守ること

A. The Yearly Round of Observances:

1)New Year's Festival

The Yearly Round of Observances starts with the New Year's Festival.In an urban society, people visit a Shinto shrine or a Buddhist temple during the first three days of a year as the first thing to do. In a rural society based on agriculture, however, each house executes a ceremony by themselves to invite the deity of a year, or the communal body does it on behalf ofeach household, and a family or the community share with the ancestral spirits the specially prepared meal and the rice wine.

executes　実行する
communal　共同の

Even in an urban society, people place a new amulet received at a tutelary shrine of the locality or a new Taima (a special amulet purified and distributed by the Grand Shrine of Ise) in an alter of one's own house. After that,a family drinks Toso (the special sake for a new year's ceremony) and enjoys the New Year's meal.

amulet　お守り
tutelary　保護者
distribute　分配する

2)Bon Festival:

Bon festival held in July or in August as an ancestral souls' day is said to be a Buddhist festival related to Chinese Urabon sutra. However,it is also considered to be a folk Shinto faith with following reasons:people visit grave yards in order to recall the souls of ancestors which had been once sent to the Pure Land, being free from all the agonies of this world; all the members of a family or a clan get together to enjoy the specially prepared meal for the occasion. From these points, Bon Festival is considered to be one form of the amalgamated folk faith which has been customarily performed in Japan for a long time. It is even clear when we consider a fact that Buddhism originally does not say the continuous existence of individual soul after death.

sutra　経典
agonies　苦悶する
clan　氏族
amalgamate　混合する

3)Other Festivals:

There are many other festivals including those which are related to various kinds of professions, such as agricultural works, industrial works,or commercial activities. There are also many festivals to wish an individual happiness and prosperity avoiding any troubles and misfortunes,or those which have been influenced by Buddhism, Taoism, and Yin-Yang thought.There are seasonal festivals, too. On the last day of a year, the Japanese cleans a house and the surrounding area, and takes a bath to clean themselves,then eat Soba noodle to wait for a New Year. This is undoubtedly a custom based on Oharae(purification) that Shinto has been practiced since ancient times.

B. Rites of Passages:

1) Rites of passages begin with Hatsumiya-Mode. It is the first visitof a new born baby to a shrine. Visiting Ubusuna shrine (a local tutelary shrine) together with a fully dressed whole family, the baby is recognized by the local deity as a new member of the community.

tutelary 保護者

2) Next comes a festival called Shichi-Go-San. Boys at their fifth year,and girls at the third and the seventh year, visit a shrine in order to report their healthy growth and to receive divine blessings.

3) Then Coming-Age festival. The youth reached 20 years old are nowadays celebrated officially by public institutions such as a local government office. However, after non-religious ceremony, many of them visit a shrine to receive divine blessings.

4) Marriage ceremony was originally a rite of passage. It was a tradition that a family reports a marriage to the ancestors in front of the household Shinto alter or the Buddhism alter, and then introduce the newly wed couple to their community as new members, inviting relatives and neighbours to a banquet held at the household. Since the Meiji era (1868-1912), however,it has become a new custom to hold a marriage ceremony at a shrine. In these days, there are people who have it in a Buddhist temple or a Christian church.There are some, though not many, who have a civil marriage.

banquet　宴会

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