Shinto Shinto () is a religion from Japan. Classified as an East Asian religion by scholars of religion, its practitioners often regard it as Japan's indigenous religion and as a nature religion. Scholars sometimes call its practitioners ''Shintois ...

terminology indicates a propagation process through which a ''

kami are the deities, divinities, spirits, phenomena or "holy powers", that are venerated in the Shinto religion. They can be elements of the landscape, forces of nature, or beings and the qualities that these beings express; they can also be the sp ...

'', previously divided through a process called ''

bunrei is a Shinto technical term that indicates both the process of dividing a Shinto ''kami'' to be re-enshrined somewhere else (such as a house's ''kamidana''), and the spirit itself produced by the division. For details, see the article about the si ...

'', is invited to another location and there re-enshrined.

Evolution of the ''kanjō'' process

''Kanjō'' was originally a

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

term and later entered Shinto vocabulary.Smyers (1999:235) A ''kanjō'' was the request of the

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a śramaṇa, wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was ...

's sermon with a sincere heart, and later came to mean the urging of a

buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a śramaṇa, wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was ...

bodhisattva In Buddhism, a bodhisattva ( ; sa, 𑀩𑁄𑀥𑀺𑀲𑀢𑁆𑀢𑁆𑀯 (Brahmī), translit=bodhisattva, label=Sanskrit) or bodhisatva is a person who is on the path towards bodhi ('awakening') or Buddhahood. In the Early Buddhist schools ...

to remain in this world to preach and save other human beings. The concept then evolved further to mean the act (and the actual words) of asking buddhas or bodhisattvas to descend to the altar during a Buddhist service. In Japan, the word gradually assumed the present meaning of enshrinement of a buddha or ''kami'' in a building for the first time.

The ''kanjō'' process

Before it can be transferred to its new location the ''kami'' must be divided. The division sub-process and the divided spirit itself are called , or .　 The process of propagation, described by Shinto priests as akin to the lighting of a candle from another already lit, leaves the original ''kami'' intact in its original place and therefore does not alter any of its properties. The resultant ''wakemitama'' has all the qualities of the original and is therefore both living and permanent. The process is used often, for example during ''

Matsuri Japanese festivals are traditional festive occasions often celebrated with dance and music in Japan. Many festivals have their roots in traditional Chinese festivals, but have undergone extensive changes over time to have little resemblance ...

'' (Shinto festivals) to animate temporary shrines called and their portable versions, called ''

mikoshi A is a sacred religious palanquin (also translated as portable Shinto shrine). Shinto followers believe that it serves as the vehicle to transport a deity in Japan while moving between main shrine and temporary shrine during a festival or when ...

''.Sonoda (1975:12)

''Inari kanjō''

Inari Inari may refer to: Shinto * Inari Ōkami, a Shinto spirit ** Mount Inari in Japan, site of Fushimi Inari-taisha, the main Shinto shrine to Inari ** Inari Shrine, shrines to the Shinto god Inari * Inari-zushi, a type of sushi Places * Inari, ...

is the ''kami'' that has been subjected to ''kanjō'' more often than any other,Smyers (1999: 156-160) and is therefore a good illustration of the process. The transfer does not necessarily take place from a

shrine A shrine ( la, scrinium "case or chest for books or papers"; Old French: ''escrin'' "box or case") is a sacred or holy sacred space, space dedicated to a specific deity, ancestor worship, ancestor, hero, martyr, saint, Daemon (mythology), daem ...

to another: the new location can be a privately owned object or a ''

kamidana are miniature household altars provided to enshrine a Shinto . They are most commonly found in Japan, the home of worship. The is typically placed high on a wall and contains a wide variety of items related to Shinto-style ceremonies, the mos ...

'' ("god-shelf", or altar) within an individual house. The case is recorded of Inari being re-enshrined in a

fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

holeThe fox is Inari's symbol. In fact, the first recorded

''kanjō'', in 842, involved the ''kamis transfer to

Ono no Takamura , also known as , was a Japanese calligrapher and poet of the early Heian period. Life Takamura was a descendant of Ono no Imoko who served as Kenzuishi, and his father was Ono no Minemori. He was the grandfather of Ono no Michikaze, one of the ...

's scepter. The ''kami'' was then transported to Mutsu no Kuni (

Aomori is the capital city of Aomori Prefecture, in the Tōhoku region of Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 278,964 in 136,457 households, and a population density of 340 people per square kilometer spread over the city's total area of ...

) by its owner. Some years later, he returned to

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ci ...

, and Aomori's people asked him to leave the ''kami'' behind, which he did in what would become Takekoma Inari. In 1194,

Emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

Go-Toba decided that only Fushimi Inari Shrine could perform any of the parts of the Inari ''kanjō'', however abuses were rampant that the shrine started providing an authenticity certificate with each divided spirit. The process was briefly outlawed nationwide during the

Meiji Era The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization b ...

, but was reinstated by popular demand. Nowadays, most large Inari shrines will perform it for a fee, sometimes set by the shrine or left to the discretion of the worshiper. As of 1990, Fushimi Inari Shrine had performed it eighty thousand times for private citizens. The faithful are often given the option to give a personal name to their personal ''kami''. At

Toyokawa Inari , popularly known as Toyokawa Inari ('' shinjitai'': 豊川稲荷; '' kyūjitai'': 豐川稲荷), is a Sōtō Zen Buddhist temple located in the city of Toyokawa in eastern Aichi Prefecture, Japan. Although the temple's main image is that of ...

, the worshiper can buy a statue and then participate in the ceremony, called '' kaigen'', to animate it. When one of Inari's forms is re-enshrined with a different name, it may also be worshiped for a specific function. All the new functions are thereafter assumed to be specialties of the ''kami'', particularly in case of a great success in the re-enshrinement, even when those functions are very far from its original nature, as for instance fishing in Inari's case.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* Smyers, Karen Ann. (1999). ''The Fox and the Jewel: Shared and Private Meanings in Contemporary Japanese Inari Worship.'' Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. ;
OCLC 39523475
* Smyers, Karen Ann
“My own Inari”: Personalization of the deity in Inari worship
1996. Japanese Journal of Religious Studies Online Archive, retrieved on July 22, 2020 * Sonoda, Minoru
The Traditional Festival in Urban Society
1975, Japanese Journal of Religious Studies Online Archive, retrieved on July 22, 2020
Bunrei
Encyclopedia of Shinto, retrieved on July 8, 2008

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kanjo Shinto in Japan ja:分霊