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refers to the animistic religion of
Jōmon period In Japanese history, the is the time between , during which Japan was inhabited by the Jōmon people, a diverse hunter-gatherer and early agriculturalist population united by a common culture, which reached a considerable degree of sedentism an ...
Japan, which is the alleged basis of modern
Shinto , also called Shintoism, is a religion originating in Japan. Classified as an East Asian religions, East Asian religion by Religious studies, scholars of religion, it is often regarded by its practitioners as Japan's indigenous religion and as ...
. The search for traces of Koshintō began with the " Restoration Shinto" in the
Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...
, which goal was to remove any foreign ideas and worldviews from Shinto (specifically referring to Buddhism). Some movements which claim to have discovered this primeval way of thought are
Oomoto file:Chouseiden.jpg, 200px, ''Chōseiden'' (長生殿) in Ayabe, Kyoto, Ayabe , also known as , is a religion founded in the 1890s by Nao Deguchi, Deguchi Nao (1836–1918) and Onisaburo Deguchi, Deguchi Onisaburō (1871–1948). Oomoto is typ ...
and
Izumo-taishakyo is a Japanese Shinto grouping. It was established by Senge Takatomi (1845–1918), the 80th head priest of Izumo-taisha in 1882, as one of the original thirteen sects of ''Kyoha Shintō Rengokai'' (Association of Sectarian Shinto), during the ...
.


Worldview

The following is deduced from studying the language of the ''
Kojiki The , also sometimes read as or , is an early Japanese chronicle of myths, legends, hymns, genealogies, oral traditions, and semi-historical accounts down to 641 concerning the origin of the Japanese archipelago, the , and the Japanese imperia ...
'' and ''
Nihon Shoki The or , sometimes translated as ''The Chronicles of Japan'', is the second-oldest book of classical Japanese history. It is more elaborate and detailed than the , the oldest, and has proven to be an important tool for historians and archaeol ...
'' which does not appear in any Chinese philosophy: In Koshintō, the present world or ''utsushiyo'' is put in contrast to the eternal world or ''tokoyo''. All individuals possess a ''tamashii'', meaning a mind, heart, or soul. A ''tamashii'' without a body is called a ''
mitama The Japanese word refers to the spirit of a ''kami'' or the soul of a dead person. It is composed of two characters, the first of which, , is simply an honorific. The second, means "spirit". The character pair 神霊, also read ''mitama'', is ...
''. Those whose ''tamashii'' has the nature of ''kami'' are called ''mikoto''. In the Age of the Kami, or ''Kamiyo'', the Earth was ruled by ''kami'', whose forms were akin to humans, but had pure hearts and spoke in the language of kotodama.


History of Koshintō research

There are no records of "pure" Koshintō in early Japanese literature. By the time Japan was producing literature, its native religion had already intermixed with
Taoism Taoism or Daoism (, ) is a diverse philosophical and religious tradition indigenous to China, emphasizing harmony with the Tao ( zh, p=dào, w=tao4). With a range of meaning in Chinese philosophy, translations of Tao include 'way', 'road', ' ...
and
Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
. Medieval development meant that Shinto was integrated into Buddhist symbology. Koshintō research began at the same time as examinations into Early Buddhism. In this era, Japan's shrine rituals were being "purified" of their religious nature and turned into national forms, a process called
State Shinto was Empire of Japan, Imperial Japan's ideological use of the Japanese folk religion and traditions of Shinto. The state exercised control of shrine finances and training regimes for Kannushi, priests to strongly encourage Shinto practices that ...
today. Religionists began looking for the origin of these forms in a primitive " nature religion". Early folklorists such as
Kunio Yanagita was a Japanese author, scholar, and Folklore studies, folklorist. He began his career as a bureaucrat, but developed an interest in rural Japan and its folk traditions. This led to a change in his career. His pursuit of this led to his eventual e ...
were also seeking a purely Japanese tradition. Onisaburo Deguchi, the founder of
Oomoto file:Chouseiden.jpg, 200px, ''Chōseiden'' (長生殿) in Ayabe, Kyoto, Ayabe , also known as , is a religion founded in the 1890s by Nao Deguchi, Deguchi Nao (1836–1918) and Onisaburo Deguchi, Deguchi Onisaburō (1871–1948). Oomoto is typ ...
, was an extremely influential Koshinto researcher in the Imperial period. He influenced nearly all modern Koshinto lines except for that of Takuma Hisa. Such research continues today and is often connected with
aikido Aikido ( , , , ) is a gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art which is split into many different styles including Iwama Ryu, Iwama Shin Shin Aiki Shuren Kai, Shodokan Aikido, Yoshinkan, Renshinkai, Aikikai, and Ki Aikido. Aikido is now practic ...
and other martial arts.大宮司朗・平上信行 『古神道と古流武術―その奥秘を語る』1996年、八幡書店


See also

* Ainu religion, another indigenous religion of Japan * Fukko Shinto * Haibutsu kishaku * Himorogi * Kotoamatsukami * Meiteism *
Modern paganism Modern paganism, also known as contemporary paganism and neopaganism, spans a range of new religious movements variously influenced by the Paganism, beliefs of pre-modern peoples across Europe, North Africa, and the Near East. Despite some comm ...
*
Ryukyuan religion Ryukyu may refer to: * Ryukyu Islands, a volcanic arc archipelago * Ryukyuan languages * Ryukyuan people * Kingdom of Ryukyu (1429–1879) * Ryukyu (My Hero Academia), Ryuko Tatsuma, a character in the animanga series ''My Hero Academia'' See als ...
*
Shinbutsu bunri The Japanese term indicates the separation of Shinto from Buddhism, introduced after the Meiji Restoration which separated Shinto ''kami'' from buddhas, and also Buddhist temples from Shinto shrines, which were originally amalgamated. It is a ...
*
Shinbutsu kakuri The term in Japanese Buddhist terminogy refers to the tendency in medieval and early modern Japan to keep some ''kami'' separate from Buddhism.Rambelli and Teeuwen (2002:21-22) While some ''kami'' were integrated in Buddhism, others (or at times ...


References


Further reading

* Kornicki, Peter and I.J. McMullen (Ed), ''Religion in Japan: Arrows to Heaven and Earth'', Cambridge University Press, (1996),


External links


Koshinto – Shinto organisation for South Australia
Animism in Asia Japanese mythology Jōmon period Shinto Shinto new religious movements Shamanism in Japan {{Shinto shrine