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* Accessible and accurate surveys of mainstream religions * All aspects - including roots and founding, primary bellefs, and cultural activities, the ways in which the faiths are perceived by the rest of the world, and the experience of growing up as a member of the religion - are examined * Excellent introductions to the world's major faiths A survey of the indigenous religion of Japan which came into being around 2,500 years ago. ... Read more

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An introduction and close examination of Japan's indigenous religion
Part of the scholarly and educational Religions of the World series, Religions of the World: Shinto offers an introduction and close examination of Japan's indigenous religion. Shinto defies simple categorization; it involves the worship of kami, which can be translated as gods, nature spirits, or spiritual presences. Yet kami are not seen as fully transcendent deities, but rather as that which is called down into our world. There is no place or person deemed the most holy, nor is there a set dogma, and the rituals and festivals connected to Shinto simply preach harmony with nature and people. Unlike Buddhism, Shinto focuses upon creating happiness within life, not the hereafter. Author George Williams, Emeritus Professor of Religion at California State University, Chico, is well-versed upon Japanese religion as his numerous published articles attest. Religions of the World: Shinto discusses sacred depths perceived in sound, story, action, space, time, and the ruler, and reflects upon the Shinto's presence and role in modern-day Japan and the world. Black-and-white illustrations enhance this plain terms resource accessible to lay readers and scholars alike, which gives an excellent grounding in the complexity and worldview perceptions of Shinto.
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The volume collects eight essays from Tsunetsugu Muraoka's innovative work, Studies on the History of Japanese Thought. Although not well known outside Japan, Muraoka's analysis of the special characteristics of Shinto belief and morality, especially his comparative study of the ideas and beliefs of principal participants in the Shinto revival of the pre-Meiji era, have made him Japan's most distinguished scholar of Shinto thought. Here his seminal contributions are made available to a wider audience for the first time. ... Read more

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Shinto is the ancient religion of Japan. Indeed, it is one of the oldest religions in the world that is still followed. Over the centuries it has evolved out of the worship of kami, the divine within the world. Shinto has assumed many forms ranging from its origins as a folk religion to its gradual mixture with Buddhism over six centuries, and from its redefining after the Meiji Reformation in the interests of nationalism to the end of World War II, when it again became a more personal choice. As one of the few ancient religions that still thrives, it is of interest to greater circles than Japan specialists, although it remains difficult to understand and even harder to characterize in western terms.Fortunately however, understanding is greatly facilitated by The A to Z of Shinto, which traces its long historical evolution in the book's chronology and carefully considers the religion from different angles in the introduction. The dictionary includes hundreds of cross-referenced entries on significant institutions, concepts, writings, thinkers, and most importantly, the kami. The bibliography provides an outlet for further study. ... Read more

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Contents: Question in the Zen Texts; Introduction to Buddhism; Higher Buddhism; Nirvana; Dust; Within the Circle; By Force of Karma; Idea of Preexistence; Pilgrimage to Enoshima; Ancient Cult; Religion of the Home; Development of Shinto; Worship and Purification; Some Thoughts About Ancestor Worship; Kitsuki, The Most Ancient Shrine of Japan. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Going native in style
Lafcadio Hearn is probably more famous in Japan than anywhere else. So much so that in the main town on the island Leukas/Lefkadi there are Japanese signs telling the visitor that this is where Lafcadio Hearn spent his first years.

Before Hearn went to Japan where he got married and where he stayed until he died, he had behind him a background as among other things a journalist in the USA. This probably helped him develop his writing as well as his ability to see what was happening around him (even if he had a terribly bad euesight).

For one who is interested in Japanese culture and has read quite a few more modern books on Japan and Japanese religion it is refreshing to read Hearn's views from more than 100 years ago. Anyone interested in japanese religion as it is (or was) lived out among the ordinary Japanese and not only as a theoretical discussion of say Zen or Shingon would benefit from Hearns writings on Japanese religions. ... Read more

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My favorite book for 25 yrs
I bought a used copy of this in a Washington DC 2nd Hand bookshop in 1982 and have kept it at hand ever since as one of the wisest, most lucid and inspiring works on cosmology that I've ever read.I'm not a martial artist but I'm always asking questions and this, perhaps more than any other work I've read, has guided me in figuring out solutions over more than 2 decades.Highly recommended!

Wonderful look at the ideology of Shinto
This was a great book about the philosophy behind the often misunderstood yin-yang symbol.It's an in-depth look at Shinto and the viewpoint of its practitioners.It's refreshing to read a book that discusses the fractured thinking of western man.This book is full of interesting principles and is a great buy for anyone interested in a different viewpoint than western philosophy.Also a good read for martial artists like myself. ... Read more

Product Description
THIS 7 PAGE ARTICLE WAS EXTRACTED FROM THE BOOK: Sacred Books and Early Literature of the East: Japan, by Charles F. Horne. To purchase the entire book, please order ISBN 0766100111. ... Read more

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Shinto is the indigenous religion of Japan and one of the oldest spiritual practices in the world. Shinto explores the beliefs, customs, and historical roots of the religion in order to provide an overview of the faith as it is practiced today. (20020801) ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A Compressive Introduction
Clear, well organized and an easy read, this book is an excellent introduction to Japan's native religion. Sections are a well organized range starting form the history of Shinto, to its mythological roots, and its rituals to its place in the last century. Despite this berth of subject matter the book occasionally feels as if the author is hiding behind his works cited rather than forming original conclusions. Though disappointing at first this is understandable if we read the author's short biography on the final pages. Kallen having written more than 150 works for young readers is obviously an expert in writing youth oriented non-fiction, NOT an expert in Shinto. This fact worried me slightly, because one does not known how far to trust the particulars of the work. However for projects and quick and concise reference, particularly for a basic grounding in the concepts of Shinto it is an excellent reference. This book has no pretensions of being academia's bench mark reference for Shinto, but it is an excellent start for those of us who don't have a degree in East Asian Studies. A must have for any school library. ... Read more

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The subject of this volume is the historical development of shintô and national thought in premodern and modern Japan. After examining the first instances of shintô-confucian syncretism in the early Edo period, the author investigates the function of shintô as a religious system to legitimize political power and explores how during the late Edo period this culminates in the concept of a specific Japanese national polity(kokutai).

Though the main caesurae in the process of modern Japanese history (e.g. Meiji restoration and the end of the Pacific War in 1945) play a dominant role in this context, the author points out that the main historical, religious and ideological continuities are of much greater importance; The ideas and concepts elaborated by shintô thinkers during the Edo period became reality in modern Japan. ... Read more

Product Description
THIS 7 PAGE ARTICLE WAS EXTRACTED FROM THE BOOK: Sacred Books and Early Literature of the East: Japan, by Charles F. Horne. To purchase the entire book, please order ISBN 0766100111. ... Read more