This accessible guide to the development of Japan's indigenous religion from ancient times to the present day offers an illuminating introduction to the myths, sites and rituals of kami worship, and their role in Shinto's enduring religious identity.

Offers a unique new approach to Shinto history that combines critical analysis with original researchExamines key evolutionary moments in the long history of Shinto, including the Meiji Revolution of 1868, and provides the first critical history in English or Japanese of the Hie shrine, one of the most important in all JapanTraces the development of various shrines, myths, and rituals through history as uniquely diverse phenomena, exploring how and when they merged into the modern notion of Shinto that exists in Japan todayChallenges the historic stereotype of Shinto as the unchanging, all-defining core of Japanese culture

THIS BOOK WILL HELP YOU
- to appreciate the significance of Japan's own religion in everyday life
- to recognize the key traditions and festivals (matsuri) of the Shinto year
- to understand what you will see at Shinto shrines and in Shinto rituals
- to gain insights into the controversies surrounding Shinto, politics and nationalism
ACCESS THE WORLD'S RELIGIONS
"Simple Guides: Religion" is a series of concise, accessible introductions to the world's major religions. Written by experts in the field, they offer an engaging and sympathetic description of the key concepts, beliefs and practices of different faiths.
Ideal for spiritual seekers and travellers alike, "Simple Guides" aims to open the doors of perception. Together the books provide a reliable compass to the world's great spiritual traditions, and a point of reference for further exploration and discovery. By offering essential insights into the core values, customs and beliefs of different
societies, they also enable visitors to be aware of the cultural sensibilities of their hosts, and to behave in a way that fosters mutual respect and understanding.

This accessible guide to the development of Japan's indigenous religion from ancient times to the present day offers an illuminating introduction to the myths, sites and rituals of kami worship, and their role in Shinto's enduring religious identity. * Offers a unique new approach to Shinto history that combines critical analysis with original research* Examines key evolutionary moments in the long history of Shinto, including the Meiji Revolution of 1868, and provides the first critical history in English or Japanese of the Hie shrine, one of the most important in all Japan* Traces the development of various shrines, myths, and rituals through history as uniquely diverse phenomena, exploring how and when they merged into the modern notion of Shinto that exists in Japan today* Challenges the historic stereotype of Shinto as the unchanging, all-defining core of Japanese culture

Adherents of several hundred groups known as "new religions" include roughly one-third of the Japanese population, but these movements remain largely unstudied in the West. To account for their general similarity, Helen Hardacre identifies a common world view uniting the new religions. She uses the example of Kurozumikyo, a Shinto religion founded in rural Japan in 1814, to show how the new religions developed from older religious organizations. Included in the book are a discussion of counseling that portrays the many linked functions of rural churches, an autobiographical life history by a woman minister, and a case study of healing.

The Sea and the Sacred in Japan is the first book to focus on the role of the sea in Japanese religions. While many leading Shinto deities tend to be understood today as unrelated to the sea, and mountains are considered the privileged sites of sacredness, this book provides new ways to understand Japanese religious culture and history. Scholars from North America, Japan and Europe explore the sea and the sacred in relation to history, culture, politics, geography, worldviews and cosmology, space and borders, and ritual practices and doctrines. Examples include Japanese indigenous conceptualizations of the sea from the Middle Ages to the 20th century; ancient sea myths and rituals; sea deities and sea cults; the role of the sea in Buddhist cosmology; and the international dimension of Japanese Buddhism and its maritime imaginary.