Freedom/Liberty

by Maki Sato

Conceptual definition

The belief system of Shinto thinks highly of spirit[PDM1]  (tama, 御霊) that descend on any objects. The spirit is occasionally personified, sometimes with given names (e.g., Amaterasu oomikami, 天照大神), but unnamed spirits also exist that show and prove their existence through particular objects or natural phenomena. Because of kami’s inherent invisibility and the flexibility of not possessing substance as proof of its presence, kami is freed from ontic existentialism. In other words, kami is everywhere, and kami is nowhere. Such ambivalent existence enables kami to unite with nature per se, with living/posthumous human beings (arahitogami, 現人神), and with icons in other religions. For example, kami unites with the bodhisattvas of Buddhism (bosatsu, 菩薩) and with Indian-derived religious icons (e.g., Saraswati, benzaiten, 弁財天). The unification between Shinto and Buddhism is called honjisuijaku (本地垂迹), which was crystallized and sophisticated in the medieval era (chusei, 中世).

Additionally, because of kami’s inherent characteristics deriving from nature per se, there is no inherent evil or good attached to the concept of kami. The spirit of kami and human beings are thought to be made of one-soul-four-spirits (ichireishikon, 一霊四魂). One-soul is named naobi (直霊); four-spirits are aramitama (raging, fierce, 荒魂), nigimitama (harmonious, calm, 和魂), sakimitama (wealth, happiness, 幸魂), kusimitama (health, wonder, 奇魂). Depending on the environment and circumstances, a soul shows different facets in the form of spirits. For example, Sugawara-no-michizane (菅原道真, 845–903), who is worshipped as kami in the well-known shrine of Kita-no-tenmangu (北野天満宮), was first regarded as aramitama or more of a cursing god (tatarigami, 祟神). He was believed to have become a cursing god and punished his political opponents posthumously. However, because of the rituals to pray for his spirits to be in peace, he gradually became a kami for studies (gakumon, 学問) and is worshipped elsewhere in Japan.

Reflexive to such kami notion freed from ontic existence and freed from the static notion of good and evil requires human beings to self-discipline themselves and stay honest based on one’s decisions. In other words, kami shows various aspects of oneself dependent on the situation in requesting truth and righteousness (makoto, 真). Moreover, there are no sacred texts, such as sutras, that human beings or kami can refer to for the righteous justifiable judgment. Therefore, Shinto is freed from static judgement, but it is ever-changing, and all the righteous judges are dependent on one’s righteous work of the mind. Cleanliness is required to keep one’s mind right. Thus, misogi (cleansing of the body, 禊) and harae (cleansing via rituals and spoken words 祓) become essential.

Philosophical significance

The persistence of self through self-discipline and keeping a righteous mind (makoto-no-kokoro) was first argued by Motoori Norinaga (本居宣長, 1730–1801) through his establishment of kokugaku (study on Japanese classic literature, 国学). His initial intention was to quest for the ancient Japanese authentic mind. Through the careful reading of Kojiki (712, 古事記) and Nihonshoki (720, 日本書紀), Norinaga gradually attempted to find a pure Shinto in the classic Japanese texts. Before Norinaga, Hayashi Razan (林羅山, 1583–1657) argued about the similarity between Confucius and Shinto (jukashinto, 儒家神道). Norinaga’s works are a success by Hirata Atsutane (平田篤胤, 1776–1834).[PDM2]    

Historical context

The concept of Freedom is not explicitly written or explained in Shinto. Therefore, it is almost impossible to identify when the term appeared. However, the concept of kami as freed from a) ontic object (the spirits can descend on anything, or it can appear itself through natural phenomena), b) sacred text (sacred texts do not exist in Shinto), c) the notion of good and evil, exists from the establishment of Shinto through Japanese encounters with Buddhism around the eighth century.

Historical uses

Historically, there are various human beings who became kami in Japan (e.g., Toyotomi Hideyoshi, 豊臣秀吉 became Toyokunidaimyojin, 豊国大明神 and Tokugawa Ieyasu, 徳川家康became Toshodaigongen, 東照大権現). Human beings can become kami posthumously, freed from this-worldliness (gensei, 現世).

Relationships to other terms

Masuraoburi/Taoyameburi (ますらおぶり、たおやめぶり): The term identified by Motoori Norinaga through his careful study of ancient texts. There are kami with a given gender, but there are more neutral kami without a specified gender. Norinaga invented the term to explain an inclination to a certain gender from neutrality, becoming a man or a woman. Norinaga also used the term in explaining the culture of warriors as masurao in the twelfth century in contrast with taoyame, an aristocratic culture of Heian.

Related terms

Emic

Conscience: the idea of inner kami (uchinaru kami) and its emergence and refinement concerning the introduction of Confucius and Christianity to Japan, in contrast to Buddhism that polished somewhat an externality of conscience.

Value-neutral: since the notion of kami is freed from the sense of evil and good, kami may cause problems to humans (e.g., natural phenomena such as thunder, storms, and pandemics) when human beings and kami are not in a harmonious relationship. Kami requires purity and honesty (shojiki, 正直). Therefore, human beings are constantly required to question their daily life practices, which leads to developing a conscience.

Pantheism:kami could descend on any object, including the spoken words (kotodama). Therefore, everything in nature can do both good and evil to human beings, including languages. 

Truthfulness/Honesty: makoto no kokoro

Kokoro: heart-mind

Etic

Mergeable (自由、融合可能性), Syncretism (人神), Self-disciplined(自律)

References

Kasulis, T. P., 1948-. 2004. Shinto. Honolulu: University of Hawaiʿi Press.

伊藤, 聡(1961-). 2012. 神道とは何か : 神と仏の日本史 / 伊藤聡著. 中公新書. 東京: 中央公論新社.

鎌田, 東二(1951-). 1999. 神道用語の基礎知識 / 鎌田東二編著. 角川選書. 東京: 角川書店.

國學院大學日本文化研究所. 1999. 神道事典 / 國學院大學日本文化研究所編集. 縮刷版 ed. 東京: 弘                                  文堂. An encyclopedia of Shinto = Shintô Jiten [神道事典]. Tokyo: Institute for                                  Japanese Culture and Classics, Kokugakuin University.

佐藤, 弘夫(1953-). 2021. 日本人と神 / 佐藤弘夫著. 講談社現代新書. 東京: 講談社.

島薗, 進(1948-). 2010. 国家神道と日本人 / 島薗進著. 岩波新書. 東京: 岩波書店.


 [PDM1]The use of singular spirit/plural spirits is inconsistent, but I was not sure how intentional that was or if it was a problem of translation.  

 [PDM2]I am not sure what this sentence means. Was Hirata Atsutane a champion of Norinaga? An intellectual heir?

Tama

by Maki Sato

Tama – Body/Embodiment and Body-Value-freed-Spirit

Conceptual definition

Shinto believes that kami does not have its own body, but it is a pure spirit (tama, たま or mitama, 御霊). Therefore, the sacred spirits need to borrow or rely on objects so that they can appear and communicate with human beings. Most of the time, the sacred spirits use objects in nature as their object or place of descent (yorishiro, 依代 or mitamashiro, 御霊代). Other times, the sacred spirits may use (descend on, kourin, 降臨) human bodies or living bodies of animals to reveal themselves. In the shrines, something like a mirror, sword (tsurugi, 剣), jewel stone (gyoku, 玉), and column (hashira, 柱) is thought to be the object where kami arrives. Occasionally, a temporal shrine (himorogi,神籬), set up with bamboo and tree branches, is made to call for the spirit to descend. In nature, leaves, trees, waterfalls, mountains, capes, and rocks are believed to be where kami prefers to come down and settle (yadoru, 宿る). In other words, kami is not visible to us human beings, but it visualizes itself through the sacred objects and landscapes in nature. Because of its inherent invisibility, kami can be everywhere and in any being. Once the kami is thought to have descended, the object or the landscape it occupies becomes a sacred body (shintai, 神体).

Philosophical significance

The concept of spirit (tama,たま or mitama, 御霊) includes spirits’ given personhood (jinkaku, 人格). However, they are mostly thought of as sacred spirits deriving from a motif from the nature and natural phenomena (such as volcanic eruption), as can be read in the Kojiki (古事記, 712) and Nihonshoki (日本書紀, 720). Shinto’s concept of spirit is unique in that all the spirits have both good and evil aspects. Therefore, there is no rigid dualistic concept of good and evil in Shinto spiritualism (Kamata, 1999: 77), which allows the spirits to be free from the short-sightedness of human concepts of good and evil. In other words, there is no spirit which is purely good or purely evil. Moreover, among the spirits, there are no dualistic or antagonistic frictions (though they occasionally fight with each other for other reasons, such as irritation or jealousy). However, as seen by human beings, phenomena happen within the spirits’ relationship of relativity, generation (creation), and change because of the moving and changing process of the spirits.

In short, because of the inherent concept of invisibleness and its freedom from the dualism of good/evil, tama descends as a terror to human beings using natural phenomena such as earthquakes, pandemics, and famine. There will be fertility and prosperity when the tama is peaceful and harmonious among themselves and with human beings. Thus, the liberty of Shinto spirits to embody themselves in objects and phenomena that are contingently regarded as good and evil in human society becomes the grounding reason for human beings to both fear and revere them[PDM1] . The contingent moods of the spirits force human beings to make a continuous effort to apprehend the spirits, which becomes the key to staying in harmony with Japanese spirits.

Historical context

The concept of the spirits (mitama) descending to objects and the descended object becoming a kami-embodied object (shintai, 神体) first appears in the Kojiki (古事記, 712) and Nihonshoki (日本書紀, 720). In both Kojiki and Nihonshoki, it is written that Amaterasu (the Sun Goddess) gave her grandson, Niniginomikoto (the ancestor of the emperor), the mirror, sword, and stone jewel as signifiers of spirituality at the time of his earthly descent. However, the word itself, kami-embodied object (shintai, 神体), appears around the mid-Heian period.  

Figures, texts or sources that established the term

The word shintai (神体) appears in the first Japanese dictionary, Irohajiruishou (色葉字類抄)1144–1165, Tachibana Tadakane (橘忠兼). [PDM2] As explained above, the term used is an object where the spirit descents.

Historical uses

The word shintai itself is not commonly used. However, the kami-embodied object concept is still commonly accepted in the twenty-first century. The object where the spirit descends is called yorishiro (依代). When spirits descend upon trees, they become shinboku (神木). Rocks upon which spirits descend are called iwakura (磐座) or iwasaka (磐境). Such kami-embodied objects (shintai, 神体) become objects of worship.

Relationships to other terms

Kotodama (言霊): relates to words and phrases (koto, 言) having their spirit (tama, 霊).

Significant references/uses

It is not easy to trace the exact influences of Shinto on Japanese thoughts in general. Because of historical complexity and the interrelationship between Buddhist thoughts and Shinto, one can only assume that there are influences from Shinto ideology even still among contemporary scholars of philosophy.

Japanese contemporary phenomenologist Omori Shozo (大森荘蔵, 1921–1997) discusses the relationship between phenomenology (a bodily sensation that is only detected by the subject) and emotion (ujou, 有情) from a phenomenological viewpoint. Yuasa Yasuo (湯浅泰男, 1925–2005), known as a philosopher who first discussed qi in the Japanese context, focuses mainly on the problem of the body in contrast to mind and reason. In later years, Yuasa also discussed the relationship between qi and body.

Related terms

Emic

Conscience: the idea of inner kami (uchinaru kami) and its emergence and refinement concerning the introduction of Confucianism and Christianity to Japan, in contrast to Buddhism that polished somewhat an externality of conscience.

Value-neutral: since the notion of kami is freed from the sense of evil and good, kami may cause problems to humans (e.g., natural phenomena such as thunder, storms, and pandemics) when human beings and kami are not in a harmonious relationship. Kami requires purity and honesty (shojiki, 正直). Therefore, human beings are constantly required to question their daily life practices, which leads to developing a conscience.

Pantheism:kami could descend on any object, including spoken words (kotodama). Therefore, everything in nature can do both good and evil to human beings, including languages. 

Etic

Yuru-chara (ゆるキャラ): Hiroo Sato (佐藤弘夫) argues that the Japanese affection and passion for inventing new characters may derive from the internalized idea of kami. For example, to provide a visual body to the prefecture as a prefectural character. See, e.g., Kumamon, Bally-san, Funasshi.

References

Kasulis, T. P., 1948-. 2004. Shinto. Honolulu: University of Hawaiʿi Press.

伊藤, 聡(1961-). 2012. 神道とは何か : 神と仏の日本史 / 伊藤聡著. 中公新書. 東京: 中央公論新社.

鎌田, 東二(1951-). 1999. 神道用語の基礎知識 / 鎌田東二編著. 角川選書. 東京: 角川書店.

國學院大學日本文化研究所. 1999. 神道事典 / 國學院大學日本文化研究所編集. 縮刷版 ed. 東京: 弘                                  文堂. An encyclopedia of Shinto = Shintô Jiten [神道事典]. Tokyo: Institute for                                  Japanese Culture and Classics, Kokugakuin University.

佐藤, 弘夫(1953-). 2021. 日本人と神 / 佐藤弘夫著. 講談社現代新書. 東京: 講談社.

島薗, 進(1948-). 2010. 国家神道と日本人 / 島薗進著. 岩波新書. 東京: 岩波書店.


 [PDM1]I would consult the author to make sure that this edit does not interfere with her intended meaning.

 [PDM2]I am not sure what is happening here, so I don’t want to mess with it. My guess is that Irohajiruishou is the title of the dictionary and Tachibana Tadakane is its writer/compiler/creator? It seems likely that 1144-1165 are the years he was alive, but they could also maybe be page numbers? I would consult the author.