The Six Faces of Japanese Religion

Westerners and Middle-Easterners think of religion as an all encompassing system of moral rules, spirituality, metaphysics, and an explanation of why the world is as it is, what is life and what happens after death. This whole, comprehensive package is not, however, typical of all religions. It is typical of the monotheistic religions from the Middle East. Ancient religions, even in the Middle East and Europe, were very different. To understand this, there is no better example than Japan.

Japan has two official religions, Shintoism and Buddhism, plus an non-official one, Confucianism, that happens to be more important in everyday life than the two others. The Japanese, like the Chinese before the Communist Revolution, did not choose to follow one of these "religions". They followed each one of them for the simple reason that they are complementary, rather than exclusive. Interestingly non of these religions really have gods. That makes it difficult for Westerners to classify them as religions. Nowadays Confucianism and Buddhism tend to be regarded as philosophies (or "teachings"), while Shintoism is so unique that it doesn't fit nicely in any denomination.

Confucianism provides the moral rules, the system that hold the society together and regulates the place of every individual. Buddhism provides the spirituality, the way to make peace with oneself and the universe, to release stress and negative feelings. It is a method of self-improvement, usually practised alone. 

Shintoism was originally a form of animism, a belief in the spirits of Nature, known in Japanese as kami. Shinto literally means the "Way of the Kami". The word kami is often erroneously translated as "gods" or "deities", but in fact is closer to what Westerners call ghosts or fairies. It is not a coincidence that many adult Japanese still believe in ghosts. The spirits of Nature frequently show up in Japanese anime and manga (for example in Hayao Miyazaki's film Princess Mononoke). These kami are not deities in the Western sense of the term as they lack human characteristics, don't care much about humans, and aren't intelligent (even less ominscient) beings. They supernatural powers aren't more evolved than those of ghosts and fairies in European folk stories. The kami live in our world, not in a distant heaven, and don't have any particular control over human lives, as gods and deities would.

What makes Shintoism so special is that it is also a polytheistic religion, in addition to being an animistic one. There are, however very few Shinto deities, and they are often linked to State Shintoism, the cult of Japanese emperors. Most of Shinto deities are only mentioed in creation myth of Japan, an epic legend that bears a lot of similarities to those of the ancient Indo-European religions (Greco-Roman, Germanic, Celtic...), which probably emerged from the distortion of oral stories about the formation of the prehistoric tribe that would later become the Yayoi people, the Bronze Age invaders of Japan. In contrast, the animistic form of Shintoism has its roots in the Jomon (Neolithic and Paleolithic) Japan. 

Polytheistic Shintoism's most important deity is the Amaterasu, the Goddess of the Sun and the Universe. There is only one shrine dedicated to her in all Japan (at Ise). She is the mother of other deities, and the ancestor of all Japanese emperors. Amaterasu is the core of State Shintoism, the religious legitimation of the ruling dynasty. This has been a frequent use of religion all over the world in history, be it with Egyptian pharaohs descending from the gods, deified Roman emperors, or European kings and emperors who received their power directly from god. Until the end of WWII, all Japanese emperors were considered as living gods by the Japanese. Emperor Hirohito had to renounce to his divine status in order to keep his throne following the defeat of Japan against the Americans.

The most popular deities venerated in Shinto shrines are Hachiman, a former emperor turned God of War, and Inari, the Goddess of Fertility and Agriculture. Inari is an answer to one of the most basic need and deepest worry of human beings, the fear of not having enough food or not to be able to procreate. It is hardly surprising that Inari shrines are ubiquitous everywhere in Japan, and offerings of rice are still common. Fertility goddesses have always been among the most popular in all polytheistic societies. Pre-Christian Europe was no exception. The Greeks venerated Aphrodite, the Romans Venus, and the Norse Frigg. The cult of Egyptian fertility goddess Isis even became the most widespread cult in all the Roman Empire at one point. Catholicism even has its own substitute fertility goddesses in the form of the Virgin Mary, St Catherine and St Anne. Hachiman, the Shinto god of war, the approximate equivalent of Mars, Ares, Thor and Odin, is the most popular deity among men. He represents the latent male desire of power, authority and glory. 

Polytheistic deities in Shintoism are usually referred to as Ōkami (literally 'Great Kami'), or Ōmikami for Amaterasu, to distinguish them from the plainer, impersonal kami of animistic Shintoism.

Shintoism has a third aspect, distinct from animism and polytheism. It is the set of Japanese customs and traditions, such as the Shichi-Go-San rite of passage, traditional weddings, or matsuri (festivals). Although many of them normally take place in or near a Shinto shrine, there is little, if any, religious connotation linked to them. They are just traditions perpetrated in the formal context of Shinto shrines. Japanese weddings are not performed before god, or any deity. Japanese mythology doesn't even have a deity for love or marriage. A lot of matsuri involve the parading a portable shrine (a mikoshi) through the streets. The mikoshi is said to contain the local kami, though this kami lacks a name or identity, and merely acts as a symbolic excuse for the festival. It isn't alike to the veneration of a deity. It isn't more religious than the modern Western idea of ancient Greco-Roman or Germanic gods. It is all purely folkloric. Likewise, Setsubun, the Bean-Throwing Festival held at the beginning of spring, was originally held by superstitious folks to drive away evil spirits. Nowadays it is carried on by tradition. There are still superstitious people around, but being superstitious is not the same as believing in god. Festivals like Shichi-Go-San, Seijin Shiki (coming of age ceremony), Hinamatsuri, or Hanami (cherry blossom viewing) are purely cultural and are only associated with Shintoism as part of a need for categorisation.

Then there is Taoism, another Chinese philosophy sometimes categorised as religion because of its temples and superstitious or supernatural beliefs. Although Taoism was never officially recognised in Japan, and Japan doesn't have Taoist temples or institutions, pretty much all the Taoist concepts and ideas were imported to Japan as part of the "Chinese cultural package", along with Confucianism, Buddhism and Chinese characters, during the late Yamato period (250-710) preceding the foundation of Nara as the first capital of Japan. The better known concepts of Taoism include Chinese astrology, the Yin Yang dichotomy, the Qi ('lifeforce', Ki in Japan), Fengh Shui, traditional Chinese medicine, Chinese martial arts, and festivals such as Qixi (Tanabata in Japan). All these have become part and parcel of Japanese culture as well. What Japan didn't keep from Taoism is its ethics and the pantheon of Chinese deities. 

As we have seen, Japanese religion has six faces: Confucisanism for morals, Buddhism for spirituality (and the after-life), Animistic Shintoism to explain the mysteries of Mother Nature, Polytheistic Shintoism to legitimate the political power and appease the fundamental life concerns of human beings, and Cultural Shintoism to hold together the customs and traditions that give Japan its cultural specificities. Taoism provided most of Japan's folk superstitions, and part of its cultural heritage.

Judaism, Christianity and Islam's great innovation was to combine all the five elements into a single ensemble, and to put everything under the single authority of an all-knowing, almighty god. The cohesion of the whole makes it much more difficult for believers to refute any part of religion. Understanding how religions were formed is the first step towards deconstructing religions and freeing one's mind.

Historical tidbits : colonisation and the spread of European languages

The Spanish colonisation of the Americas

Contrarily to what many people think, it took a long time (many centuries) for the Spaniards to convert the native Amerindian population to Christianity and to establish Spanish as the dominant language. Though the Spaniards set out immediately to convert the locals, the language barrier was immense. There were approximately 2,000 languages in the Americas around 1500, of which 493 were studied by Spanish linguists. In the 16th century, missionaries had no other choice but to learn Amerindian languages if they hoped to spread their faith effectively.

The linguistic conversion took even longer, and is far from complete to this day. There are still 6 million Mexicans who speak indigenous languages, and over 10 million Quechua speakers in the former Inca empire, although these were two of the first regions to be conquered by the Spaniards.

The Spanish language spread little by little through the Spanish-born administrators of the colonies, through the work of missionaries and schooling, but most importantly through inter-racial marriages. A popular image of the Spanish colonists is that of the blood-thirsty conquistador who massacred natives who refused to accept the Bible or Spanish dominion. Although true in some places during some decades,, this phenomenon has been vastly exaggerated. In fact, the Spaniards were much more likely to take native brides and recognise their offspring from such unions than the English, French or Dutch colonists. Almost all of the famous conquistadors took Amerindian wives and had mestizo children (e.g. Cortes, Pizarro, Alvarado, Benalcazar).

This was a common practice among Spanish colonists because the Spanish immigrants were overwhelmingly male, but also because it was seen as an acceptable practice. This is why Latin America has so much more mestizos than the former British colonies, anywhere in the world. It was this way that the Spanish language spread, more than by any other way, before the advent of compulsory education in the 20th century. Had the Spaniards refused to intermarry with the natives, Spanish might well have not survived the independence of the colonies. Spanish was indeed quickly forgotten in the Pacific colonies ceded to the United States in 1898 (namely the Philippines, Guam and the Marianas), a sure sign that the language was not yet established after 300 years of colonisation. The same thing happened with Dutch in Indonesia.

How European colonialism helped spread native American and Asian languages

The Europeans did not only propagate their own languages in their colonies, but also contributed to the survival and expansion of some native languages. It took over three centuries for the Spaniards and Portuguese to diffuse Spanish and Portuguese around all their American colonies. In the meantime they relied on well-established native tongues as lingua franca. Christianity was spread principally though native Amerindian languages, not in Spanish or Portuguese. The languages that benefited the most of their alliance with the new colonists are Quechua in the Andes, Guarani (and the closely related Tupinamba) in Paraguay and Brazil, and Nahuatl in Mexico. All three are still spoken and owe their survival (as opposed to many other native tongues) to their role in colonial history.

The Dutch failed to propagate their language in their worldwide colonies, except in South Africa where they settled in large numbers. The Dutch took over most of the Portuguese colonies in Asia. Portugal and Spain were united under a single monarchy between 1580 and 1640, when the Dutch proclaimed their independence from Spain and captured the Portuguese trading posts in Asia. Such was the Dutch animosity towards the Iberians that they preferred using the completely alien tongues of the indigenes as lingua franca than to resort to using Portuguese, which was already widely understood by Asian traders. This is how Bahasa Melayu (Malay) became the dominant language in Indonesia, under 300 years of Dutch rule. It is now the official and most spoken language in both Malaysia and Indonesia.

Historical tidbits : the Vandals & the Franks

The Vandals

Nowadays the term "vandalism" means "wantonly destructive act". The term comes from the name of the East Germanic tribe that was pushed by the Huns into the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century, and that finally settled in North Africa.

But were these people really so violent or barbaric to deserve to be remembered the way they are ? Many historians now believe that it was not the case.

It is true that the arrival of over a hundred thousands Vandals in Gaul caused great upheaval, as can be expected from such a large population movement inside a foreign land. This was not specific to the Vandals, but to any invaders. The Vandals did not have the choice, and pay a heavy price for escaping from the Huns. The allied Frankish and Roman armies killed one third of their population, who escaped southward. The Vandals were then attacked by the Visigoths in south-west France, and moved to Spain.

Despite being Christians, the Romans hated the Vandals more than the pagans. The reason is that the Vandals were not adept of Catholicism but Arianism, a version of Christianity ruled as heretic by Rome in 325.

Unable to remain peacefully in southern Spain (in Andalusia, which was probably named after the Vandals), King Geiseric ordered the construction of hundreds of ships and led his people across the Mediterranean to North Africa, then the breadbasket of the Western Roman Empire. The Romans were completely taken aback by this move, so that the Vandals did not meet any resistance in this prosperous, peaceful and remote part of the empire. They advanced as far as Carthage, one of the most important cities in the empire, and took the city without a fight.

Contrarily to popular beliefs, the Vandals did not destroy the cities they took, but preserved them and ruled peacefully over them. Many North Africans displeased with the corrupt Roman administration even greeted the new Vandal rule.

Geiseric gave freedom of religion to the Catholics, while insisting that the regime's elite follow Arianism. The common folk had low taxes under his reign, as most of the tax pressure was on the rich Roman families and the Catholic clergy.

It is interesting to note that the incidence of fair hair and eyes is still more common in some pockets of North Africa (e.g. at the border of Morocco and Algeria => see maps) than in southern Europe, due to Vandal settlements.

The only event that would have earned the Vandals their bad reputation is the sack of Rome in 455. The Vandals had previously signed a peace treaty with Emperor Valentinian III, who offered his daughter's hand in marriage to Geiseric's son. The assassination of Valentinian III by Petronius Maximus to usurp the throne prompted Geiseric to bring his troops to Rome to avenge his father-in-law. Although they did pillage Rome the Vandals did not destroy any building, respecting Pope Leo I's request.

The Roman Empire eventually collapsed, but the Roman Catholic Church survived and indeed prospered afterwards. As heir of the Christian Roman Empire it is not surprising that the Catholic Church rewrote history from its biased point of view, describing the Vandals as destructive barbarians. Historians are now rediscovering that the Vandalic rule in North Africa was in fact one of exemplary rule (compared to the power in Rome at the time, at least) and refinement in the arts, such as poetry.

Charlemagne & the Frankish Empire

Roland and Ronceveaux

Contrarily to idées reçues, it was not the Muslims of Spain who defeated the troops of Charlemagne at the Battle of Roncevaux Pass, but the Basque people. Charlemagne had in fact been invited by the wali of Barcelona, Sulaiman Ibn Yakzan Ibn al-Arabi,, to help him fight the Emir of Cordoba. Very unusually for this time of deep religious conviction, the lord protector of Christianity was helping Muslim governor against its own Muslim prince.

The battle became famous through the Song of Roland, composed centuries later. Because of this song, there is a common misconception that Roland (who died in the battle) was the nephew of Charlemagne. This isn't true. They were not even related. Roland (or Hruoland, in fact) was the governor of Brittany.

Charlemagne's coronation

It is not known whether Charlemagne planned his coronation as Emperor of the Occident. It is more likely that Pope Leo III crowned him emperor to his own surprise, so as to make of the Frankish leader the official protector of the Church. The records mention him as "Roman Emperor", and Charlemagne was indeed seen as the heir of the Western Roman Empire by both the Catholic Church and by the Muslim world. Only the Byzantines refused to acknowledge him as such, as they saw him as a rival to their own power.

Historical tidbits : the ancient Celts

Celtic art, science and economy

Recent studies have shown that the Celts were more advanced than the Romans in some scientific and economic aspects. Being a non-literate society the pre-Roman Celts did not leave any trace of their political or philosophical acuity. This did not prevent them from excelling at complex rational thinking. For example, Celtic calendars, such as the Coligny calendar, have been deemed more accurate than the Roman one. In fact, they were possibly more accurate than the Gregorian calendar in use nowadays.

The Celts were also immensely rich. We now know that Julius Caesar's main reason to conquer Gaul was to lay hands on Celtic gold. Over 400 Celtic gold mines were found in France alone. The Romans had little gold on their home territory, so the conquest of Gaul was a tremendous boost to their power. This is what allowed Julius Caesar to become so powerful politically - more than the generals who conquered any other part of the Roman Empire. It is estimated that Caesar massacred 1 out of 10 million of Celts in Gaul, and put another million into slavery. In modern terms, this would be called a genocide.

The Celts also preempted the Romans in their construction of a road network across the European continent, linking Iberia, Gaul, Britain, Ireland, and the Danube basin together. The network was re-appropriated by the Romans, but was in fact Celtic in origins.

The Celtic world was very decentralised compared to the Roman one, but at least a dozen Celtic towns possessed high stone walls rivalling those of Rome at the time. The longest exceeded 5 km in length. The Servian Wall that enclosed Rome during the 500 years of the Republic gave the city a land area of 427 hectares, a size intermediary to that of the Oppidum of Manching (380 ha) and the one of Kelheim (600 ha). Republican Rome (i.e. at the time when Gaul was annexed) was far smaller than the oppidum of Heidengraben (Baden-Württemberg, Germany), which extended on 1660 hectares, an area even bigger than the Imperial Rome in its heyday, comprised within the Aurelian Walls (1370 ha).

Artistically, the embellishment on Celtic weapons, chariots and artifacts was superior to those of many Mediterranean cultures and highly regarded even by the Romans, who sometimes copied unabashedly from them. The curvaceous and interlaced La Tène style is still in use in modern Celtic arts, especially in Ireland.

Celtic warfare

Prior to the Roman conquest, the Celts had attained a level of military development similar to that of the Greeks and Romans in many respects. La Tène Celts invented the chainmail (later revived by medieval knights) and had swords and shields at least as strong as the Roman ones. The Romans copied their distinctive legionary helmets from their Alpine neighbours. Well before Julius Caesar's subjugation of Gaul, the Celts had asserted their military superiority by plundering Rome (390 BCE), and sacking Delphi (279 BCE).

Their defeat against the Romans circa 50 BCE was mainly due to the fact that they were disunited against the enemy, prone to factionalism and internal conflicts. In fact, a large number of the Gaulish tribes sided with the Romans against their neighbours. After the incorporation of Gaul, Gaulish warriors joined the Roman legion to conquer other Celtic territories like Britain or Iberia. The Romans did not win all by themselves, and may not have been able to without judicious alliances with Celtic warlords.

Celtic culture & lifestyle

The Greeks and Romans put water in their wine. The Celts didn't, which was seen as a barbaric practice by the Gallo-Romans. Nevertheless we seem to have favoured the barbaric practice over time and now discredit the Greco-Roman way of drinking.

The Celts practised human sacrifice to the gods, typically near water (lake, river, spring). They also decapitated the defeated after a battle, took the heads back home as trophies, and exposed the headless bodies hanging on wooden frames. Sometimes, they replaced humans by huge amphoras of wine, and simulated the decapitation by cutting off the top of the amphora with a sword. The spilling wine would represent the blood.

Ancient Celtic society gave much more freedom and power to women than the Greeks and Romans did. Greco-Roman housewives were prohibited to do business and mostly sequestrated in their home under the supervision of male family members (not unlike the condition of Muslim women in Islamic countries nowadays). Celtic women could sometimes become powerful tribe leaders. The empowerment of women has remained stronger to this day in European countries of Celtic and Germanic descent than in Italy or Greece.