Table Of ContentROUTLEDGE LIBRARY EDITIONS: JAPAN
SHINTÔ
SHINTÔ
At the Fountain-head of Japan
JEAN HERBERT
With a preface by
MARQUIS YUKITADA SASAKI
Volume 81
LONDON AND NEW YORK
First published in English in 1967
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© 1967 George Allen & Unwin Ltd
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SHINTÔ
AT THE FOUNTAIN-HEAD OF JAPAN
JEAN HERBERT
WITH A PREFACE BY
MARQUIS YUKITADA SASAKI
President of the Kokugakuin University
London
GEORGE ALLEN & UNWIN LTD
RUSKIN HOUSE • MUSEUM STREET
FIRST PUBLISHED IN 1967
This book is copyright under the Berne Convention. A part
from any fair dealing for the purposes of private study,
research, criticism or review, as permitted under the
Copyright Act, 1956, no portion may be reproduced by
any process without written permission. Enquiries should
be addressed to the publisher
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2011.
To purchase your own copy of this or any of
Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of thousands of eBooks
please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.
© George Allen & Unwin Ltd. 1967
To my dear friend
General A.Kaba
formerly Military Governor of Kyôto
who made me know and love
his country
PREFACE
ACCORDING to the tradition of Japan, Shintô, in which we see the very basis of our
modern life, is the result of a spontaneous growth. Although it is a highly ethical and
spiritual ‘religion’, it was often misjudged by Christians, partly because their specifically
Western concepts were shocked by some of its momentary distortions.
Professor Jean Herbert has made an earnest endeavour to understand Shintô without
any of the prevalent Christian prejudices. He made several long sojourns in Japan, visited
and studied a great number of Shintô temples and had lengthy interviews with their high-
priests. They were deeply impressed by his sincerity and by the respect he showed for their
religious aspects.
We hope that the efforts made by this excellent scholar will reveal to the West a side of
the real nature of Shintô. Since this ‘divine way’ deals with the very origins of human social
life, it may be interpreted from many different standpoints, at various levels of esotericism,
and with various degrees of comprehensiveness.
I do wish that more scholars will follow the same pure approach to proceed to a direct
and thorough scrutiny of other cultural elements of Shintô, for I believe that its essence
can ever bring a most valuable contribution to the peace of the world and the welfare of
mankind.
Marquis Yukitada Sasaki
President of the Kokugakuin University
and of the Jinja-Honchô
The Kokugakuin University
June, 1963.
CONTENTS
page
PREFACE vii
I. INTRODUCTION 1
Note on terminology and spelling 3
PART ONE —RELIGION
I. GENERALITIES 7
The Kami
—Kannagara-no-michi
—Scriptures and theologians
II. HISTORY AND MAIN SUBDIVISIONS OF SHINTÔ 26
Before Buddhism
—With Buddhism
—The Reaction
—The American Diktat
—The present situation
—Main subdivisions
III. METAPHYSICS, ETHICS, SPIRITUAL EXERCISES AND
AESTHETICS 41
Metaphysics
—Ethics
—Ritual purity
—Spiritual discipline
—Aesthetics
IV. TEMPLES 71
Site
—Himorogi and iwasaka
—Secondary structures
Contents ix
—Shaden
—Saïkigu
—Honden, go-shintaï and bun-reï
—Categories of temples
V. PRIESTS 108
Functions and categories
—Gûji
—Women
—Ujiko and shake
—Formation
—Dress
VI. SYMBOLISM AND INDIVIDUAL WORSHIP 122
Symbolism
—Individual worship
VII. COLLECTIVE WORSHIP AND FESTIVALS 142
Generalities
—Agricultural matsuri
—Mat-suri for protection against evil influences
VIII. COLLECTIVE WORSHIP AND FESTIVALS (continued) 166
Other individual matsuri
PART TWO —MYTHOLOGY
IX. AN INTRODUCTION TO THE MYTHOLOGY OF SHINTÔ 196
X. GENESIS OF THE UNIVERSE—THE PRE-MATERIAL STAGES 202
General outline
—Ame-no-minaka—nushi-no-kami and the Musubi-kami
—The next twelve Kami
—Interpretation
XI. THE BIRTH OF THE LAND 219
Onogoro-shima
—The first experiments. Hiru-ko and Aha
—The fourteen islands
