The Encyclopedia of World Religions

422 S Shinto festivals

past. Spiritually, it emphasizes the importance of purity, for the kami and their shrines are thought to be very pure places, and one can purify one’s own mind and heart by closeness to them. As a polytheistic religion, one affirming many gods and goddesses, Shinto suggests that the divine can be found in many different local forms, and by this means is close to the lives of communities and people. Further reading: Thomas P. Kasulis, Shinto: The Way Home (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2004); C. Scott Littleton, Shinto: Origins, Rituals, Festivals, Spirits, Sacred Places (New York: Oxford University Press, 2002); John K. Nelson, A Year in the Life of a Shinto Shrine (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1996); Inoue Nobutaka, ed., Shinto, A Short History (New York: RoutledgeCurzon, 2003). Shinto festivals Celebrations held at S HINTO shrines in Japan. The Japanese celebrate a great number of festivals, many of them connected with Shinto, the indigenous Japanese religion. Some are celebrated nationwide; others are festivals spe cially celebrated at a particular shrine. As the ancient religion of Japan, Shinto has many connections with farming. Two very com mon Shinto festivals are the festival to pray for a good harvest, held in the spring, and the harvest festival, held in the fall. Shinto is also connected with growth on the human level, and some festi vals celebrate the growth of children into adults. They include a festival on November 15, at which parents present at a shrine sons aged three and five and daughters aged three and seven; a festival for girls on March 3, a festival for boys on May 5, and a festival at which people who turned 20 years old in the preceding year visit a shrine on January 20. Shinto festivals are both solemn rituals and joyous, even ribald affairs. At the shrine itself priests purify the sacred area; worshippers then bow, present offerings to the KAMI , pray, and enter tain the kami with music and dance. Offerings

paper fastened to an upright pole, and in the cen ter a mirror indicating the presence of divinity. In a section behind the porch an eight-legged offer ing table may be seen. Behind it, steep steps lead up to massive closed doors. These doors, usually closed, open into the honden or inner sanctuary of the shrine, where a special token of the kami presence is kept. Persons passing a shrine often pause to pray. They will come to the front of the shrine, clap their hands twice or pull a bell-rope, bow, and whisper a PRAYER . Priests present offerings at shrines peri odically. The great occasions of a shrine, however, are its annual matsuri or festivals. Then the shrine really comes to life. Festivals are planned and pre pared for weeks, and usually draw large crowds. They have a happy, holiday atmosphere, but begin with solemn worship and prayer. First the priests enter the shrine in their white or pastel robes and black eboshi or high rounded hats. The chief priest next purifies the shrine and the assembled crowd through a gesture like wav ing an evergreen branch. Then the offerings are slowly and carefully advanced and placed on the offering table. Offerings are usually beautifully arranged dishes of rice, seafood, fruit, vegetables, salt, water, and sake or rice wine. When they are all in order, the chief priest stands behind the table and chants a norito or prayer. Then the offerings are slowly removed. After that, the matsuri changes to its fes tive mood, kept a little differently in each shrine according to local tradition. A carnival may open on the shrine grounds. Maidens may perform sacred dance. The kami may be carried vigorously through the streets in a palanquin called a miko shi, borne on the shoulders of young men. Many shrine traditions are famous and draw spectators to the pageantry of their matsuri from afar. Cele brated attractions include grand parades, bonfires, horse or boat races, dances, and much else, all usually in colorful traditional costumes. SIGNIFICANCE For many Japanese, Shinto is important because it provides links to the rich traditions of their nation’s