Originally a form of nature-worship, Shintō at an early date came to include ancestor-worship. This was due to the influence of Buddhism and Confucianism. The cult of natural deities known by the general designation of kami—a word of many meanings—was thus extended so as to include deified heroes, deceased sovereigns, and, finally, abdicated and reigning Mikados, as being of divine descent. Shintō ritual, as handed down from ancient times, is limited to formulas of prayer to natural deities; its ceremonial is concerned solely with purification for wrong-doing, or for defilement by contact, real or imaginary, with the dead. It had no authorized funeral rites, nor were there any Shintō cemeteries. It has no sacred books, no dogmas, no moral code. All these it was left to other religions, chiefly Buddhism, to supply. Notwithstanding the absence of these features, common to most religions, the author of a work on Buddhism, The Creed of Half Japan (the Rev. Arthur Lloyd), speaks of it as having “a slight flavour of philosophy, a vague but deepseated religiosity,” and as making “a strong appeal to Japanese pride.” The correctness of this last statement no one will be inclined to dispute, for to the influence of Shintō ideas regarding the semi-divinity of Japanese monarchs the unbroken character of the dynasty is largely due.
A peculiar feature of the Japanese native religion, namely, its connection with the worship of animals, is described by Mr. Aston in his “Shintō”:—
“Animals,” he says, “may be worshipped for their own sakes, as wonderful, terrible, or uncanny beings. The tiger, the serpent, and the wolf are for this reason called kami. But there are no shrines in their honour, and they have no regular cult. A more common reason for honouring animals is their association with some deity as his servants, or messengers. Thus the deer is sacred at” [the shrine of] “Kasuga, the monkey at” [that of] “Hiyoshi, the pigeon to the god (of war), the white egret at the shrine of Kébi no Miya, the tortoise at Matsunöo, and the crow at Kumano.... The pheasant is the messenger of the Gods generally. The best known case of the worship of an associated animal is that of Inari, the rice-god, whose attendant foxes are mistaken by the ignorant” [namely, the uneducated masses] “for the god himself, and whose effigies have offerings made to them.” The “Korean dogs,” he adds, seen in front of many Shintō shrines, are meant not as gods but as guardians, like the great figures on each side of the entrance to Buddhist temples.
Japanese writers fix the date of the introduction of Buddhism into Japan at about the middle of the sixth century. The Buddhism then introduced was that of the so-called Northern School, the doctrines of which are based on what is known as the “Mahayana Vehicle.” One of its earliest adherents was the Imperial Prince Shōtoku Taishi, who, though he never occupied the throne, virtually ruled the country for many years as deputy, or Vice-Regent, for his aunt the Empress Suiko. He it was who carried out the “Great Reform,” which revolutionized Japanese administration in imitation of Chinese models. He also did much to propagate Buddhism, which at that time was unsectarian. It was not till after his death in A.D. 620 that the first sects came into existence. By the end of the eighth century there were eight sects, of which two only, the Tendai and Shingon, now survive. The chief sects, in addition to these two, are the Zen, Jōdo, Shin and Nichiren, all of which were founded during the rule of the Hōjō Regents in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Into the question of the tenets which distinguish these different sects, one from another, it is unnecessary to enter. It will be sufficient to indicate the main characteristics of the three, the Zen, Shin and Nichiren sects, which have by far the most numerous adherents.
The Zen sect, the earliest of the three, which has six sub-sects, was established in the first years of the thirteenth century, its founder being the Buddhist priest Eisai Zenshi. It has, Mr. Lloyd tells us, always been more or less influenced by Confucianism, and is opposed to what its followers regard as the anthropomorphic tendencies of other sects. It recognizes a supreme being, but refuses to personify him, holding that personification of this kind is but a pious device to adapt the truth to the weakness of human intellect. Apart from actual doctrine, the main feature of the Zen sect is the practice of silent meditation for the purpose of acquiring by introspective contemplation a detached and philosophic habit of mind. Before the abolition of feudalism it was the favourite sect of the military class, and to this day it includes more naval and military men among its adherents than other sects, while its influence on Bushidō has been very marked.
The Shin sect, which has also six sub-sects, was founded by the priest Shinran Shōnin. The position which it holds in regard to other Buddhist sects is in some respects similar to that of Protestantism in regard to Roman Catholicism. Its followers eat meat, and the clergy are free to marry. The chief point in its doctrine is salvation by faith through the mercy of Buddha, and, in Mr. Lloyd’s opinion, the whole system of the founder “savours strongly of Nestorianism,” which was propagated in China as far back as the seventh century.
There remains to be noticed the Nichiren sect. This, the most active and indeed aggressive, and, it may be added, the noisiest in the conduct of religious festivals, of all Buddhist sects, was established by the priest Nichiren. His object, as we learn from the author previously quoted, was to purge Japanese Buddhism from the errors which, in his view, had crept into it, and restore the primitive character imparted to the Buddhist faith by its Indian founder. The ardour with which he pursued his object led him to trench on political matters, and brought him into collision with the authorities. He was a fierce opponent of the Zen sect, and its Confucian tendencies, describing it as “a doctrine of demons and fiends.”
Owing to the circumstances attending its introduction the traces of Chinese influence in Japanese Buddhism are naturally very marked. This influence was increased by the frequent visits paid by Japanese monks to China, where they came into direct contact with Chinese religious thought. Nevertheless, the fact that the three sects most prominent to-day owe their origin and development to Japanese priests is evidence of a certain tendency towards national independence in religious matters. Buddhism, it may be added, has more adherents in Japan than Shintō, though the difference in numbers is not great.
The fusion of Shintō and Buddhism under the name of Riōbu Shintō, which, according to the best authorities, took place in the ninth century, is generally regarded as the work of the Shingon sect of Buddhists, though the Tendai sect appears to have been associated in the movement. By this fusion, which seems to have been copied from earlier attempts in China to amalgamate Buddhism and Confucianism, the Shintō Kami, or deities, were—by a pious fraud known to Japanese Buddhists by the term hōben—received into the Buddhist pantheon as avatars of ancient Buddhas. Its Buddhist character is sufficiently indicated by the qualifying prefix in its name of Riōbu, which means “two parts,” namely, the two mystical worlds that figure in the doctrine of the Shingon sect; its Shintō connection is shown by the worship of Shintō deities under Buddhist names. “Despite its professions of eclecticism,” says Mr. Aston in his book already quoted, “the soul of Riōbu Shintō was essentially Buddhist.” He speaks, also, of the movement as the formation of a new sect, a view in which Professor Chamberlain in his Things Japanese does not seem altogether to concur. The point may be left to Shintō and Buddhist scholars to determine. The result of the fusion, in any case, was that most Shintō shrines became Riōbu Shintō temples. In many of these Buddhist priests alone officiated, but in some cases such temples had separate establishments of Shintō and Buddhist clergy, who conducted services alternately in the same buildings.
Although Confucianists can point to the existence of a temple of that religion in Tōkiō, neither Confucianism nor Taoism—both of which came to Japan with the adoption of the written language of China—had ever quite the status of established religions. It would be difficult to overestimate the part played by Confucian ethics in the development of Japanese character and thought. Those, moreover, who have studied the subject profess to see both in Shintō and Buddhism the impress of Taoist philosophy. In both cases, however, the influence of these cults on the Japanese people has been exercised indirectly, by the infiltration of Confucian and Taoist principles into other faiths, and not directly, as would have been the case had they operated in the character of separate and distinct religions.