Tell me about Shintoism

Tell me about Shintoism

Will it give me an anime gf ?

Its a form of animism that has been mixed with elements of Buddhism and standardized though the japanese imperial court and later the Meiji government. As such its theology tends to be more refined than most types of animism. it centers around the worship of Kami, normally translated as "Gods" but it can really be any nexus of power. it also has a strong focus on ritual cleanliness

>dude everything is spirits lmao

Why do they worship the spirits?

>dude what if like rocks had spirits and stuff

religion as it's supposed to be done, fuck the abrahamics

Shine maidens are not donation whores,
The sacred cleansing they do is not what you think,
They don't wear sexy clothing under their robes and shave everything, and one definitely didn't give me a handjob behind the temple, stop spreading that rumor.
Eh, a sense of th sacred and ancestry is important too
That Tori's gate is cool, and you can walk up to it on low tide. The island has friendy deer walking around the town very cool. Just be sure to hike to the top, don't be lazy take the ropeway to the peak. Nature has to be lived. Highly suggested


.

It's essentially the Japanese version of the same unorganized folk religion that existed everywhere in the world before the big doctrinal religions supplanted them. Essentially it boils down to giving important things supernatural avatars/explanations, much like the Lightning being Zeus or the Sun being Ra. The reason it lasted compared to the others was a combination of Japans isolation and the fact that the already syncretic friendly Buddhism formed a kind of hybrid with it.

>The reason it lasted compared to the others
Do people forget Catholicism literally canonized certain gods as Saints? I'm not saying they are the same thing but spiritually continuity exist in every religion except Protestantism and certain forms of modern Islam.

>Unorganized folk religion
Shintoism actually is pretty organized. The Emperor is the head of it's religion, and it has a priesthood.

It wasn't like it's counterpart in the Mainland: Chinese Folk Religion & Ancestor Worship which was a folk belief not shepherded or headed around by a clergy or priesthood.

The number one thing I love about Tokyo is almost every single women of dating age still wears pantyhose and dresses feminism most of the time.

It's Kyoto.

There are several forms of Shinto from Folk Shinto to state Shinto. Be specific.

Ah, so it is, well it seems to be true of most japanese cities I went to, I just limited it because I didn't spend a lot of time in rural areas.
I don't know if you are from America, but every single women where's jeans or a tomboy look 99% of the time, even in office clothes, the American men are still in monkey suits and the women are in thick-almost-jean-woven slacks and flannel or relaxed tops.
It was a big and welcome shock to see females that looked female everywhere

Wear*

A lot of that organization was a post Meiji phenomena. While the court exerted some influence its safe to say there was on "Orthodox" Shintoism pre-Meiji era.

The difference is that the Japanese literally worship their gods exactly the same as the did a thousand years ago for exactly the same reason with exactly the same orthodoxy and orthopraxy (on an individual kami to kami basis, not the theology as a whole).

Venerating (not worshiping) saint so and so who happens to have a feast day on the same day as a pagan god and whose beatification story is sort of related to a single myth about a pagan god is not "spiritual continuity". Saint blahblah having one hand and being the patron saint of cobblers, chess players, rabbit tamers, and the club footed does not mean you're worshiping Tiwaz. There's no continuity at all.

Spiritual continuity would be interpretatio romanae, or incorporating the gods into a pantheon.

How widespread is shintoism really?

My japanese friend told me that he thinks that people in europe are much more religious than in japan (u wot m8). Is shintoism just a meme in the 21st century?

Yes.
In some places the only time people see a priest is at funerals to the point they became omens of death so to speak.
And no.
the tradition is still there, for weddings too, and it's still a way to experience the Devine, and they still purify buildings and such.

Also /western/ Europe isn't religious at all (at least the whites) more and more churches are becoming bars in England and France.

I know that europe isn't religious at all that's why i was so surprised to be told this shit in Germany

Japan is the fifth in atheist countries. They don't think they are irreligious but think they are atheist. Because the most popular religion is Buddhism and basically there is no god in Buddhism. You can be Shintoist and Buddhist at one time.

>there is no god in Buddhism
There is. You just don't worship him or seek oneness with him.

That's why I wrote "basically".
Buddhism do have some gods but it's not monotheism like Abrahamic religion.
Ask any Buddhist if they believe in god and they will answer no. They believe in Buddha but Buddha himself was only a human who achieved enlightment.

>atheist
most of them are probably agnostic

For the Japanese, religion is a tradition or custom, not a faith. They are secular as fuck.

> more and more churches are becoming bars in England and France

Even as a life atheist, that's just offensive. Fucking savages.

Just hire Jesus as bartender. Free wine and bread guaranteed.