On Your Own Time
Fascinating discussion of Shinto, dealing with how we classify ancient religions, relationships with deities, etc.
Shinto
Listen now (45 minutes)
Available to listen. Last broadcast today, 09:00 on BBC Radio 4.
Next on: Today, 21:30 on BBC Radio 4
Synopsis
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Japanese belief system Shinto.
A religion without gods, scriptures or a founder, Shinto is perhaps better described as a system of belief. Central to it is the idea of kami, spirits or deities associated with places, people and things. Shinto shrines are some of the most prominent features of the landscape in Japan, where over 100 million people - most of the population - count themselves as adherents.
Since its emergence as a distinct religion many centuries ago, Shinto has happily coexisted with Buddhism and other religions; in fact, adherents often practise both simultaneously. Although it has changed
considerably in the face of political upheaval and international conflict, it remains one of the most significant influences on Japanese culture.
With:
Martin Palmer, Director of the International Consultancy on Religion, Education, and Culture
Richard Bowring, Professor of Japanese Studies at the University of Cambridge
Lucia Dolce, Senior Lecturer in Japanese Religion and Japanese at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.
Producer: Thomas Morris.
Related Links
FURTHER READING
Reader, Ian, ‘Religion in Contemporary Japan’ (University of Hawaii Press)
Reader, Ian, ‘Simple Guide to Shinto, The Religion of Japan’ (Global Books Ltd)
Ono, Sokyo, and William Woodward, ‘Shinto the Kami Way’
Hartz, Paula R., Joanne O’Brien, and Martin Palmer, ‘Shinto’
McAlpine, Helen, and William McAlpine, ‘Tales from Japan’ (Oxford Myths and Legends)
Davis, F. Hadland, ‘Myths and Legends of Japan’
Blacker, Carmen, ‘The Catalpa Bow’
Inoue Nobutaka et al, ‘Shinto: A Short History’ (Routledge Curzon, 2003)
Breen, John, and Mark Teeuwen, ‘A New History of Shinto’ (2010)
Nelson, John, ‘Enduring Entities: The Guise of Shinto in Contemporary Japan’ (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2000)
Hardacre, Helen, ‘Shinto and the State, 1868-1988’ (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1989)
Teeuwen, Mark, and Fabio Rambelli eds., ‘Buddhas and Kami in Japan’ (London: Routledge Curzon, 2003)
‘Tracing Shinto in the History of Kami worship’, special issue of ‘Japanese Journal of Religious Studies’, 29:3/4, (2002)
Shinto
Listen now (45 minutes)
Available to listen. Last broadcast today, 09:00 on BBC Radio 4.
Next on: Today, 21:30 on BBC Radio 4
Synopsis
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Japanese belief system Shinto.
A religion without gods, scriptures or a founder, Shinto is perhaps better described as a system of belief. Central to it is the idea of kami, spirits or deities associated with places, people and things. Shinto shrines are some of the most prominent features of the landscape in Japan, where over 100 million people - most of the population - count themselves as adherents.
Since its emergence as a distinct religion many centuries ago, Shinto has happily coexisted with Buddhism and other religions; in fact, adherents often practise both simultaneously. Although it has changed
considerably in the face of political upheaval and international conflict, it remains one of the most significant influences on Japanese culture.
With:
Martin Palmer, Director of the International Consultancy on Religion, Education, and Culture
Richard Bowring, Professor of Japanese Studies at the University of Cambridge
Lucia Dolce, Senior Lecturer in Japanese Religion and Japanese at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.
Producer: Thomas Morris.
Related Links
- BBC Religion: Shinto
- Shinto - Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)
FURTHER READING
Reader, Ian, ‘Religion in Contemporary Japan’ (University of Hawaii Press)
Reader, Ian, ‘Simple Guide to Shinto, The Religion of Japan’ (Global Books Ltd)
Ono, Sokyo, and William Woodward, ‘Shinto the Kami Way’
Hartz, Paula R., Joanne O’Brien, and Martin Palmer, ‘Shinto’
McAlpine, Helen, and William McAlpine, ‘Tales from Japan’ (Oxford Myths and Legends)
Davis, F. Hadland, ‘Myths and Legends of Japan’
Blacker, Carmen, ‘The Catalpa Bow’
Inoue Nobutaka et al, ‘Shinto: A Short History’ (Routledge Curzon, 2003)
Breen, John, and Mark Teeuwen, ‘A New History of Shinto’ (2010)
Nelson, John, ‘Enduring Entities: The Guise of Shinto in Contemporary Japan’ (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2000)
Hardacre, Helen, ‘Shinto and the State, 1868-1988’ (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1989)
Teeuwen, Mark, and Fabio Rambelli eds., ‘Buddhas and Kami in Japan’ (London: Routledge Curzon, 2003)
‘Tracing Shinto in the History of Kami worship’, special issue of ‘Japanese Journal of Religious Studies’, 29:3/4, (2002)