JP 2700 Lecture 4: AP%2FJP 2700 Japanese Religions Part 1
Document Summary
Misfortune, including illness, are frequently couched in supernatural terms, with supernatural remedies, and anthropological work on japan would suggest that these are not absent here. Many japanese people claim to be non-religious, if asked directly. Purification of plots of land where new houses or buildings are to be constructed. Ritual cleansing of one s hands and mouth are done before entering a shrine. Generally, shinto is concerned with notions of pollution and purity. The washing on entry to a shrine purifies a person from the pollution of the outside world, ritually marking the sacred inside of the shrine compound, just as the removal of shoes markes the inside of a house. A further (cid:498)inside(cid:499) is found in the shrine building itself, although most visitors will not penetrate this far, except for on special assistants. occasions, and it is rather the area of the priests and their. Local communities invite priests to carry out purification rituals annually for their shrines.
