HUM 140 Lecture Notes - Lecture 17: Sumo, Noh, Nihon Shoki
Document Summary
A group of over 6,000 islands to the east of the asian continent. The southern islands were populated first in prehistory. A land bridge connected to the korean peninsula to the southern islands. The first inhabitants migrated from the mainland by foot around 13,000 bce. After classical greece, but before shi huangti in china. They introduced rice farming and a primitive belief system. Yamato, the first empire, covers the southern part of honshu. Men and women serve equally in government and society. The ancient religion of japan, no founder, or central text. Beliefs emerged organically and through many generations of the oral tradition. A torii is a gate that marks the boundary between profane and sacred. They can be represented by geographic features, ancestor worship, or considered supernatural beings. Places where kami are kept, sacred objects. Worshippers make offerings of rice, sake, fruit, or tree branches. The offerings are burned and other ceremonies can involve ritual bathing.
