• Shinto—Japan’s Search for God
    Mankind’s Search for God

    • 11. What role do festivals play in Shinto worship and daily life?

      11 Since Shinto has no formal doctrine or teaching, its way of promoting the harmony of the community is through rituals and festivals. “What is most important in Shintoism,” explains the encyclopedia Nihon Shukyo Jiten, “is whether we celebrate festivals or not.” (See box, page 193.) Feasting together at festivals around ancestral gods contributed to a cooperative spirit among people in the rice-growing community. Major festivals were and still are related to rice cultivation. In the spring, village people call upon the “god of the paddies” to come down to their village, and they pray for a good crop. In the fall, they thank their gods for the harvest. During festivals, they carry their gods around on a mikoshi, or portable shrine, and have communion of rice wine (sake) and food with the gods.

  • Shinto—Japan’s Search for God
    Mankind’s Search for God

    • [Box on page 193]

      Shinto​—A Religion of Festivals

      The Japanese year is full of religious festivals, or matsuri. The following are some of the principal ones:

      ▪ Sho-gatsu, or the New Year Festival, January 1-3.

      ▪ Setsubun, bean throwing inside and outside homes, while shouting, “Devils out, good luck in”; February 3.

      ▪ Hina Matsuri, or Doll Festival for girls, held March 3. A platform of dolls, depicting an ancient imperial household, is displayed.

      ▪ Boy’s Festival, on May 5; Koi-nobori (carp streamers symbolizing strength) are flown from poles.

      ▪ Tsukimi, admiring mid-autumn full moon, while offering small round rice cakes and firstfruits of crops.

      ▪ Kanname-sai, or the offering of the first new rice by the emperor, in October.

      ▪ Niiname-sai is celebrated by the imperial family in November, when the new rice is tasted by the emperor, who presides as chief priest of the Imperial Shinto.

      ▪ Shichi-go-san, which means “seven-five-three,” celebrated by Shinto families on November 15. Seven, five, and three are viewed as important transition years; children in colorful kimono visit the family shrine.

      ▪ Many Buddhist festivals are also celebrated, including the Buddha’s birthday, on April 8, and the Obon Festival, July 15, which ends with lanterns floating out on sea or stream “to guide the ancestrial spirits back to the other world.”