Shinto (religion)

     Today, I saw the movie "Princess Mononoke" (1) (2) which is a famous animated movie all over the world. While watching the movie, I had a brainwave. If foreign people see this movie, how do they feel about the Japanese culture, especially about Shinto. In the movie a wild, enormous boar often attacks some rural villages, kills people there, and damages crops. Villagers get together to capture, kill, and eat him. This kind of thing happens all the time. You don't know the half of it.
     After that, villagers establish his shrine, and they honor him. Why?
     Most foreigners will take their behaviour as honoring him, but in fact they are just sealing a boar into the shrine as a calmed being.  In Japanese traditional beliefs, those who die a tragic death can become furious demons, known as onryo. For centuries, Japanese people have considered that the more powerful a living person was during their lifetime and the more tragic their death was, the more powerful and cruel a demon they could become.  Such furious demons were thought to cause all sorts of disasters, including earthquakes, plagues, famines and warfare.
     I hope the leaders of China or Korea would see this movie and consider the Japanese culture carefully.  Shrines were built to calm down their wrath and anger. Shinto priests voice holy words, compliment and honor them to prevent their horrible curse.

神道

 　今日、世界的に有名なアニメ映画「もののけ姫」を見ていて、突然ひらめいたことがある。 (http://www.nausicaa.net/miyazaki/mh/　 http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~hn7y-mur/mononoke/ )

　この映画を外国人が見た場合、日本文化は、特に神道はどのように映るのだろう。映画の中で、巨大な野生のイノシシが村々を襲い、人々を殺し、作物に被害を与える。村人は集まって、このイノシシを捕らえ、食べてしまう。

　と、ここまでの話は良くある話であるが、話はここからである。なんと村人達はその後、神社を建て、こともあろうにこのイノシシを祭ったのである。

　いったいなぜ？

　ほとんどの外国人は彼等のこの行為を祀り(honorは不適当な単語かもしれない）と考えるだろう。しかし実際に彼等が行ったのは、イノシシを神社に封じ込め、鎮められた存在(英霊)とすることである。日本では悲劇的な死を遂げたものは怨霊と呼ばれる猛々しい悪魔になると伝統的に信じられている。生前の力が強ければ強いほど、その死が悲劇的であればあるほど、怨霊の力は強くなると何世紀にもわたり日本民族は考えてきた。そしてこの怒り狂った怨霊は様々な災害、例えば地震や疫病、飢餓や戦争などを引き起こすと考えられたのである。

　今望むのは、中国や韓国の指導者達がこの映画を見て日本の文化を注意深く考えることである。神社は非業の最期を遂げた人々の怒りを静めるために建てられ、神主達は祝詞、賛辞を唱え、彼等を祀り、怖ろしい呪いを防いでいるのである。

 

Comments

[KUMO]

I understand what you mean. There are many good things and bad things in every country. We have to talk with each other about a lot of stuff. Anyway, I'm happy to be able to exchange opinions frankly with you.
Check my blog please, sometimes from now, and tell me what's going on in your daily life as a medical student.
How about blogging?

[sunkyu park]

1. Korea and Vietnam
Our former president Kim Dae Jung officially appologized to Vietnamese people when he visited the country and offered to build a hospital in memory of all those vietnamese who suffered from our wrong-doings. You are right. It is not taught in high school history class but the issue was largely publicized by left wing media in Korea and good many people know about the atrocities Korean soldiers committed during that war.(I know priminister Murayama officialy appologized to Koreans but strangely not that many koreans know of the incident.)

2. Tokyo War Crime Tribunal
As for the war tribunal, those wartime soliders-turned-politicians were labeled as criminals not because they lost the war but bedause they are the ones who attacked US first.
I fully acknowledge how deep a wound Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombing had left in you people. I fully sympathize with Japanese on that. However, who suffered more is not the question here. The point was to put those who started the war on trial and make them pay so that similar thing won't happen in the future.

I certialy agree with you on that Matteo may have been influenced heavily by Korean media's brainwashing but there's an equal chance that you may have been influenced by Japan's right wing rhetorics. (especially on the point that which country ultimately suffered the most from the war)

[KUMO]

>남한과 일본이 서로 공격만 할게 아니라 서로의 잘못도 인정해야 돼요

I think so from the bottom of my heart, and I want your Government talk sincerely.
Do you know the book of the origin of 위안부 문제(慰安婦問題) and what the writer said after years? Do you know what did your army do during the Vietnam War? I think you didn't learn it in your textbook of history. Before accusing Japan, your country should apologize Vietnam.
Anyway, re-examaine what you had heard in your country about these issues.

War criminals must be judged by the law, you know. Say what law judged them! Are the leaders of the country that lost a war always the war criminals? Why did Japan attack the US? Have you ever thought it? I think the worst war criminal in the World War 2 is the US who killed the citizens of Hiroshima and Nagasaki with atomic bombs.
http://kumo.typepad.jp/weblog/2006/08/hiroshima.html
If you visit Hiroshima city, I'm sure that your way of thinking changes completely.
See "Let's look at the special exibit" in the left column of this blog.
Lastly,
남한과 일본이 서로 공격만 할게 아니라 서로의 잘못도 인정해야 돼요. I think so and Japan has good relations with other Asian countries.
Why other Asian countries (except China, N&S Korea) don't accuse Japan? Japan attacked many countries in the WW2. Why only 3 countires accuse Japan now? They are going to accuse Japan forever?

I'd like to end this talk, because I have much more secure evidences than you have and I'm not going to accuse you. You are honest and you love your country. It's great.
Thank you for taking a time to consider these issues.

[matteo]

calm being means 죽은 영혼들을 달래서 나쁜 영혼이 되는 걸 막는단 뜻이죠? 맞아요 문화적 차이가 있어요. 우리는 나쁜 사람이 죽으면 mourn하지 않아요. 하지만 일본은 그들이 생전에 어떤사람이었든지 똑같이 기린다는 말이죠? ok i unterstand.

[matteo]

abduction by North Korea는 나도 좋게 생각하지 않아요. 남한사람도 북한의 핵개발이라든지 단독적 도발따위는 매우 경멸해요. 북한이 일본사람만 납치한 게 아니에요. 남한사람도 납치했어요. 신상옥 감독을 납치해서 북한에서 영화도 만들게 했어요.

남한과 일본이 서로 공격만 할게 아니라 서로의 잘못도 인정해야 돼요.