Episode 541 – The Way of the Gods

August 9, 2024 1 Comment

This week, we have our first Footnote to the Revised Introduction to Japanese history, expanding on questions we didn’t get to touch on during the main series. This week, our question is: what do we know about the origins and practice of early Japanese religion, and how does it relate to what we call Shinto today?

Sources

Matsumae, Takechi. “Early Kami Worship” in The Cambridge History of Japan, Vol I: Ancient Japan

Teeuwen, Mark. “What Used to Be Called Shinto” in Japan Emerging: Premodern History to 1850

Images

A Jomon period Doguu figurine
A Jomon period bo, or phallus.
A dotaku (bronze bell) from the Yayoi period.
The reconstructed high hall of the Ikegami Sone site, a Yayoi period excavation site outside Osaka. Its style bears some similarities to the shrine architecture of later periods.
The main buildings of Izumo Shrine today.
A reconstruction of the Honden (main hall) of Izumo Shrine in ancient times based on archaeological excacations.
A copy of the Harima Province fudoki gazeteer (now a part of Hyogo Prefecture).

1 thought on “Episode 541 – The Way of the Gods”

Comments are closed.