Being Part of Nature
What is Shinto and how would you describe some of its essential qualities?
Shinto is a way of life.
It’s a way of life based on the realization that we are part of nature. That life in all its forms is sacred.
The concept of a religion doesn’t fit Shinto because there are no sacred scriptures, doctrines, or founders in Shinto. There is no notion of absolute good or evil in Shinto, because everything in the universe is ever changing, so we cannot judge good or evil as human beings.
Another important quality of Shinto is that it does not put human beings at the center of the universe. Shinto has a notion of being in harmony with nature, so we are just a part of nature, not above it.
And finally, Shinto is based on ritual communication, instead of language communication
How do you feel that Shinto has shaped Japanese culture and sensibility?
Shinto, in its various forms, has been part of the Japanese consciousness for thousands of years, so it’s had a huge influence on Japanese culture and sensibility.
In Japan, many religious customs and traditions are deeply embedded in daily life rather than tied to formal belief systems. This feels especially true for Shinto, which relies more on doing and feeling, rather than thinking and understanding.
Perhaps one of the the most obvious examples is how Japanese people care about cleanness. Almost everyone who visits Japan observes that everywhere they go it is so clean. Even when our sports fans travel abroad they typically clean their section of the stadium after themselves.
That culture of cleanliness originates from purification in Shinto.
Before approaching the main shrine, where the kami resides, we have a culture to purify our body and mind by rinsing mouth and hands. This is an embodied ritual of purification and cleanness. To allow the water to wash away our physical, mental and spiritual impurities so we are pure and receptive as we meet the kami and encounter the sacred.
The Essence of Shinto
Shinto believes that we are a part of nature and that we, like everything in existence, carry the divine life force within us. But like all things, as we move through our days and lives, we inevitably gather blockages and impurities that diminish our connection to nature and the divine. So Shinto offers rituals and practices to remove those blockages and return us to a deeper sense of aliveness and connection.
The Japanese sensibility of attunement to the seasons, the natural beauty of things as they age and change with time, or the refined ability to make the invisible feel like its present by suggestion. These all seem to stem from the way Shinto has influenced the culture and people.
That might be true. If you visit a Zen temple, there is a big statue of Buddha, but if you visit a Shinto shrine, there is nothing, but still you can feel something. This is the essence of Shinto.
What do you feel is a universal value that Shinto embodies that is relevant to the world we live in today?
I think the most important and timely concept is that of co-existing harmoniously with nature. Shinto might be called one of the worlds original and remaining “Green” ways of living.
In Japan, people have long believed that spirits exist in everything—mountains, rivers, trees, wind, and even tools. This belief is called animism and is a key idea in Shinto.
Our early ancestors lived with nature through rice cultivation, other forms of agriculture and fishing. They knew the beauty as well as the destrutcive power of nature intimately. They regarded the sea, mountains, forests and natural landmarks as sacred places where the kami live. This is expressed in the phrase Yaoyorozu no Kami (八百万の神), literally meaning there are 8 million gods or kami, too many to count. The divine is present everywhere.
Let me give you a simple example that is close for me.
Nature Allows Us to Live
I live in Osaka, a very large modern city. But even here in the city we have a culture to not cut down trees that are considered sacred. So just one minute’s walk from my shrine there is a train station and there are big, big sacred trees inside the station, because it used to be a shrine site as well. Those trees have been there for more than 300 years, so nobody says we should cut them. Instead they have a right to be there and they are revered and the station is shaped around them.
So this example and idea has a universal value in the modern world. We need to think how we human beings coexist with the universe.
When we are in nature, we understand things in many different ways – our senses are inundated. We hear the sounds of the birds. Our skin feels the breeze. We feel the presence of something, a life force, not only in every creature, but also in a magnificent tree or in a simple flower.
This consciousness brings people to understand that it is nature that allows us to live and this same nature that is all around us, supports our existence.
Shinto can open your eyes to new ways of seeing, your mind to new ways of thinking, and your heart to new ways of feeling.
Experiencing True Fulfilment
Do I have it right that before Western influences entered Japan there wasn’t a separate word for nature as being separate from humans?
That’s correct, the word we used before Western influences was Jinen. It is much more ambiguous and inclusive than the Western concept of nature. It would maybe translate into naturalness, or things in their natural connected state. It refers to nature that is inclusive of humanity and all things. All part of one interconnected web.
Western thought tends to emphasize the concept of the “individual” as an independent entity. In contrast, Japanese culture, particularly in the Shinto worldview, sees the self as intrinsically connected to nature, ancestors, and the community. Our existence is not just about “I” but about “we”—being a link in the ongoing chain of past, present, and future.
From this way of seeing the world, true well-being is not simply about individual happiness but about finding harmony within a larger, interconnected existence. When we clean the shrine grounds, look up at the sacred tree, and reflect on the blessings that sustain us, we naturally cultivate gratitude and reverence. This practice of living fully in the present while recognizing our place in the continuum of time is what allows us to experience true fulfilment.
In Shinto, the concept of Musubi is deeply important. It refers to the force that creates new life, connections, and relationships. Musubi is the power that brings different elements of life together, allowing them to coexist in harmony. It is not just about individual existence but the interdependence of all things. This idea suggests that life is not separate or isolated but constantly in relationship with everything around it—whether it’s nature, other beings, or even the spiritual world.
That’s exactly why I chose it as the name of our Academy.
Purifying the Mind
I’m also curious, what does an average day looks like for you. What time do you get up and how does your day unfold?
It changes day by day, but sometimes I have the role of opening the gate at the shrine. In that case, I need to wake up around 5:00 a.m. and then open the gate at 6:00. The first thing I do is to clean the main shrine. After that, I offer morning prayer. And then, I clean the grounds of the shrine.
So, basically, the work of a Shinto priest is offering a prayer and also cleaning the grounds. This is very important.
I think the reason why we clean the grounds is not just to clean the grounds, but also to purify our minds. There’s a concept of Harae. I think we can translate it as temporary impurities, because everything is always changing, so we cannot say permanent impurities. These impurities refer also to rational thought or something we have experienced that impacted us consciously or unconsciously.
When I’ve just cleaned the grounds, I feel like I have also removed temporary impurities from my mind. I feel like my mind has become pure. Cleanliness is such an important practice in Shinto.
Then after I clean the grounds, it’s up to the Shinto priest to do calligraphy or offering the ceremonial prayers, and for me it also involves preparing for the new festivals and having conversations with the local people and community.
What that brings up for me is that whenever I visit a Shinto shrine and purify myself before walking into the shrine, it both invites a sense of purity and cleansing, but also a sense of presence, like fully landing into the here and now.
The reason why Shinto cherishes here and now is because it’s coming from the harmonious life with nature. Ultimately, human beings cannot control this world.
Also, we cannot change the past and we cannot foresee the future. So we need to coexist with everything with our focus on the here and now. But in Shinto we believe the here and now is also connected with the past and thew future, we call it Naka-ima, or the Middle of Now.
The most important thing is the awareness that the reason why we can live here and now is because of our ancestors and all the things that happened in the past. And the reason we focus on being fully present in the here and now is because it creates a good future. This is the true meaning of naka-ima. I cherish this concept always. It invites us to fully inhabit and meet this Long Now.
Balancing Tradition & the Needs of Modern Life
You are the 22nd generation Shinto priest in your family and run your shrine in Osaka. In your role as a contemporary Shinto priest what is a challenge you face and what brings you joy?
Maybe the primary challenge I face is balancing tradition with the changing needs of the modern world.
For me, it’s clear that in order to usher Shinto shrine into the next generation, we need to change more and adapt to the modern world. But it’s very difficult to set the boundaries between what should be preserved and how we can change and innovate. And to work with the different perspectives on what can and can’t be changed.
For example, I set up a new festival two years ago. It’s very unusual to set up a new festival, so it also creates some tension. But for me, this is a way to respect the deities at Hattori Ten-jingu shrine, bringing new life to the shrine and connection to new people through the festival.
This is not only my challenge but also my joy.
The moment where I can feel that we are creating the new culture, that can be passed on to the next generation, that’s when I feel like, oh, this is my joy. It’s when I am connecting with people, nature and everything around me. Setting up the new festival opens up the culture not just for local people, but also to outside people. And it allows us to connect with not just one generation, not just older people, but also younger people, not just male, but also female.
That moment of connection and bridging across imagined boundaries brings me joy.
