APPENDICIES

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A. Japanese Naming Conventions

The names of Buddhist temples (tera  or o-tera) usually end in the suffixes "-ji" (same character as "tera"!) or "-in" (), such as To-ji and Jako-in, but occasionally "-dera" (same character as 'tera') such as Oka-dera.

The names of Shinto shrines (jinja  ) mostly end in "-jinja", like Yasaka Jinja, or for larger shrines "-jingu" () or just "-gu" () such as Meiji Jingu and Kitano Tenman-gu, and occasionally "-taisha" () -- Sumiyoshi Taisha.  The word miya is the same character as -gu (large shrine) and is commonly used in place names like Sannomiya, Ichinomiya, and Miyazaki, but is pronounced gu in the names of actual shrines.

The most common geographical terms are listed below:

mountain	-yama, -san (-zan), -sen
mountain peak	-take (-dake), -mine, -rei [archaic]	, ,
mountain pass	toge  ("TOH-gay")
mountain ridge	one  ("OH-nay")
mountain range	sanmyaku
waterfall	-taki (-daki)
high plateau	ko-gen
field	hara (-bara), -no	,
valley	tani, -dani, -ya
hill	oka (2 different characters, same word!)	,
peninsula	hanto (literally "half island")
cape	misaki, -saki, -zaki
bay	wan, (sometimes) ura	,
harbor, inlet	ura
beach	hama (-bama)
gorge	-kyo
river	kawa (-gawa),  ka-	,
river bank	kawa-gishi	,
bridge	o-hashi, hashi (-bashi)
pond	-ike, sometimes -sawa	,
swamp	sawa (-zawa)
island	shima (-jima), -to (-do)
island group	shoto
island chain	reto (or shoto)
lake	-ko (mizu-umi by itself means 'a lake')
sea	-kai, umi
sea coast	kaigan
castle	-jo (shiro, or o-shiro by itself is 'a castle')
prefecture (state)	-ken
district (county)	-gun
city	-shi  This character also means 'market'- ichi
town	machi, -cho
village	mura
north	kita, -hoku (-boku)
south	minami, -nan
east	higashi, -to
west	nishi, -sai, sa
lower	shimo-
middle	naka-, chu
upper	kami-
park	ko-en
garden	niwa, -en	,

B. Shrines and Temples:  Japanese Religions

This note is for foreign visitors who may be curious about the many religious buildings they will visit in Japan, and the traditions behind them. What is Shinto, anyway? How can you tell a Buddhist from a Shintoist? Note that any descriptions of religious traditions below are my personal opinions, not necessarily academic fact.

First, the basics: Shinto places of worship are called shrines (jinja), while temples (tera) are Buddhist. By referring to the list of the Japanese words used for naming these buildings -- in Japanese Naming Conventions, just above -- you should be able to identify the religion of the building by its name. There are numerous Buddhist sects in Japan, but the differences are of minor interest to most casual tourists, and I won't try to differentiate here.

Shinto   

Shinto is a purely native Japanese religion. It has been flatly stated that it is a racial religion, belonging to all Japanese by birth. In fact, Japanese people would be dumbfounded to hear of any foreigner 'converting' to Shinto. But then Shinto is really as much cultural as it is religious, having developed alongside the Japanese culture since the most ancient days. There are no Shinto texts, no scriptures, no organized teachings, no dogma, no regular worship services, no sermons, and no rules or commandments. As such, it has been suggested that Shinto is not really a religion at all, but more of a cultural tradition or a collection of folk beliefs.  But a religion requires only faith, and dogma is just a tool of faith.

Shinto does have a rich mythology, which includes creation myths and a history of the Japanese race and the Japanese Imperial line, which are traced back to the gods, and forward to the present day. This was a purely oral, or folk mythology until the 8th century AD, when the political rulers enjoined historians to record it as the History of Japan. While these chronicles reflect Shinto, they do not embody any official Shinto teaching.

Shinto (in my opinion) is pretty much a form of primitive animism -- with a little ancestor worship thrown in later -- which eventually gave rise to an organized priest class without ever developing into a structured religion. My interpretation of the Shinto 'feeling' is that Nature is divine, all things in nature are parts of the divine living whole and are worthy of our respect and care; even people are divine. On top of this are classic folk stories of animal or object deities, or spirits (called kami), coming to life in various forms to help or hinder people. We show our reverence and respect for the divinity of all Nature by singling out for special notice some individual elements of nature, such as the sun and moon, mountains, trees, stones, and deceased relatives. If we show our respect, we can hope for some cooperation from, or at least harmony with, the various spirits of Nature.

And anybody can do this. There is no problem with people from other cultural or religious traditions praying or giving offerings at Shinto shrines; about the only ones who do not are Japanese Christians. The Japanese people just have the special birthright to understand and revere the Japanese spirits in the Shinto manner better than anybody else. The word Shinto means "the way of the gods", where (believe it or not), 'shin' is the same word as 'kami' ( gods or spirits). Before Buddhism arrived, the Japanese had no need to give a name to their native religion.

You will find several other informative notes about Shinto traditions and history in the descriptions of the Shinto sites at Idzumo, Asuka, Omiwa, and Ise, above.

Buddhism   

Buddhism was imported to Japan from China, via Korea, around the 5th and 6th centuries AD, replete with almost a millennium of written teachings. Since it came along with some decidedly higher culture than was present in Japan at that time -- written language, literature, architecture, higher education, philosophy, and systems of government -- and because many of the new practitioners of this higher culture were also imported from Korea and (occassionally) China, Buddhism became the religion of the elite, and eventually of the ruling class. Over time, they passed this influence down to the common people, sometimes requiring them to pay homage to the new religion in favor. The Buddhism that came to Japan was of several Mahayana (northern Buddhist) sects.

Still, it took quite a few centuries for Buddhism, and the organized Buddhist church to gain power. In fact, different Buddhist sects and sub-sects often battled each other throughout the Middle Ages over who would have the most influence. Since the larger monasteries also maintained powerful standing armies of warrior-monks, these battles were far from figurative, and political leaders grew to depend upon alliances with the strongest Buddhist factions. Well, it is much too complex to try and understand just exactly what was going on with religion in the Middle Ages, but it was certainly a part of the struggles for power that dominated the period.

About one percent of Japanese (under 2 million) are Christians, with a Christian tradition dating back to the 16th Century arrival in southern Japan of Jesuit and Catholic missionaries from Europe.

Shinto or Buddhist?

Today, most Japanese people participate in both Shinto and Buddhist religious traditions. Almost everyone is married by a Shinto priest, and buried in a Buddhist ceremony. This is not as extraordinary as it sounds, since the two religions are so different in nature that their practices don't really conflict with each other. In fact, it is not uncommon to find Shinto shrines within the compounds of Buddhist temples, or Buddhist images within Shinto shrines. There are folk tales that combine Shinto legends with Buddhist deities, and not everyone can quickly identify which is which. Even the architecture is sometimes similar, and you may need to look for the Shinto torii gateway out front, or the long hanging ropes before the doors to identify a shrine.

One general explanation for this is that Shinto was able to survive as a popular religious tradition during the Middle Ages by 'allowing' itself, and those traditions, to be assimilated into -- rather than being outlawed by -- the politically dominant Buddhist culture of the times. While Shinto was still practiced in its purist forms by Shinto priests at the principal shrines, it did not regain official acceptability as a separate religious practice for laymen until recent centuries.

While Shinto had begun a popular comeback earlier, it was not until 1868 that the organized Shinto church was again allowed autonomy to manage its own local shrines without the interference of Buddhist influences. It should be understood that this was largely a political situation concerning which religious leaders would hold favor in the government. While the common people were not prevented from Shinto worship, they increasingly, and for several centuries, did so in a Buddhist context that tended to merge the two traditions in the common mind.

Practicalities

I will not try to explain all the images or rituals of these religions that you may see in Japan (as if I understood). As always, just take your shoes off whenever you go inside; doffing your hat is also appropriate, but not a strict rule. Before entering any Shinto shrine grounds, and some Buddhist ones, you should ritually, if very superficially, cleanse both hands and your mouth at the 'water purification' troughs provided; just follow the crowds.

At shrines, it is customary to toss a coin into the big collection box at the front door, and then summon the gods by shaking the bell-rope and clapping your hands before praying, making a wish, or just bowing in silent respect for a second. You don't have to throw any money or shake the bell at all, but no one will expect you to get your wish if you perform the latter without the former.

Shinto is a religion of purity and of purification, even more so than Buddhism. White represents purity and at shrines you will everywhere see pieces of white paper and mounds of salt (not to mention truckloads of sake casks) to purify and repel impurities. Strictly speaking, people who are ill or women during their menstrual periods should not enter any Shinto compound. In practice, only quite ill or very pious people stay away at such times, but I thought you should know. Illness, death, and burial are tended to by Buddhist monks and priests. Shinto priests perform marriages and bless babies, not to mention new businesses, cars, graduates, and whatever. But their traditional function is to properly worship the gods, not to tend or minister to laymen.

Buddhism is monastic, including large communities of monks and nuns. Shinto has priests, some of whom are women, and they are free to marry. You can go to a school to study to be a Shinto priest, but often it is a family tradition, and they don't have monasteries as such. Since there are no scriptures to learn, the role of the Shinto priest is largely to oversee the management of the shrine and to perform occasional rituals and ceremonies. Many of the priests at local Shinto shrines have other jobs in the community, and clearly many thousands of small shrines have no regular priest at all. Buddhist monks and nuns can be seen wearing their robes most of the time, while Shinto priests revert to street clothes when they are not on official business.

Jizo   

I have mentioned Jizo shrines, which are in fact not buildings, nor are they Shinto. They are little stone monuments, usually about the size and shape of a rounded stone mile-post -- often not much bigger than a fire hydrant -- with the face of the Buddhist deity Jizo (jee-zo) carved into them. If you don't see lots of them, you're not getting away from it all.

Jizo is masculine, carries a staff, and has a shaved head. As far as I can tell he does not represent any historical figure, but his worship is reportedly a (long forgotten) vestige of the legendary Buddhist monk Kshitigarbha, the Bodhisattva of benevolence and mercy in ancient Indian Buddhist lore. For the Japanese, Jizo is like Saint Jude, the protector of the weak. Sometimes entreated variously as the patron deity of pregnant women, children, or travelers and pilgrims, or (like those pictured on the right) as the guardian of the souls of dead children, Jizo is everyman's patron of last resort for any prayer of supplication. He is a part of everyday life, passed by the dozens on any given day, often unnoticed until mercy or good luck are sorely needed.

Jizo statues are often found along the sides of rural or mountain trails, sometimes alone, and sometimes strung out in their dozens along the route. They are often found on trails leading to temples or shrines, but are sometimes just placed beside the road by locals as an act of piety or gratitude. They populate temple and shrine grounds and graveyards, and you can also find them along city streets or in rural train stations. Occasionally there may even be a little wooden 'shrine' built to shelter the statue.

Many of the stone Jizos are very old and look it, with all detail worn away from the rounded stone. People on religious pilgrimages -- or just on their way to a shrine -- will stop to say a prayer and leave a little offering (a coin, candle, fruit, or flower) at every little Jizo they pass. Jizos are often clothed in red bibs, often dozens and dozens of them, which are also commonly left as offerings.

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