Deck 9: Shinto

Question 1

What does the following Key Term mean:
-kami

Answer 1

Divine powers of the cosmos in the form of deities, features of nature, and exceptional humans (emperors and ancestors, for example).

Question 2

What does the following Key Term mean:
-jinja

Answer 2

A Shinto shrine, the "dwelling place of the kami."

Question 3

Japan's ancient beliefs were named Shinto when which of these religions started to spread into Japan?

A) Daoism
B) Buddhism
C) Hinduism
D) Confucianism

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Shinto literally means ________.

A) indigenous
B) the way of the gods
C) the way of kami
D) praising of the gods

Question 5

Which of these best describes the kami?

A) animal and nature totems
B) divine powers of the cosmos in the form of deities, features of nature, and exceptional humans
C) invisible ancestors and the spirits of those who haven't moved on
D) Shinto's pantheon of gods

Question 6

Which of these is not practiced at Shinto Shrines?

A) prayers
B) rituals of purification
C) offerings
D) reading of Shinto texts

Question 7

According to Shinto, the cosmos is a sacred place, and humans are themselves are ________ of the kami.

A) divine children
B) divine equals
C) worshippers
D) merely the followers

Question 8

Which of these ideas is part of the Shinto worldview?

A) Good and evil.
B) Sin and forgiveness.
C) Humans are inherently good.
D) The afterlife of heaven and hell.

Question 9

Contemporary Japanese have freely adapted moral norms and metaphysical ideas from which two religions?

A) Buddhism and indigenous Japanese traditions
B) Sikhism and Daoism
C) Confucianism and Daoism
D) Confucianism and Buddhism

Question 10

In what year did Buddhism become the official religion of Japan?

A) 74 BCE
B) 594 CE
C) 1207 CE
D) 1494 CE

Question 11

A Shinto shrine, called ________, is the "dwelling place of the kami."

A) temple
B) tori
C) michi
D) jinja

Question 12

Who created the islands of Japan by dipping the jeweled spear of heaven in the ocean?

A) Izanagi and Izanami
B) The King and Queen of Heaven
C) The Ono
D) Io and Ko

Question 13

The sections of the Japanese creation story in the texocus mostly on which of these?

A) the birth of humans
B) the birth of Mount Fuji
C) the birth of kami
D) the birth of nature

Question 14

There is a great emphasis in Shinto on which of these?

A) beginnings
B) salvation
C) sin
D) redemption

Question 15

During the ritual of ________ a baby is taken shortly after birth to the local shrine to receive the blessing and be placed under the protection of the kami who is the guardian of the local community.

A) Izanagi
B) Io
C) ujiko
D) miyamairi

Question 16

Two-thirds of Shinto shrines today enshrine one of three kami. Which of these is not one of those kami?

A) Inari
B) Tenjin
C) Hachiman
D) Io

Question 17

There are approximately ________ registered shrines in Japan.

A) ten thousand
B) fifty thousand
C) eighty thousand
D) five thousand

Question 18

Which of these is not a theme during the New Year's festival?

A) regeneration
B) purification
C) renewal
D) redemption

Question 19

The household _________ is a small shrine or altar in the home.

A) kamidana
B) tori
C) tenjin
D) Hachiman

Question 20

According to Howard W. French, a commonly cited indicator of the decreased interest in Shinto is ________ practices.

A) gender
B) wedding
C) birth
D) purification

Question 21

Amulets and talismans are commonly placed in the home as protective measures to drive away or absorb ________.

A) kamidana
B) bad kami
C) karma
D) bad luck

Question 22

Through worship at public and household shrines, which includes prayers, offerings, and rituals of ________, adherents of Shinto try to appease the kami.

A) repentance
B) purification
C) sacrifice
D) atonement

Question 23

The word Shinto wasn't commonly used until the seventeenth century, when it began to denote a body of religious doctrines.

Question 24

The kami are thought to be mischievous evil forces that require regular sacrifice to appease them.

Question 25

Shinto states that humans are intrinsically good, though they might choose to become spiritually contaminated.

Question 26

Ritual purity is an integral part of practicing Shinto.

Question 27

Shinto's system of ethics is written in their sacred texts.

Question 28

Shinto was no longer the state religion of Japan after World War II.

Question 29

The greatest Shinto shrine is the Grand Shrine at Ise, dedicated to the Sun Goddess Amaterasu.

Question 30

Folk Shinto is a strictly traditional practice and the most popular sect of the religion.

Question 31

The Japanese creation story says the islands were created by two kami who dipped the jeweled spear of heaven in the ocean, and the brine that dripped from the spear point became the islands of Japan.

Question 32

An idea that runs through Japanese texts is that life is permanent, and humans are immortal.

Question 33

Mounuji in Japan is regarded as a sacred place and the home of many powerful kami.

Question 34

Shinto is a system of doctrines and creeds, not a system of ritual and devotion.

Question 35

There are festivals year round in Japan, and it is possible to find one occurring somewhere on virtually every day of the year.

Question 36

Cleaning one's home during Japanese New Year is seen as clearing away physically and metaphorically the residue of the past year.

Question 37

The Japanese have traditionally managed to retain affiliations with several religions at once, apparently without conflict.

Question 38

The most commonly procured amulet or talisman at New Year is the hamaya, a symbolic arrow that is placed in the home as a protective measure to drive away or absorb bad luck.

Question 39

Shinto in the early times had no clear philosophy or ethics, and it still does not today.

Question 40

There is intense focus on the struggle between good and evil in Shinto practice.

Question 41

Shinto derives its name norom a founder, burom an ancient texound in a monastery on Mounuji.

Question 42

Shinto practice came to Japan from China, following Buddhism.

Question 43

What are the kami, and what role do they play in the daily life of a practitioner of Shinto?

Question 44

In what way is Shinto considered "this-worldly"? Use examples from the text to explain your answer.

Question 45

Employing examples, discuss the differences between shrine Shinto and folk Shinto.

Question 46

Explore the possibilities for someone to practice both Buddhism and Shinto. Can a person be a Buddhist and practice Shinto?

Question 47

Whaeatures do you find in the story of Izanagi and Izanami that are similar to those of some other creation stories that we have read in this text? Use the methods for comparison discussed in the first chapter.