The Emperor and the Shinto Religion


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PrincessKLS2007

PrincessKLS2007

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What's their religion and their laws on what religion(s) they can or can't practice and retain their titles.
 
As far as I know their religion is Shinto. If I'm not mistaken, the Emperor is also the highest priest of Shinto.
 
PrincessKLS2007 said:
What's their religion and their laws on what religion(s) they can or can't practice and retain their titles.
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Shinto,the ancient native religion of Japan.Untill the end of WW II it was the state religion and the Emperor had a God like status.
 
Not "Godlike". In religious terms, the Emperor is a direct descendant of Ameraterasu, the Sun Goddess of Shinto. Ergo, is a god.
 
I wonder sometimes whether the Emperor actually believes that he's a god. How can a person believe that unless he's mentally ill or actually is Divine? And when is this divinity conferred? Are heirs considered gods-in-waiting, or do they become gods at the time of enthronement? Also, I understand that the post-WWII constitution took divinity away from the Emperor and made him a constitutional monarch. Do the Japanese still believe that the Emperor is divine?
 
Mermaid1962 said:
I wonder sometimes whether the Emperor actually believes that he's a god. How can a person believe that unless he's mentally ill or actually is Divine? And when is this divinity conferred? Are heirs considered gods-in-waiting, or do they become gods at the time of enthronement? Also, I understand that the post-WWII constitution took divinity away from the Emperor and made him a constitutional monarch. Do the Japanese still believe that the Emperor is divine?
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The Emperor doesn't believe he's a god, and no Japanese don't believe the Emperor his divine. At the time of the Meiji Restoration ( mid 19th century) the Shinto religion was reconfigured to centre on the Emperor and it was declared the state religion. Previous to that the Emperor wasn't considered a divine being, this belief sytem lasted until the end of WW2 so less than 80 years.

There are no written laws on the religion of the Imperial Family but it is expected that the Emperor be Shinto as he carries out certain rites that can only be done by a male, Shinto priests are male. This is an arguement the traditionalists use to argue for the continuation of male only Emperors, a female Emperor could not carry out the Shinto rites.

The Imperial Family members carry out certain religious obligations to honour their ancestors several times a year, Masako has been criticised for the fact that she hasn't gone with the other royals for several years now to carry out these observances. ( All done in private, the general public doesn't see most of the religious ceremonies carried out by the royals)

Japanese in general are fairly fluid in their religious practises, as a Japanese person described it to me. Shinto deals with living a good life so people take their children to the Shinto shrine for blessings and they marry at a Shinto Shrine,each new year they pray at the shrine for a good year ( also at exam time for good exam results!) When they die, they have a Buddhist funeral since Buddhism deals with having a good after life. Then once a year, Japanese are Christian ( christmas!).
 
Charlotte1 said:
The Emperor doesn't believe he's a god, and no Japanese don't believe the Emperor his divine. At the time of the Meiji Restoration ( mid 19th century) the Shinto religion was reconfigured to centre on the Emperor and it was declared the state religion. Previous to that the Emperor wasn't considered a divine being, this belief sytem lasted until the end of WW2 so less than 80 years.

There are no written laws on the religion of the Imperial Family but it is expected that the Emperor be Shinto as he carries out certain rites that can only be done by a male, Shinto priests are male. This is an arguement the traditionalists use to argue for the continuation of male only Emperors, a female Emperor could not carry out the Shinto rites.

The Imperial Family members carry out certain religious obligations to honour their ancestors several times a year, Masako has been criticised for the fact that she hasn't gone with the other royals for several years now to carry out these observances. ( All done in private, the general public doesn't see most of the religious ceremonies carried out by the royals)

Japanese in general are fairly fluid in their religious practises, as a Japanese person described it to me. Shinto deals with living a good life so people take their children to the Shinto shrine for blessings and they marry at a Shinto Shrine,each new year they pray at the shrine for a good year ( also at exam time for good exam results!) When they die, they have a Buddhist funeral since Buddhism deals with having a good after life. Then once a year, Japanese are Christian ( christmas!).
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So one could argue that those who claim that the Emperor must be male as oppose to female in order to perform the rites of a Shinto priest, is nothing but propaganda. I believe conservatives claim this is a centuries-old tradition while the so-called "tradition" was changed only 80 years ago in an attempt to ensure male primogeniture.
 
So what country has a Buddhist royal family? I thought one of the Asian country had Buddhism as an officially religion with a Buddhist royal family.
 
I am very Interested in Religion all over the world, and i have read that most Japanese are Buddhist
 
Most of them are a mix of Buddhist and Shintoist. It's like in China, where people could be Buddhist and Taoist at the same time. I know it sound weird..but this is the way it is.

Vanesa.
 
PrincessKLS2007 said:
So what country has a Buddhist royal family? I thought one of the Asian country had Buddhism as an officially religion with a Buddhist royal family.
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Thai royal family are buddhist, I bilieve
And Cambodia,Nepal,Bhutan also has the royal family,
but I don't know they are buddhist or not.
However I think they are buddhist
becouse these country are buddhism country.
 
I'm pretty sure the Nepalese Royal Family practices the Hindu religion but I may also be wrong. But apart from that Cambodia, Thailand and Bhutan have monarchs that to my knowledge practice Buddhism.
 
Last edited:
Yes, Nepalese royal family practices Hinduism as their religion. Bhutan is Buddhist, but I don't know what branch of Buddhism does they practice...Anyone??? :question:

Vanesa.
 
Oh,so I was mistaken?
Sorry for my mistaken!
 
Bhutan is most likely a Therevada country. Theravada is the stricter form of buddhism, which says only monks can enter Nirvana after death. Mahayana is the more liberal form of buddhism, which can even be mixed with the country's pre-buddhist domestic religions, like it is in China and Japan.
 
I always thiught the Japanese imperial family were buddhist but reading other members post they might be shinto or maybe a mixture of both I guess.
 
The people in Japan are often both Shinto and Buddhists. I guess the same thing is true for the imperial family.
 
Vanesa said:
Most of them are a mix of Buddhist and Shintoist. It's like in China, where people could be Buddhist and Taoist at the same time. I know it sound weird..but this is the way it is.

Vanesa.
Click to expand...
japanese and chinese also follow confucius
 
The Japanese follow Confucius too? I thought only the Chinese (and maybe the Koreans) were Confucians.
 
Furienna said:
The Japanese follow Confucius too? I thought only the Chinese (and maybe the Koreans) were Confucians.
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No Japanese don't follow Confucius, the Japanese indigenous religion is Shinto, the imported faith is Buddhism. Much, much later and in a much smaller number Christianity starting with Catholicism.
 
That's what I thought too.
 
mariaantoniapia said:
According to Asahi Shinbun (April 27 2012), Akihito and Michiko want to be cremated.
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There is an on-line article in the Daily Telegraph which says that the Emperor and Empress have informed the IHA that they would like to be cremated as part of simple services to mark their deaths "to minimise the impact on the lives of the citizens".
The article continues that the head of the IHA said the request was unusual but that TIM have "repeatedly expressed their opinions on the subject".

I hope the following link will work (the headline is rather more suited to a tabloid than a broadsheet newspaper).

Japan Emperor and the Empress want cut-price funerals - Telegraph
 
As a child I loved the stuff we did every year like clockwork. I always expected to do those same things as a adult that I did as a child. At 16 I got a job and I did this new thing no one else did just me. Now at 40 I understand those are traditions and eventhough I look back fondly on those days at 16 I started in my on way a new tradition. It did not tear down the walls at my family home home it added a new wall to my home. So I say if the Imperial Majesties want to start some new like being cremated I am sure the Palace wall will be fine. With them doing it the next time it happens it will not cause a shock like it does today.
 
DukeOfAster said:
As a child I loved the stuff we did every year like clockwork. I always expected to do those same things as a adult that I did as a child. At 16 I got a job and I did this new thing no one else did just me. Now at 40 I understand those are traditions and eventhough I look back fondly on those days at 16 I started in my on way a new tradition. It did not tear down the walls at my family home home it added a new wall to my home. So I say if the Imperial Majesties want to start some new like being cremated I am sure the Palace wall will be fine. With them doing it the next time it happens it will not cause a shock like it does today.
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talking about imperial cremation, it is not new to the Imperial House. Since the Sovereign Empress Jitou, durring the Middle Ages, most emperors were cremated because they were basically Buddhists as well as Shintoists. So, their funerals were conducted according to the Buddhist rite until the death of the Emperor Koumei who was the father of the Emperor Meiji. It became law only in the Meiji Era that the strict observation of Shintoism was forced upon the Imperial House and the Emperor's funeral must be conducted in the rite of the Shintoism.

So, Akihito is trying to reintroducing the older tradition of the cremation of the diceased emperor. I am also hoping that the Imperial Family will be able to practice their old Buddhist tradition because many of the previous emperors are buried in Buddhist temples in Kyoto.
 
It is very interesting what you say. In this thread (starting with post 707) we have already discussed the emperor´s wish to be cremated, and nobody thought that it had a religious background, but rather practical reasons. The issue was also presented in this way by the press articles that were published (which means nothing, of course).

A blogger whose comments I always find very enlightening commented:
Yesterday the Imperial Household Agency made an announcement that will set the Machimura faction's District 24 candidate and every other rightists' head spinning: the ever-surprising and refreshing Heisei Emperor and the Empress [that means: Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko] have asked to be cremated. [...]

The announcement will likely further enhance the reputations of the present emperor and the imperial family. Both are riding high in public opinion in their selfless devotion to the comforting of the people of the Tohoku in the aftermath of 3/11. The imperial couple's request to have the same sort of funeral the law requires of everyone else (again, with the exception of Muslims) and be together forever will likely result in a renewed outburst of public praise and admiration for the trendsetting couple.

The announcement will also drive a further wedge in between the members of the Imperial House and the rightists who claim to be the imperial family's supporters and protectors. The rightists are already up in arms over the proposal to have imperial princesses retain their nobility after marriage. This latest announcement will give the rightists fits.

Of course, the Heisei emperor has always had a penchant for thumbing his nose at the hyper-patriots and their historical blindness. His 2001 acknowledgement of his debts to his Korean ancestors, even in the minimalist way he did it, drove the preposterous celebrators of the pure imperial line nuts. His classic dry put-down of the Tokyo Metropolitan District official who boasted that all the employees of the TMD now sang the national anthem -- "Yes, and wouldn't it have been nice if they had not been coerced to do so?" -- left that official and the right speechless.

The current emperor and empress are opening up space for the succession of the crown prince, a subject that has gained increased urgency with the emperor's recent bypass surgery. If there is a rift between the current imperial couple and the rightists, there will be a chasm between the two when Naruhito and Masako mount the throne.
Click to expand...
The Real Emperor Makes Real News

So you think that the request of the imperial couple demonstrates their desire to return to the former peaceful coexistence of Shintoism and Buddhism that had been marred by the Meiji Restoration?
 
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