It has been common among monotheists to point out that “primitive” cultures seem to be the last bastions of Paganism, Animism and Polytheism. The inference, since the advent of such social evolutionists as Huxley, has been that technological and social progress marches hand in hand with religious progress which (of course) leads us to that handy and happy pinnacle of belief called High-tech patriarchal monotheism.

     So how to explain Japan?

     I think we can safely assume that most consider this “land of the rising sun” to be part and parcel of the high-tech modern world, yet the Goddess is not only alive and well here, but (unbeknownst to most) her veneration is still as widespread as it is profound. Four years of residency, study and exploration have left this author with a bit of information and a significant respect for the triumphantly surviving  Animistic-Paganism-Buddhism that pervades the entire web of Japanese society. Japanese will tell you, “We have no religion”, and (in the often-used sense) they are right:  it’s a culture, not a book-faith.

     A few words about Kami, Shinto and Buddhism

     As has been discussed, Shinto – the ancient indigenous faith of Japan, translates as “the Kami Way.”  Kami are gods/spirits.....kind of. The concept is sophisticated, sublime and very difficult to translate. A kami is a “conglomerate energy field” and can refer to what we call “gods/goddesses,” “elementals,” “Nature Spirits,” “devils,” “ghosts,” or “souls.”  Kami are worshipped for the most part in jinja, shrines or “houses” where they reside or where their energies can be communed with. There is no doubt that the earliest shrines were simply trees. 

     Shinto is far older than the name implies. Archeology points to animistic practices and beliefs dating to the earliest finds. The famous Jomon period artifacts (2000-3000 BC) and so on prove the case that the roots of Shinto lie deep and form a very ancient core of Animism-Paganism that is still practiced today.

     Far from being some remnant of a once-great tradition, Shinto has increased in sophistication and intensity, at least for those who make it their study or it’s priest-hood their life. Most kami have no visual form (thus we can see the Animist core of the system), but the introduction of Buddhism into Japan around 500 AD brought an iconographic tradition to bear. Thus, idols and images of kami became more popular, but “pure” Shinto usually displays the name of the kami as the body of the kami. All charms thus containing a kami’s name become the vehicle and body of that energy. In this way it should come as no surprise that the Honden (the inner sanctuary of a shrine where the kami resides) is empty, without idol.

     Obviously one could go on and on, but now let us turn our gaze towards those key Kami whose shrines outnumber all other kami. We shall see that they happen to be Goddesses (feminine kami).