Japanese Shinto and the Principle of Purity

Paper Summary:

This paper looks at purity and the abhorrence of pollution as fundamental ideas in both early Japanese religion and mythology and examines how these religious principles of purity overlap with the general social customs and everyday matters.

From the Paper:

"The idea of purification is essential to the Japanese creation story as described in the Kojiki. After Izanami (She-Who-Invites) gives birth to the Kami of fire, she is burned and goes to the underworld. Izanagi (He-Who-Invites) enters the underworld in search of his wife and is horrified to see that "she [is] much swollen, rotten matter [is] flowing from her, and maggots [are] swarming in her" (Wheeler 14). Izanagi is "dismayed by the sight" and quickly flees from the underworld. He then says in regret, "Truly, in coming to an abominable and corrupted land, I have brought upon myself ill luck, and must purify my person of its filth" (Wheeler 17). At this point in the Kojiki, a rather lengthy account of Izanagi's purification ritual is described (Wheeler 17-19). This passage in the Kojiki illustrates the importance of purity in Japanese culture at the time of its writing."

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