Religion is used to explain what are the events in our universe that cannot be explained through science and philosophy. It is the belief in a supervising power that dictates the events of the universe, including how the universe came into being, how the world will end, and even influences the events of everyday life. The being controlling these events is usually depicted with a human-like appearance. Often imperfect to give us something to relate to or perfect to give us something to aspire to be like. However, it is not always necessary for there to be a singular deity. In ancient religions such as the Greeks, they believed in polytheism whereby multiple gods take on different tasks in the universe. Although religions are often debated for their validity, accuracy, and exaggeration, there is no doubt that they have had a gross effect on the culture of every country and city-state in the known world. Wars were fought in the name of religion like the crusades, but it was also used to bring people together. For example, the Silk Road brought theology and philosophy from east to west, transforming them into what they have become today. The two most practiced religions in the world today, Christianity and Islam, are known as universalized religions, which simply means that they seek new followers by trying to convert those who already practice a religion or have no religion at all such as atheists. However, not all religions are a universal religion like Christianity and Islam. Shinto is a religion that is defined as centralized or that does not seek followers. Shinto is centralized in Japan and relies on people seeking it rather than followers seeking converts in exchange for a passage to Nirvana. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Christianity, Islam and Judaism were all founded by disciples of Jesus and typically have a certain founder such as Muhammad or Jesus. However, since no one knows when Shinto, often considered as old as Japan itself, was created, it is not he knows a certain person who started the creation of the religion. Modern Shinto today is not more focused on the religious aspect as was the case in traditional belief. Today's Shinto religion is focused on prayer rather than the creation aspect and is said to reflect on the culture of Japan and some parts of China. Although Shinto has a creation story, it primarily focuses on praying to the gods or Kami to influence us in everyday life in a beneficial way. Most religions focus on making a person into a perfect being or pushing us to become a better person. However, Shinto recognizes that every person is flawed in one way or another and encourages us to embrace our imperfect traits instead of molding ourselves into what we are not. Traditional Shinto was much more focused on things like the creation of the universe and how it would affect time and things like that. Today it is mainly used to pray to some gods or even deceased family members to give them luck during the day. Since today's religion is more about the tradition and culture of Japan rather than the religion itself, it has allowed Buddhism and Confucianism to remain large entities lying side by side in the myths and religion of Shinto without interfering with each other other (McIntosh). The three religions are usually linked to each other, but in Japan the Shinto part is much more prominent than the Buddhist and Buddhist practices.Confucian. On the other hand, Chinese Shinto focuses more on Buddhism and Confucianism with little ties to Shinto. Because Japanese is part of the same language tree as Chinese and took much of the language from Chinese, many words can be translated to focus on ideas similar to those of Japanese's counterparts. Shinto in Chinese means Spirit Away which means to remove someone from this world without anyone noticing. Usually this must have happened because of an angry god. In Japanese the word Shinto is broken down to mean Kami no Michi or Way of the Gods. The Way of the Gods is also an ancient scripture used in Shinto as a guide to religion, similar to what the Bible and Quran represent for Christianity and Islam. However, there are several books that are used to learn and practice Shinto. The Shinto creation story describes the universe as a single entity and states that all matter was condensed into a single egg before the heavens and earth separated into two entities. . Similar to the Big Bang theory which describes the universe as an extremely dense amount of energy before expanding and creating the universe. The idea of ​​having everything come from one entity is to let followers of Shinto know that in some sense everyone is equal. We are all created equal and we all come from the same place, so each person is as imperfect as the next. Shinto is an ancient religion that was originally spoken rather than written, so the exact details of the myth vary from book to book. The tale of Shinto is usually told by several versions that overlap with each other to confirm what is believed to be true or false (Francisco). Traditional Shinto belief states that after the earth and sky separated from the aforementioned egg, two ancient gods were created from the expanding universe, Izanami (female) and Izanagi (male). These two deities are said to be created from the Chinese idea of ​​yin and yang, depicting a little darkness in the light and a little light in the darkness. However, since Shinto recognizes that every person has evil and good within them, darkness and light do not always refer to good and evil and the meaning may differ from the context. After the earth and sky were separated, the earth was nothing more than a vast ocean stretching to every horizon with no land in sight. Izanagi took a spear and dipped it into water before leveling it and letting droplets fall from the tip. When the water returned to the land it did not remain as water, but rather expanded into the land creating a large island. Followers of Shinto believe that the island is the island of Japan. Shortly thereafter the two ancestors Izanagi and Izanami gave birth to their first child Amaterasu. It was said that after birth Amaterasu was taken to heaven and placed in the sky to become the sun and thus allow Amaterasu to rule the day as the sun goddess. Different readings and translations of Shinto recognize Amaterasu as the ancestor of all humanity in one reading or the ancestor of the most powerful family of the time in another. Both are referred to as the Yamato people of Japan or the royal bloodline of the Yamato. Tsuki-yumi was the second child born to Izanami and Izanagi and was originally intended to be Amaterasu's mate. However, Amaterasu disliked Tsuki-yumi's dark nature and requested that they be separated from each other. Again, the dark nature does not always refer to the evil present within something. Complying with Amaterasu's request, Izanami and Izanagi placed Tsuki-Yumi on the opposite side of the sky, making Tsuki-yumi the god of the moon and overseer of the night. Sosano became the lastson born to Izanami and Izanagi and is as close as you can get to the embodiment of evil because he is often linked to defiance, deception and is typically portrayed as a trickster. Sosano is typically linked to evil spirits, bad omens, and most of nature after being banished to the land of the dead for deceiving his father and mother. Susano, like his brother and sister, was given the planes of the sea, the wind, and the land of the dead. However, although he is usually perceived in a negative perspective, Susano is not yet intrinsically evil (Crystal). Amaterasu is the most iconic of the three and is often described by Japanese people as a gentle spirit. The most popular Amaterasu has always been the symbol of Japan and its people. The line of emperors was governed completely by myth because the people of Japan only accepted an emperor who belonged to the noble Yamato bloodline or someone who was directly related to the sun goddess, Amaterasu. This is very familiar to the Shia Muslim belief that the only person who can rule the nation is someone who contains the blood of the Prophet Muhammad. However, as stated before, different readings of Shinto also speak of the Yamato people, but rather than just being of noble lineage, state that every person of Japanese descent has the blood of Amaterasu within them. As the belief became more popular and widespread in contrast to the theory of the noble bloodline of the Yamato, the Japanese stopped fighting for the emperor and began fighting for themselves. Yamato can be directly translated into Japanese to mean Japan. However, the meaning has become more of a name and pride of the Japanese people. This became one of the major driving factors of the Japanese people during World War II. The belief of the Yamato people was that they were born to become the supreme being and unite the savages (anyone not of Japanese descent) and rule the modern world. This was also represented by the Germans' belief in a superior race for which they were born Aryans. The irony is that if the Axis powers had won the war, the Japanese and Germans would have eventually fought each other after being allies for so long allowing the Italians to steal the land fought over by both sides (McIntosh). Bushido is known as the warrior code of the Japanese people created from a blend of Shinto and Confucianism. This is what ultimately prevented Shinto from becoming a dead religion. In feudal Japan the teachings of Shinto were lost until the samurai adopted Bushido. This belief was held until World War II, which may be why the American people were forced to use nuclear weapons against Japan. The Bushido belief stated that if you backed down as a warrior you were nothing but a coward. This was reflected not only on male warriors, but also on women and children. The initial plan was to invade Japan, but after hearing that women and children would also fight to their last breath, the United States dropped nuclear bombs to save casualties on both sides. While many may argue that the use of nuclear weapons was inhumane, it ultimately saved many more lives that would have been lost. So if you've ever stayed up late at night, rehearsed what to do during nuclear fallout, or lived through the Cold War, the Japanese religion of Shinto is ultimately to blame. Eventually, Amaterasu became the iconic symbol of Japan by being depicted in their flag. You may have heard the flag of Japan called the rising sun, but what.