Conference Report

First International Symposium

"Shinto and Japanese Culture" in London

The Conference consisted of 6 papers presented by the British and Japanese scholars who followed the panel discussions with vivid and interesting questions and answers.

Papers from the morning session addressed the general theme of Shinto and Nature. Dr. Carmen Blacker from Cambridge University spoke on 'Shinto and the Sacred Dimensions of Nature' and highlighted the need to understand Shinto as a religion quite distinct from the political ideology of the modern Japanese state that bore the same name. Professor Minoru Sonoda, Shinto priest at Chichibu Shrine and professor at the Kyoto University, analysed a wide range of sites sacred to Shinto in his masterful 'Holy Places of Shinto.' Holy Mountains as sacred complexes that reveal the essence of Japanese religiosity were the focus of Dr. Ian Astley (from the Philip's University, Germany) in his 'Holy Mountains in Shinto Religiosity.'

The afternoon session considered Shinto in its relationship with other creeds. Dr. John Breen from SOAS in his 'Shinto encounters Christianity in Restoration Japan' argued that the 'Shinto approach' to Christianity, inherited by the Meiji government, was a good deal more accommodating than received opinion would suggest. Professor Toji Kamata of the International Research Centre for Japanese Studies pointed out some intriguing parallels between Shinto and other 'early' creeds in his 'Comparative Study of Shinto and Celtic Religions.' Nicola Liscutin (SOAS) took issue with scholars' failure to distinguish between 'Shinto' on the one hand and 'popular religions' on the other. Her 'Shinto and Popular Beliefs: The relationship at Mt. Iwaki in Tsugaru' was a stimulating challenge to received wisdom.

The papers were all of a high standard, and they tackled some key issues in Shinto studies. The questions in the panel discussions showed the audience's high interests in Shinto which has so far been much mispresented and misunderstood in the West.

(J. Breen, from 'JRC NEWS' No. 25)

The International Shinto Foundation edited the proceedings along with the Japanese translation including remarks and all the dialogues uttered in the panel discussions, in the form of the In-house Document of London Symposium. Those who would like to read them please contact the ISF's Secretariat.