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The Role of Shinto in an Agricultural Village Society.

In the oldest mythological records of Japan, the Kojiki, it says that Japan is the land of "Toyo Ashihara Mizuho no Kuni", which means the land of rice paddies in swampy areas full of reed grasses, and the rice is bending over with the weight of its ears.

Japan became a rice culture under the influence of Korea in the year 3 BC, and in the following year, 2 BC rice paddies and farming villages spread throughout the land. According to recent ethnological studies there had been a kind of agriculture before that time, brought from the south. This was a culture in which the potato was the main food and was completely different from a rice culture. The rice culture was promoted by the Yamato dynasty that had united Japan and subsequently made the cultivat ion of rice its main task. The mythological tale that the grow ing of rice was handed down by the deities was woven into this kind of background. But even in modern Japan there are areas where normal field agriculture still exists and it is easy to imagine the coexistence of both kinds of agriculture. The wet field method of growing rice used in Japan was made possible by the fact that Japan is a warm island chain, has four sharply divided seasons, a people who were related and cooperative enough to work hard in accordance with the weather and change of climate. It was also necessary for the degree of sunshine, rain, wind and temperature to be suitable for the growing of rice. The changes in the seasons made people feel that some divine power must be involved and therefore nature came to be connected with the existence of the deities. Of course this divine nature had been given the deities even before the formation of the rice growing society but with that came the belief in the spirit of the ancestors who were worshipped as "ujigami" (ancestor deities) ad "ubusunagami" (birthplace deities) who at that time had a fixed place around the villages. In intensive agriculture it is necessary for members of the community to help and cooperate with each other. Settled agriculture is an annual repetition of the cycle of reproduction and this in turn created a respect for tradition and the relationship of a familistic, vertical society, handed down from ancestors to descendants, children to grand children. It also created a belief in the spirit of the ancestors.

Agricultural village society was probably originally established in the form of groups related by blood. Each related group worshipped its own "ujigami". Mountains, forests, river beds and islands were deified because it was thought that that is where deities would alight in their descent from heaven. Groups related by blood gradually expanded until they occupied a whole area or community which then took the ujigami and made it into an ubusunagami for the community. Deities worshipped in nature itself, such as were mentioned above also came to be worshipped in little shrines near the village and in turn became ubusuna- gami. Ubusunagami of villages formed after medieval times were created by consultation with all the other ubusunagami. The nature of the creation of ubusuangami differs from place to place and according to the time particularly for older ones and the situation is further complicated by the scarcity of actual records. More knowledge must depend on the results of further studies. In the past Japanese did not think that the souls of the dead went to a different world but stayed in the mountains comparatively near at hand. These souls returned to their home towns or birthplaces at the time of sowing in the spring and were worshipped as the deities of the rice paddies in order that there should be a goood harvest that year. They also returned in the New Year and were thought to bring good luck and happiness for the coming year. Ancestor deities thus have the character of protective deities and were the central figures in the rice growing society. However the spirits of the dead that did not meet up with their ancestor spirits had no fixed home and in order for them to become ancestor spirits it was necessary for ceremonies to be held for them and for them to be worshipped. That is why ceremonies for the ancestors are so important for the Japanese. It was believed that the spirits of the dead that had not been worshipped would return as bad spirits and would curse the people. These bad spirit were called "onryo", and in the Heian Period it was believed that they were responsible for epidemics. Shrines were built for them and they were made into protecting deities. This belief in onryo spread and many onryo deities subsequently became ubusunagami.

After medieval times agricultural society became bigger and the villages of modern times came into existence. Even before this time some village-community units had existed, established at the time of the so-called "ritsuryo-system" (administrative and civil code system, c800 AD) and the "shoensei" (manorial system, c10-1100), well after the previous establishemnt of the worship of "ujigami". This basic village community performed ceremonies for the clandeity as a combination of their belief in nature and in ancestor spirits. This helped form unity and foster the spirit of cooperation.

Through Shinto the people have created a cooperative human relationship in harmony with actual life. The family becomes the focal point and through learning and respect for the powers of nature and one's ancestors. Cooperation in the ceremonies combines with cooperation in life and productive work under the protection of the deities. As had been described, in mythology the Japanese also felt that the growing of rice was a sacred action taught by the deities. People did not worship only in the villages but also the factory and other places of work where they formed a life under the protection and spiritual power of the deities. This formed the basis of the people's delight and happiness in their work.

Japan was basically an agricultural country until the intensive industrialization and renovation of industry in the mid 1950's. This can easily be understood if one looks at the percentages of the working population in primary industry, 41.1% in 1955, 23.5% in 1965 and only 10.4% in 1980. Professional farmers amounted to 41.5% of the population in 1945, 34.3% in 1960 and 12.6% in 1981. This shows that together with the high growth rate of industry came the migration of young farmers into the city, where they were absored into industry. At the same time the number of farmers working part-time in industry in creased. The centralization of population in the big cities made the villages only sparsely populated. The number of nuclear families increased, family groups were diversified, the family system collapsed and agriculture lost large numbers of young people who should have been taking part in traditional religious ceremonies.

However, the sudden change to a low growth economy caused by the oil shock of 1973 made the people reevaluate the agricultural village which had been their birthplace and the industrialization of the rural areas and thus villages were brought back to life. The rebirth of religious ceremonies can be seen in many places today and the decentralization of the cities back into the villages has begun. On the other hand we still have the increase in the number of nuclear families and the phenomena of family breakdown. Agricultural societies are strongly influenced by urban culture although this differs in degree according to geographical conditions. Consumer goods which are the hallmark of a civilized society are enjoyed just as much in the country of today as they are in the city. On the other hand, one of the characteristics of village life, the preservation of traditional culture, is just beginning to make itself felt in a positive way again. Traditional religious ceremonies centre on Shinto, and these have continued basically without change apart from some simplification, for hundreds of years. The consciousness of cooperation which formed around the clan deities has been altered by the influx of newcomers into the villages, especially in those situated near large cities, by the inflow of urban culture, by diversification of the professions of the villagers and the increase in the number of nuclear fami lies. A strong solidarity consciousness exists among the people that have lived in the villages for many generations, but new comers or young people that left the fold are regarded as differ ent people. Ceremonies are producing cooperation and mutual understanding between older, long established villagers and new comers. The role of Shinto in the agricultural village society of today is different from what it was in the past but the need for the clan diety centered community consciousness is still the same. From this it can be assumed that a new role for Shinto will arise.