Shinto in popular culture explained

Shinto is frequently a theme in Japanese popular culture, including film, manga, anime, and video games. Shinto has influenced Japanese culture and history and as such greatly affects pop culture in modern Japan.

Some works in Japanese or international popular culture borrow significantly from Shinto myths, deities, and beliefs. Aside from the many games, movies, manga and other cultural products that mention the religion or the names of its deities, some anime, film, video games, or other works feature Shinto elements as central elements.

Shinto itself features in popular culture as folk Shinto or Minkan Shinto.^[1]

Anime and manga

Shinto motifs and themes such as kami (gods or spirits) and yokai (ghosts or demons) are particularly present in anime and manga.^{[2] [3] [4] [5]}

• In Dream Saga, the Earth is destroyed and recreated whenever humans have polluted it. This is done when Susanoo, the Shinto god of the sea and storms, (the brother to Amaterasu) consumes Amaterasu, the sun goddess. The two main characters, Yuuki and Takaomi, are given key roles in the process.^[6]

Film

Some Japanese films feature themes from Shinto religion or characters based on kami.^[7] This is especially the case in animated films, such as Hayao Miyazaki's Princess Mononoke or Spirited Away,^[7] but can also be seen in other films.

• The Three Treasures (1959) features several gods, including Amaterasu, Izanagi and others as characters.^[8]
• In the Stargate series, Amaterasu is a Goa'uld System Lord who comes to Earth with Lord Yu and Camulus to form a temporary truce between Earth and the Goa'uld.^[9]
• In Little Prince and the Eight-Headed Dragon Susanoo wishes to follow his mother, Izanami, to heaven when she dies, but his father, Izanagi, tells him he cannot.^[10]

Video games

See main article: Religion and video games. Video games may relate to themes or characters from Shinto, as well as Buddhism, Christianity, and other religions.^{[11] [12]} Such games may present a heterodox or alternative take on religion, or even parody traditional practice or belief.^[13] In addition to Shinto stories or kami, themes such as the sacredness of nature or the place of magic in everyday life are also visible in such games.^[12]

• In the 2006 video game Ōkami, Amaterasu is depicted as a white wolf and she is the main protagonist of the game. As in the traditional Shinto, Amaterasu is the goddess of the sun, but in the game she controls many other powers as well by painting things.^[14] This depiction of Amaterasu is also a playable character in and Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3.^[15]
• In 2016, Amaterasu, Raijin, Susano, Izanami, in 2017, Hachiman, and in 2020, Tsukuyomi, were included as playable characters in the multiplayer online battle arena video game Smite.^[16]
• In the 2022 game Overwatch 2, a new support hero, Kiriko, was introduced into the game at release. Her overall design and abilities are heavily influenced by spiritual objects based on Shintoism. Her attire is based on the attire worn by Shinto shrine maidens and her overall design incorporates allusions to Kitsune. Her abilities are also heavily influenced by spiritual objects associated with Shintoism, such as ofuda and suzu.^[17] Later in February 2023, a skin for her based on Amaterasu, the goddess of sun in Shinto, was added into the game in the battle pass.^{[18] [19]}

Theatrical plays

Yamata Amasung Keibu Keioiba (English: Yamata-no-Orochi and Keibu Keioiba) is a Meitei language play that interweaves the stories of the two legendary creatures, Yamata-no-Orochi slain by Susanoo for saving Kushinada of Shinto (Japanese folklore) and Keibu Keioiba of Meitei folklore (Manipuri folklore). In the play, the role of Yamata-no-Orochi was played by Maisnam Momocha, the role of Susanoo by Romario Thoudam Paona and the role of Kushinada by Roslin Akoijam Chanu.^{[20] [21]}

Other works of popular culture

Shinto stories or kami also appear in other works of popular culture, including work set in Japan but produced outside of the country.

• The Shinto deities Izanami and Izanagi (the latter incorrectly spelled as "Izaghi") appear in Puccini's opera Madama Butterfly.^[22]
• The Shinto deities Izanami and Izanagi (spelled "Izanaki") appear in Natsuo Kirino's The Goddess Chronicle.^[23]
• In the novel, Giles Goat-Boy, author John Barth makes reference to the people of Japan as the "Amaterasu," who were EATEN by WESCAC (a reference to the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki) during the "Second Campus Riot" (World War II).^[24]
• Izanagi and Izanami appear as minor supporting characters in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures comic book series, aiding the Turtles and their allies in battle against a powerful demon whose emergence from a damaged nuclear reactor threatens the safety of all Japan.^{[25] [26]}
• Several kami, including Susano-o-no-mikoto, Izanami, and Tsukuyomi, appear as supporting characters in the Vertigo Comics series Sandman and its spinoff Lucifer.^{[27] [28]}

Notes and References

1. Book: Picken. Stuart D.B.. Historical Dictionary of Shinto. 2011. Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group. Lanham. 978-0810873728. 2nd. 21 April 2013.
2. Book: Steiff. Josef. Tamplin. Tristan D.. Anime and Philosophy: Wide Eyed Wonder. 2010. Open Court. Chicago, Illinois. 978-0812696707. For those of us not familiar with Shinto, its difficult to come to terms with a spiritual belief system that is not quite a religion and not ... Whether we comprehend the complex aspects of Shinto and its many evolutions—from its earliest origins to its ....
3. Book: Hu. Tze-yue G.. Frames of Anime: Culture and Image-Building. 2010. Hong Kong University Press. Hong Kong. 978-9622090989. 48. Shintō scholar Muraoka Tsunetsugu identifies the creative musubi kami with "the power of growth and reproduction.
4. Book: Gymnich. Marion. Lichterfeld. Imke. A Hundred Years of the Secret Garden: Frances Hodgson Burnett's Children's Classic Revisited. 2012. Bonn University Press. Göttingen. 978-3847100546. 111. Shinto basically provides thousands of stories and ancient myths which Japanese become familiar with from an early age..
5. Book: Napier. Susan J.. Anime from Akira to Princess Mononoke: Experiencing Contemporary Japanese Animation. registration. 2001. Palgrave. New York. 0312238630. 113. 1st. The film's haunting theme song is also clearly inspired by Shinto liturgy, 15 in its invocation to the gods to come and dance ... In fact, Oshii states that the "net" can be equated with the myriad gods of the Shinto religion,16 underlining the notion ....
6. Book: Tachikawa. Megumi. Dream Saga, Volume 3. 2004. Tokyopop. Los Angeles, California. 1591827760.
7. Book: Mazur. Eric Michael. Encyclopedia of Religion and Film. 2011. ABC-CLIO. Santa Barbara, California. 9780313013980. 250. 1 February 2013.
8. Book: Galbraith, Stuart. The Toho Studios Story: A History and Complete Filmography. 2008. Scarecrow Press. 978-1-4616-7374-3. 161.
9. Book: Whitt. David. Perlich. John. Sith, Slayers, Stargates & Cyborgs: Modern Mythology in the New Millennium. 2008. P. Lang. New York. 9781433100956. 88. 1 February 2013.
10. Book: Pitts. Michael R.. Columbia Pictures: Horror, Science Fiction and Fantasy Films, 1928-1982. 2010. McFarland. Jefferson, North Carolina. 9780786444472. 134. 1 February 2013.
11. Book: Perron. Bernard. Horror Video Games: Essays on the Fusion of Fear and Play. 2009. McFarland & Company. Jefferson, North Carolina. 9780786441976. 95–120. 2 February 2013.
12. Web site: The Religions Behind Final Fantasy. Ong. Alicia. 2012-02-02.
13. Bainbridge. William Sims . Bainbridge. Wilma Alice. Electronic game research methodologies: Studying religious implications. Review of Religious Research. 49. 1. 2007. 35–53.
14. Book: Walsh. Doug. Ōkami: Official Strategy Guide for Nintendo Wii. 2008. Brady Games. Indianapolis, Indiana. 9780744010350.
15. Web site: Cochran. Jay. 2010 SDCC - Thor, Amaterasu Revealed For Marvel vs. Capcom 3. Marvelous News. 28 June 2024. en. 23 July 2010.
16. Web site: Thursen. Chris. Smite season 3: Japanese gods herald huge changes. PC Gamer. 25 July 2017. en. 7 January 2016.
17. Web site: Overwatch 2 - Heroes - Kiriko . 2023-02-11 . Overwatch . en-US.
18. Web site: Overwatch 2 Season 3 starts February 7: New Antarctic Peninsula Control Map, One-Punch Man Collab, Loverwatch Dating Sim, and so much more! . 2023-02-12 . Overwatch . en-us.
19. Web site: 2023-02-11 . 2023 . Overwatch 2 - Season 3 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230211184453/https://overwatch.blizzard.com/en-us/season/ . live . 2023-02-12 . Overwatch 2.
20. Web site: YAMATA AMASUNG KEIBU KEIOIBA – 21st Bharat Rang Mahotsav 2020. en-US.
21. Web site: 2020-02-16. Heisnam Tomba's Play: Yamata Amasung Keibu Keioiba. StageBuzz. en-GB.
22. Book: Fisher. Burton D.. Puccini's Madam Butterfly: Opera Classics Library Series. 2001. Opera Journeys Publishing. Miami. 9780977132034. 1 February 2013.
23. Book: Kirino. Natsuo. The Goddess Chronicle. 2012. Canongate. Edinburgh; New York. 9780802121097.
24. Book: Barth. John. Giles Goat-Boy, or, The Revised New Syllabus. 1987. Anchor Books/Doubleday. Garden City, New York. 0385240864. Anchor Books.
25. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures #28: "Midnight Sun", Part 1 (January 1992)
26. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures #30: "Midnight Sun", Part 3 (March 1992)
27. Web site: Susano-O (Character). 2021-02-10. Comic Vine. en.
28. Web site: Izanami (Character). 2021-02-10. Comic Vine. en.