Arashi’s Amateurish Guide to Japanese Life and Culture and How it Applies to Fanfiction

[qsurf]

I remember hearing that the reason why funerals and such are taken care of by Buddhism is because in Shinto, it is taboo to do anything with the dead, since Death is seen as unclean and Shinto abhors such things.

Oh, that reminds me, there's an interesting tale in the Kojiki that shows just how Shinto views death: here.

Notes:
His Augustness the Male Who-Invites = Izanagi no Mikoto
Her Augustness the Female-Who-Invites = Izanami no Mikoto

[Arashi_Leonhart]

Pretty much. You even have to wash your hands and feet when you visit larger Shinto shrines. Also, Buddhism actually has an afterlife; modern Shinto doesn't really prescribe to the afterlife as depicted in older texts with Amaterasu, Izanagi, and them, so Buddhism just kind of fills in that gap.

[qsurf]

Pretty much. You even have to wash your hands and feet when you visit larger Shinto shrines.

It's kinda funny, once you realize this fact, a lot of Japanese customs and architecture start makin' sense.

[Sherrinford]

You could have hinted at Ghost in the Shell too, Arashi.

/ not nitpicking.

[Prince Charon]

You could have hinted at Ghost in the Shell too, Arashi.

/ not nitpicking.

Y'know, it was years before I found out that the theme was a famous Shinto prayer.

[Sherrinford]

Y'know, it was years before I found out that the theme was a famous Shinto prayer.

Well, it wasn't so obvious to me too. Somebody explained to me that the title has roots in the Shinto phylosophy.

[Prince Charon]

Well, it wasn't so obvious to me too. Somebody explained to me that the title has roots in the Shinto phylosophy.

That fits. Interestingly, its my mother's favorite anime.

[daniel_gudman]

Also, Buddhism actually has an afterlife;

That... that depends, on what you mean by "afterlife" and which of the thousands of flavors of Buddhism you're talking about. Most teach reincarnation, where after this life, is a different one. So, just like after you die the physical meat of your body is devoured and passed on through the cycle of life, so too your spiritual components move on to the next form.

[Arashi_Leonhart]

You could have hinted at Ghost in the Shell too, Arashi.

I could probably dedicate five books on the Japanese and all the stuff in GitS. And then your eyes would bleed from the text wall.

That... that depends, on what you mean by "afterlife" and which of the thousands of flavors of Buddhism you're talking about. Most teach reincarnation, where after this life, is a different one. So, just like after you die the physical meat of your body is devoured and passed on through the cycle of life, so too your spiritual components move on to the next form.

Which is an afterlife. Depending on Shinto practice, either nothing happens or you go to a grim, unappealing place. In Buddhism, at least you have something to look forward to. Additionally, though again I don't know a ton about Buddhism, I know that the concept of Pure Land also exists in Japanese Buddhism, so one can actually go to a separate spiritual land after death potentially as well.

[Sherrinford]

I could probably dedicate five books on the Japanese and all the stuff in GitS. And then your eyes would bleed from the text wall.

I said "hinted", as in "explain what the title 'ghost in the shell'" means apart from the specific terminology of the setting. Not making an update about GitS and japanese culture.

[qsurf]

Zen Buddhism, if I remember correctly, is the main Buddhist faith in Japan, here are their views on death.

tl;dr:

According to the Buddhists, rebirth takes place at the end of this life. Buddhists regard rebirth as a fact. There is evidence that each person has lived many lives in the past and will continue to lives more in the future.

There are six realms in which one may be reborn after death. They are the realms of gods, the demigods, human beings, animals, hungry ghosts and the hells. These are just general categories and within each, there exist many sub-categories. The six realms of existence include three relatively happy states, and three relatively miserable states. The realms of the gods, the demigods and human beings are considered to contain more happiness and less suffering. The realms of animals, hungry ghosts and the hells are considered to be relatively miserable because living beings there suffer more from fear, hunger, thirst, heat, cold and pain.
In general, wholesome actions such as good conduct, charity and mental development, are the causes of rebirth in the happy realms of gods, demigods and human beings. On the other hand, unwholesome actions such as immoral conduct, miserliness and cruelty cause rebirth in the unhappy realms of animals, hungry ghosts and the hells.

[daniel_gudman]

Zen... it's big, but the Amidist (Pure Land) tradition is, I'm given to understand, larger in term of adherents. Shingon and Nichiren are also around. They're all Mahayana sects.

[Kotonoha]

This continues to be interesting!

Oh, question regarding the kami thing. Something that I've seen more than once in this game I'm currently playing is, characters (normal Japanese high-schoolers) in a life-or-death situation thinking things like "お願い、神様" or "神様、助けて" or whatnot, but would there be a particular "god" in mind or is just HEY ANY PASSING KAMI WANNA GIVE ME A HAND HERE

[Arashi_Leonhart]

My guess is that it refers to any present spirits, yeah. It might be contextual, like I think of Sen falling into the river in Spirited Away and how she might have used something like that, and the spirit of the river does in fact respond.

Also, again, the metaphor of The Force...just the ambient life and spirit presence in the world around you, you might be asking them for good luck and fortune. Like you would going to a shrine at New Years, only hella more informal.

[Alulim]

Sometimes I hear people thank 'kami-sama' in anime...so that explains some things.

[Five_X]

Isn't kami-sama generally referring to capital 'G' God, though?

[Arashi_Leonhart]

Not really. The -sama suffix is appended to anything a person might consider superior in stature, and depending on the character that could mean anything.

[Sherrinford]

Sometimes I hear people thank 'kami-sama' in anime...so that explains some things.

Kami-sama arigatou~ unmei no itazura demo~...

[Alulim]

Kami-sama arigatou~ unmei no itazura demo~...

...exactly.

[Kotonoha]

My guess is that it refers to any present spirits, yeah. It might be contextual, like I think of Sen falling into the river in Spirited Away and how she might have used something like that, and the spirit of the river does in fact respond.

Well, given that the game is supernatural horror, I guess it makes sense in context for them to believe in/hope for benevolent spirits existing too. ("no atheists in foxholes", etc)