Shinto in popular culture

Shinto is frequently a theme in Japanese popular culture, including film, manga, anime, and video games. Shinto religion is at the core of Japanese culture and history and as such greatly affects the outcome of 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. Shinto motifs and themes such as kami (gods or spirits) and yokai (ghosts or demons) are particularly present in anime and manga. 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. Some Japanese films feature themes from Shinto religion or characters based on kami. This is especially the case in animated films, such as Hayao Miyazaki's Princess Mononoke or Spirited Away, but can also be seen in other films. The Three Treasures (1959) features several gods, including Amaterasu, Izanagi and others as characters. 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. 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. Religion and video games Video games may relate to themes or characters from Shinto, as well as Buddhism, Christianity, and other religions. Such games may present a heterodox or alternative take on religion, or even parody traditional practice or belief.

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Related concepts (6)

Raijin

Raijin, also known as Kaminari-sama, Raiden-sama, Narukami Raikou, and Kamowakeikazuchi-no-kami is a god of lightning, thunder, and storms in Japanese mythology and the Shinto religion. He is typically depicted with fierce and aggressive facial expressions, standing atop a cloud, beating on den-den daiko drums with tomoe symbols drawn on them. Iconography of Raijin are often found in Japanese temples and shrines. He is usually depicted alongside Fūjin, the god of wind. The name "Raijin" is derived from the Japanese words 雷 and 神.

Amaterasu

Amaterasu, also known as Amaterasu Ōmikami (天照大御神, 天照大神) or Ōhirume no Muchi no Kami (大日孁貴神), is the goddess of the sun in Japanese mythology. One of the major deities (kami) of Shinto, she is also portrayed in Japan's earliest literary texts, the Kojiki (712 CE) and the Nihon Shoki (720 CE), as the ruler (or one of the rulers) of the heavenly realm Takamagahara and the mythical ancestress of the Imperial House of Japan via her grandson Ninigi.