Is it possible to become a shinto in the U.S.A

[Sweetheart]

If it is possible how would I go about doing that?

 

[StarryNightshade]

Well, I don't know very much, but based on what I do know:

1.) Shintoism is very closely tied to Japanese culture. So unless one has a large number of Japanese diaspora living in their town or city (or living in Japan itself), it may be difficult to follow such a culture heavy religion. However, it's not impossible. I myself don't have any cultural ties to India, or live in an area with that high of an Indian population, but I practice Hinduism with little difficulty (for the most part).

2.) There are a handful of Shinto Shrines in the US. The largest one being in Washington state. Perhaps you could contact them?

Tsubaki Grand Shrine of America

 

[LuisDantas]

Far as I can tell, it is incredibly difficult to even find Shinto Shrines outside Japan. The religion is incredibly tied to the nation (both the territory and the way of life), to the point of humbling the association of Judaism with Israel. I'm not even sure there is such a thing as conversion to Shinto, or that it can be distinguished from adopting Japanese nationality if it does exist.

It seems to me that most Japanese find it more proper to allow Shinto to influence other religions more suitable for foreigners instead. Seicho No Ie, for one. I may be wrong.

I hope someone else has better comments to make on the matter, but I wanted to give you the general rundown.

Of course, it may be better to ask among the members of the closest Japanese community. I have a hunch that most Japanese people don't much like to speak to the general public about such matters, so that misunderstandings do not arise.

 

[Quintessence]

Although it's technically possible to do whatever you want, Shinto is an ethnic religion. There was a time many years ago when I asked the same question you are. The nature-centered, animistic feel of Shinto appealed to me, and at the time I was really into Japanese culture. After spending some time in Japan, I came to recognize that transposing Shinto out of its element is not possible. It looses itself and becomes something else entirely. Their gods/spirits are quite literally embedded in the landscape there. You can feel them. I realized that if I wanted to walk that path, I would need to make some very demanding investments. If I really wanted to follow Shinto, I would need to move to Japan and naturalize as a citizen.

Fortunately, I learned about Neopaganism not long after that. It provided a framework to capture that nature-centered, animistic spirit without (mis)appropriating an ethnic religion. Instead of trying to connect to gods/spirits of a distant landscape, I can focus on relating to the ones right in my backyard.

 

[RedDragon94]

I think it may be easier to become a Hindu in the United States.

 

[Jumi]

Tsubaki Grand Shrine of America

Interesting link. One of the priests there is not of Japanese descent.

 

[GoodbyeDave]

A Japanese professor said that Shinto is not for export, but that

People of all races and climes cannot help but express gratitude to the spirits of the land and of nature, to their ancestors, to the benefactors or society and the state. In so far as they recognise this feeling within them, they cannot but understand the spirit of Shinto

All pagan religions (as opposed to ones that someone had invented) have a similar approach.

 

[Breathe]

In short: it is, yes.

If you're not in Japan or of Japanese ancestry, it's going to be slightly more tricky, but it is possible. Rev Koichi Barrish of the Tsubaki Grand Shrine of America is not of Japanese ancestry. He is probably one of the only non-Japanese Shinto priests, though I suppose it does show you that it is open to others.

With regards to the kami that you could worship, I suppose it would depend on various things: kami you are closest to, for example. I doubt you're going to worship a kami that is specific to a place in Japan, but worshipping Japanese kami for other things, and/or honouring local kami, I suppose, would be possible. According to the Tsubaki Grand Shrine website, they also have enshrined America Kokudo Kunitama-no-Kami (protector of North American Continent) -- so kami are not exclusive to Japan.


Of course, you may have a few people thinking you're pretending, or you're being a weeaboo, obsessed with all things Japanese, but these would almost always be non-Japanese people. It's about your journey, though, and yours alone: who cares what others think?

 

[Jainarayan]

My thoughts fwiw, going back to the quote...

"People of all races and climes cannot help but express gratitude to the spirits of the land and of nature, to their ancestors, to the benefactors or society and the state. In so far as they recognise this feeling within them, they cannot but understand the spirit of Shinto"

It may very well be that what we call Shinto is the uniquely Japanese version of the same thing that Native Americans and many other indigenous groups believe and practice. European Pagan and Heathen religions also revere nature and its spirits. In Ásatrú we have the landvaettir (land spirits), husvaettir (house/home spirits), sjövaettir (sea spirits), vatnavaettir (water spirits of specific waters). Spirits, vaettir, kami are all over the place. It's probably, imo, just what methods one uses to revere them that determines what the practice is called. Though maybe I'm off base here.

 

[Vishvavajra]

I don't believe one "becomes a Shinto." It's not an identity or a set of doctrines. It's just a relatively recent made-up term to describe a bunch of native Japanese religious practices centered on shrines of a sort that one often finds there. If you go to those shrines you can leave offerings, get blessings, ring the bells and clap, etc. There's no discrete belief system apart from the practices themselves. It's a totally different paradigm from something like Christianity.

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

I would say no. It would be best to move to Japan in order to practice it.