Imagine that you grew up on a huge island. There are no cell phones and no

electricity. You know there are other countries because trade ships often sail

from your island to the other countries to trade goods.

Write a few sentences describing how living on this island would change your life.

• I can locate Japan and surrounding physical features on the world map.

• I can compare Shinto and Buddhism in Japan.

SPI 7.27 Compare the major features of Shinto, Japan’s indegenious religion, and Japenese Buddhism.

1

2

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ShintoShintoShintoShinto

AncestorWorshipAncestorWorshipPolytheismPolytheism

Hyper-Nationalism

Hyper-Nationalism

The Worldof the kami

The Worldof the kami

Minimizesin &guilt

Minimizesin &guilt

Great

CreatorGreat

Creator

• Came to Japan before Buddhism• Shinto is the native religion in Japan with its roots

stretching back to 500 B.C., and is a poly-theistic one that believes almost any natural objects ranging from mountains, rivers, water, rocks, trees, to dead notables

• Shinto means “way of the gods”• What other vocab word/concept is this similar to?

Hint: Africa

• The best English translation of kami is 'spirits', but this is an over-simplification of a complex concept - kami can be elements of the landscape or forces of nature.

• Kami are close to human beings and respond to human prayers. They can influence the course of natural forces, and human events.

• Shinto tradition says that there are eight million kami in Japan.

• In a single sentence, describe the main idea of Shintoism.• When I say go, you will share

your sentence with your group and write a single “best” sentence to describe Shintoism.

What do you

remember about

Buddhism?

• The Buddhist religion became somewhat of an art form during the Heian period.

• Japanese nobles loved Buddhism because it reflected their love for elaborate rituals.

• Most common people did not have the money for elaborate rituals. As a result, new forms of Buddhism began to develop in Japan.– Pure Land Buddhism

– Zen Buddhism

• Nevertheless, during the course of the next half century, Japan witnessed the firm establishment of Buddhism as a religion officially recognized and actively supported by the imperial court, thus overcoming doubts about its efficacy as a means of preventing disease, and also overcoming the fear of the national kami

• One person will be assigned Buddhism and one person will be assigned Shintoism.

• Step 1: Read your material and highlight significant evidence.

• Step 2: On your poster, summarize at least 4 bullet points that describes the religion.

• Step 3: Create one critical thinking question about the religion on the bottom.

Turn to your partner and answer one another’s critical thinking question.

• In your composition book, create a Venn diagram comparing Shintoism and Buddhism.

• You must put at least 3 bullet points each of the 3 areas on the Venn Diagram.