‘Shinto: The Way Home’ by Thomas P. Kasulis US: Univ of Hawaii Press, 2004 184 pages, medium size. ISBN
0-8248-2850-X $15.00
Kasulis is a philosopher. Yet his book is free of jargon and far from being ‘difficult’. The result is an overview of Shinto that is often informative and sometimes thought-provoking. One of the ideas is that the torii gateway shows us ‘the way home’ and that there is something in the religion that resonates within all of us, regardless of race. A little under half the book is devoted to history, particularly the ‘nativism’ of the eighteenth century when Motoori Morinaga and Hirata Atsutane laid the foundation for modern Shinto. The author’s thesis is that the history reflects a tension between ‘existential’ and ‘essential’ belief: the former is a non-reflective description of values, whereas the latter is more ‘political’ in being explicit and clearly stated. According to Kasulis, Shinto has vacillated between the two poles, and in a sense the tension is still playing itself out in Jinja Honcho (Association of Shrines) where there is debate about how far to pin down doctrine and beliefs to be more like a ‘normal’ religion.
Summary: Not essential reading, but certainly a worthwhile read for anyone wanting to reflect on the nature of Shinto.
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