KYOTO ONE STEP MORE

Hajime Hirooka is a person that loves English language. He loves also the spirit of the New Japan. His irony towards the society in the world develops a sense of character and explains who we are and how we are. Mrs Hirooka told some stories about Japan. Japan as the profound essence of life. The why’s in Japan. Japanese people always leave their shoes out of the door, nobody wants to contaminate their homes with garbage brought from outside. The society is build around their religion and their fast life. Japanese people are Zen Buddhists and they mix it with Shinto.
The essential element of Zen Buddhism is found in its name, for Zen means "meditation." Zen teaches that enlightenment is achieved through the profound realization that one is already an enlightened being. This awakening can happen gradually or in a flash of insight. But in either case, it is the result of personal efforts. Mr. Hirooka explained me that Zen traces its origins to India, but it was formalized in China. That was transmitted to Japan in the thirteenth century. It was enthusiastically received in Japan, by the samurai class that had political power at this time, and it became the most prominent form of Buddhism between the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries. The immigrant Chinese that were living in Japan in that time were educated men, who introduced not only religious practices but also Chinese literature, calligraphy, philosophy, and ink painting to their Japanese disciples, who often in turn travelled to China for further study. Zen Buddhism's emphasis on simplicity and the importance of the natural world generated a distinctive aesthetic, which is expressed by the terms wabi and sabi. These two concepts are used to express a sense of rusticity, melancholy, loneliness, naturalness, and age. This artistic sensibility has had an enormous impact on Japanese culture up to modern times. But the Zen Buddhism It is joined to Shinto religion, Mr Hirooka explained me that Japanese are both Buddhists and Shinto Practitioners. It started about 500 BC or even earlier. It was originally "an amorphous mix of nature worship, fertility cults, divination techniques, hero worship, and shamanism." Its name was derived from the Chinese words "shin tao" ("The Way of the Gods") in the 8th Century CE. At that time:



The complete separation of Japanese religion from politics did not occur until just after World War II. The Emperor was forced by the American army to renounce his divinity at that time. In fact, unlike most other religions, Shinto has no real founder, no written scriptures, no body of religious law, and only a very loosely-organized priesthood. Nowadays Japanese everyday have a shower, bath, they clean their selves very well and their houses and also the streets. It is because of Shinto religion that I couldn’t see a paper on the street, and I also saw a lot of citizens some garbage from the floor to through away to the Bin if they found some. Shinto I this also the reason that accordingly I was said by the Hirooka, the Japanese every year at the end of the year (December) throw away old clothes and buy New. A New start a new life, is a New Year. They are clean inside their spirit and outside around their environment. The Kami are the Shinto deities. The word "Kami" is generally translated "god" or "gods." However, the Kami bear little resemblance to the gods of monotheistic religions. There are no concepts which compare to the Christian beliefs in the wrath of God, his omnipotence and Omni-presence, or the separation of God from humanity due to sin. There are numerous other deities who are conceptualized in many forms: Those related to natural objects and creatures, from "food to rivers to rocks Guardian Kami of particular areas and clans Guardian Kami of particular areas and clans Abstract creative forces. Before going to a Shinto temple, the Japanese purify their selves. Sometimes they just drink water or eat healthy food for several days, sometimes they just renew their closet, books, or, meditate. Mr. Hirooka told me that nowadays people do not have time to go to temples, so the pray at home, they ask the monk to come home where they pay a sum for the prayer.