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| Map of Japan | |
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| Preface | |
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| Introduction | |
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| Terms for Shinto Shrines | |
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| Torii - the Shinto Gateway | |
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| Meiji Jingu Shrine | |
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| New Year's Festival | |
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| What Shinto Is Not! | |
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| Shinto and its Japanese Setting | |
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| Absorbing External Influences | |
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| Shinto: An Indigenous Religion? | |
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| Shinto: A Modern Phenomenon? | |
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| Early Japanese Religion and Entry of Buddhism | |
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| Threat of New Gods and Triumph of Buddhism | |
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| Development and Meaning of Word 'Shinto' | |
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| Ideograms for Word 'Shinto' | |
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| Kami, Myths and Meanings | |
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| Forms of Kami | |
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| Relationship of Humans and Kami | |
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| Some Important Kami in Shinto Tradition | |
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| Shinto Foundation Myths | |
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| Story of Izanagi and Izanami | |
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| Heavenly Siblings: Story of Amaterasu and Susanoo | |
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| Myths of Imperial Descent | |
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| Basic Themes of Shinto | |
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| Maintaining Life in This World | |
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| Religious Practice and Purification | |
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| Shinto in Japanese Religious History | |
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| Shinto-Buddhist Interactions | |
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| Todaiji Temple | |
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| Watarai Shinto | |
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| Meiji Restoration and Shinto | |
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| Post-War Era and Shinto Disestablishment | |
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| Dynamics of Japanese Religious World | |
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| Shinto Shrines | |
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| Types and Structures of Shrines | |
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| Signs of the Sacred | |
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| Shimenawa - Sacred Rope | |
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| Shrine Buildings and Inner Sanctuaries | |
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| Important Shrines and Locations | |
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| October 'Meeting of Kami' | |
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| Shrine Animals | |
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| Shrine Officiants | |
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| Life-Cycles, Festivals and Rituals | |
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| Yearly Cycle of Events | |
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| Important Life-Cycle Rituals and Festivals | |
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| Festivals: Matsuri | |
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| Tanabata Festival, Sendai | |
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| Shinto Rituals | |
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| Praying to the Kami | |
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| Prayers and Communications with the Kami | |
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| Turning to the Gods | |
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| Sincerity and Gratitude | |
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| Objects and their Meanings | |
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| Ema | |
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| Omamori and Fuda | |
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| Hamaya | |
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| Symbolic Meanings | |
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| Cyclicality | |
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| Shinto, Nationalism and Yasukuni Shrine | |
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| Yasukuni Shrine | |
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| Political Manoeuvres and Opposition | |
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| Shinto in the Modern World | |
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| An Uneven Picture | |
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| Rise and Challenge of New Religions | |
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| An Unclear Future | |
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| Glossary | |
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| Further Reading | |
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| Index | |