Shintoism is the native religion to the people of Japan. It is centered on the worship of many different kami. Each one rules a separate domain from the sea to creation and death. One single kami rules over all eight million of them, the sun goddess Amaterasu. Yet even with a female being the most important figure women have been barred from participating in religious practices. Even if they are allowed the must go through grueling rituals to ensure that they are worthy of such an opportunity that their male counterparts do not have to do. Women are an essential part of Shintoism and should not be excluded from positions of authority at shrines. You cannot truly consider yourself to be a follower of the Shinto religion if one believes women should be excluded from practices. …show more content…
To exclude females from a religion that they once dominated is ironic and irrational. One of the main ideals of Shintoism is that men and women must work together on this earth. Women were viewed as the mediators between kami and mankind. In traditional Shintoism only women could receive messages from kami. From there they would spread the word to men. Without women they would not know what the kami wanted humans to do. The way of the gods is written that people must work together in order to have harmony. It was a male’s job to put the kami’s words in place in society. When women were removed from their duties at the shrines and men took their place this could have upset the gods. Kami named women as the messengers of their will but men deemed that women were now impure and could not receive their messages. In the text and historical logs that I have read they never mention man asking the kami if this shift in power is