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Takahisa Kato
Shinto Shrines, Japan
Your Holy Highnesses, distinguished guests, colleagues of the world�fs religious community, ladies and gentlemen; I am KATO Takahisa, Managing Director of Jinja Honcho. I am very much honored to be here, representing Jinja Honcho, which is the umbrella organization of some 80,000 Shinto shrines of Japan. Let me express my deep appreciation to the Community of St. Egidio, which has been hosting the International Meeting over 17 years. And this year again, so many representatives of so many religions are gathering here in this beautiful city of Aachen. And we have a common goal to achieve world peace. I am very much impressed and encouraged. Terrorism and conflicts abound in many places today, causing a substantial number of casualties and fatalities. It is indeed despicable that religious and ethnic differences are often blamed as the reason for such tragedies. I have to agonize over why man hate and fight each other to this magnitude in an age when Internet and other advanced information technologies have made possible instant access to world events. Despite that, the world seems to be facing confusion and tension now more than ever. I ask again that haunting question: why man can hate each other this much? Why man can struggle each other with such ferocity? It is true that a variety of faiths and cultures exist on earth. Then, I believe, one vital key to open the door for world peace should be to understand different religions and cultures. Let us take note that not a single religion is based on a doctrine of promoting conflicts. All call for and pray for peaceful and tranquil life. Having said that, I would like to touch upon how our faith Shinto defines deities, man and the world. The basic idea is that individual awareness and efforts are critical in pursuing world peace. Jinja Shinto is the oldest and indigenous faith of Japan. Indeed, Japans oldest existing document, titled the Chronicle of Ancient Days and published in A.D. 712, refers to a number of Shinto deities. This means that the origin of this faith should go back to much earlier years, even before Japan emerged as a nation. For further details, please read the booklet Welcome to Jinja, which we prepared for you in English, German and Italian languages. But let me first emphasize one important point. Ladies and gentlemen, Shinto is polytheism. We worship more than two gods or deities. And, let me leave no doubt about that we are proud of that. Let me paraphrase. Japan is at the northeastern end of Eurasia. It is an archipelago, surrounded by sea, about the size of Germany. The land has much diversity, both geographically and meteorologically. Its landscape is rich, with mountains, hills, rolling plains and rivers. Its people enjoy all the four seasons spring, summer, autumn and winter. Such environment led the Japanese in ancient days to engage in farming, fishery and forestry, among other things. Rice farming was particularly important. These operations obviously are prone to natural phenomena. Typhoons or drought, to name a couple, could have caused devastating damages, for example. Ancient people, consequently, must have been convinced that such uncontrollable disasters were a deed by supra-human existence deities such as God of Winds, God of Mountains, and God of the Sea or God of the Thunder. Simultaneously, cooperation and collaboration among residents were mandatory in such daily but vital chores. That led to eventual formation of communities villages. And in each village, residents started to hold festivals to pray for peace and good harvest. The festivals were dedicated to gods that protect each segment of village life, as well as to ancestors. It is our belief that such worshipping down to earth, literally must have been the origin of the Shinto faith. As I have said, we in Shinto worship a plural number of deities. Indeed, our faith has an expression Eight Million Gods. And, in our faith, each god has its unique personality exactly like man. As such, Shinto gods complement each other exactly like man, again to achieve harmony and prosperity. The bottom line is that every and anything on earth complement each other, sharing all that are available, and, by doing so, help each other to improve. Egocentric behaviors are despised. This is what Shinto is all about. Ladies and gentlemen. Let me touch upon another unique feature of Shinto. It has no established dogma or doctrine. The faith evolved with close links with peoples daily life, and, consequently, what can be called codes are based on ethics of daily life. But then, in modern days, a number of new elements emerged in daily life. And we became aware that we should explain the way of Shinto faith to people outside of the faith, too. As a result, in 1956, we compiled a document titled Shinto Principles for a Reverent Life. It explains how to practice Shinto faith in modern life. This guideline has a preamble and three articles a simple document. The articles call for dedication to others and society as well as praying for co-prosperity and co-existence on earth. These are the essence of our faith. Meanwhile, we have an old expression, the spirit of words. It means that each and every word has its own spirit, which leads to realizing what the specific word implies. Along that belief, we Shinto officials recite the Shinto Principles for a Reverent Life before every meeting to remind ourselves of what our life should be like. Ladies and gentlemen. Peoples ideas and concepts vary, depending on environment one has been raised in. Religions and cultures carry long histories and traditions behind them. Then, there is no wonder each of them has points on which it can never compromise. It is also a human nature to try to justify only what one believes in. However, it is impossible to solve conflicts and confrontations if man stubbornly sticks to their biases. One has to pay attention to human harmony. One has to listen to what the other party insists, understand what it implies, repeat dialogues and try to reach an agreement. This means each individual must sincerely aspire to world peace. Today, so-called globalization is gathering speed in many fields political, economic and cultural. Nobody can detach himself from what is happening in this world. In addition, global environmental issues are becoming more and more serious, urgent and critical. There is no room for dragged out, fruitless ideological arguments for the sake of argument. Ladies and gentlemen. Let us overcome petty, sectarian, partisan differences in ideology, in belief, and in religion. Let us, instead, prioritize harmony. Let us opt course to make us able to achieve true co-existence and co-prosperity. not only that of man but of each and everything that exist on earth. Let us march, hand in hand, toward world peace. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, LET US MOVE ON. LET US MOVE ON TOWARD WORLD PEACE. The Rev. Martin Luther King said 40 years ago: I have a dream. We can say here today: WE HAVE A DREAM a world where every religious or ethnic group can mingle freely. That is exactly what I am seeing tonight, and my salute to you all. At last but not least, may I conclude by praying for health and success of you.
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