Tsunekiyo Tanaka
Jinja Honcho Denomination, Japan

Distinguished Guests, Dear Colleagues, Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am the Reverend TANAKA Tsunekiyo, Vice President of Jinja-Honcho, or, in English, the Association of Shinto Shrines. I am here today in this holy, beautiful and verdant city of Assisi, representing almost 80,000 Shinto shrines established at every corner of Japan.

First and above all, let me congratulate the Meeting for its 20th anniversary this year. Respect and appreciation from the bottom of my heart go to efforts of and dedication by the Community of St. Egidio which planned, organized and hosted this worldwide gathering.

Indeed, exactly 20 years ago and precisely in this historic city of Assisi, I was blessed enough to attend the very first Meeting as a member of the Shinto delegation. That memory adds to my sense of honor that I am allowed to make some comments and observations at this forum in a very important year�the 20th anniversary.

Ladies and gentlemen,

This forum is specifically requested to discuss �Religions of Asia: Inter-religious Dialogue and Commitment to Peace�. I am glad to say this is one of the most befitting subjects for Shinto to go into because our faith attaches profound importance to harmony and to dialogue as a vital means to achieve this goal.

Let me paraphrase. Shinto is an indigenous religion of Japan that sustains what is believed to be the oldest form of faith even today. What make Shinto rather unique include that it is polytheistic, and that it has neither identifiable founder nor documentalized dogma or scriptures.

As I have just mentioned, Shinto as polytheism does have a number of �subjects to worship��deities. The deities often represent divine power to trigger, natural phenomena. In other cases, the deities are deified human beings who left great footprints in history.

And I also said Shinto has a very long history. Indeed, Japan�s earliest historical document--�Kojiki (Records of Ancient Matters), proven to have been compiled in 712 AD�features a lot of rich and colorful anecdotes and descriptions of these Shinto deities. An even more mesmerizing fact is that trace of what appear to be the ancestor of Shinto rituals have been found at archaeological sites 10,000 years old�or even older.

This implies, of course, the origin of Shinto goes back to ages far earlier than the establishment of Japan as an integrated nation. Then, one would wonder�why and how.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Agriculture�rice cultivation in particular�as well as fishery have long been a prevailing and usually successful lifeline ever since old, old days. Reliable for livelihood they may be, however, they were often vulnerable to natural phenomena and disasters. Damages caused by typhoons, droughts and other calamities in many cases directly and critically devastated the livelihood unfortunate residents.

It is no wonder, then, such awe of nature led to worshipping and deifying of the power behind: deities, for example, of rains, winds or thunders. Another factor we have to pay attention to is that these livelihood-at-stake ventures made it mandatory to villagers to keep close cooperation.

As a result, each village stated to enshrine ancestors of its residents: as their guardians and spiritual presence to pacify the nature. Simultaneously, villagers themselves prayed for peace and good harvest while emphasizing harmony within their hamlets all the way.

Such sense of awe and appreciation, and the concept of harmony accumulated and settled down deep and wide in the Japanese mindset over centuries, eventually forming a faith that is now called Shinto. And the faith�without any dogma or scriptures�has been inherited to this day as a crucial element of the Japanese society.

In other words, Shinto signifies Japan�s basic of morality and ethics. And it has been �handed down� from dads and moms to kids, and then to grandkids.

Meanwhile, as far as legal affairs are concerned, Shinto today is defined simply as �one of the� great many religions. But few Japanese can identify a Shinto shrine as a �simple� religious facility. Some folks even cannot distinguish a Shinto shrine from a Buddhist temple. And I�d quickly add that this �mix-up� has never�if ever�caused any dispute.

Just for your information, it is not uncommon that a Buddhist temple is built adjacent to a Shinto shrine. Almost no Japanese feel it strange. It may sound more unusual to the panelists and the audience here, but most visitors to that kind of neighborhood go to and worship at both�the shrine and the temple.

I have been discussing relationship and cultures in Japan so far. However, I do not believe this kind of relationship is exclusive and unique in my country. Academically speaking from the standpoint of religious studies, any faith is generated by �the cultural soil� of a given region and people there.

The reason why each religion has been surviving is, above all, that there are cultural necessities to embrace that specific faith. If you cast a glance over the world, it won�t be difficult to understand that a religion is closely linked to culture of its environment. So much so, those two elements are virtually inseparable.

Having said that, however, I have to admit that such close religious-cultural ties sometimes become fuses of difficult and controversial confrontations. People think in different things in different ways, depending on what kind of environment they grew up in.

Furthermore, we have to note that faiths and cultures were produced by a given country�s or regions, long history and tradition. This sometimes causes absolutely uncompromising postures in terms of philosophy and opinion. Sadly, man being man, they often tend to only justify what they believe are right.

It is grossly unfortunate that even today�20 years after our first Meeting�we have to see confrontations and even clashes all over the world. What makes the situation uglier and even grotesque is that these conflicts are often described as �religious confrontations� whereas most�if not all�of them are simply of political or economic nature.

What is the most important under the given circumstances, I believe, is to be good enough to listen to other people in a sincere attempt to reach harmony. Allow me give you an example out of Japanese myth, off �Kojiki� I mentioned earlier, which are one of the pillars of Shinto philosophy.

In a number of anecdotes in the book, deities gather around, consult with each other, debates and discuss to decide on matters of mutual concern. The decision-making process of the deities is neither dictatorial nor egocentric�what they have is a desire for dialogue, and their goal is to find the best solution for the entire divine community.

We can learn a lot from these deities. We should not reject a different opinion. We should keep in mind the importance of harmony, and should listen to and understand other parties. We should have dialogues, repeatedly, and try, finally, to unearth a jewel of commonality out of the quagmire of disagreement.

Ladies and gentlemen,

What I would like to stress, here and now, is that such a posture is not�and I repeat not�Shinto-exclusive. Every single faith on earth does share the same spirit. It is easy to think the religious and cultural differences are insurmountable hurdles for dialogue. It is grossly wrong. Why?

Because religions yearn for peaceful life, and cultures cherish harmony. Then, man can be tolerant to, and respect other people. People�s life is structured on cultures built up painstakingly over a long period of time. Admitting that, we must not blame or accuse other faiths as a tool to intensify confrontation.

Ladies and gentlemen,

The mission assigned to us the religious community is to intensify efforts so that the public will once again recognize this important fact.

At last but not least, allow me to pray for your health and successes. May our deities bless you.

Thank you very much for your attention.