I decided to watch the peach orchard. I saw many ways in which Shinto can be related to this video. Seeing how the ancient Japanese did not divide matter and spirit was the most obvious to me. They believed matter and spirit to be inseparable. If everything is spiritual then there must be continuity between humanity, nature, and the spirit/gods. The boy was upset because the orchard got destroyed and his reaction was to cry. The gods then wanted to show him the peach orchard one last time before it was gone forever so they made that happen. Although they were picking on him at first I feel as if they knew exactly what they were doing and that it would be a better end result for the boy. The gods with painted faces were dancing like they were to get in contact with the Kami, which is no absolute monotheistic creator God. I think if people really understand Shinto there is lots of opportunities to find connections in the two.
I think your last line holds a lot of gravity. Since Shintoism does not create a dichotomy between matter and spirit and seem them as one, whole entity, it's important to realize that the intertwining of these two forces can create new observations to be made. I'm really not sure in what sense, but perhaps the outlooks presented in some of these clips, with overlying concepts such as loyalty, courage, and leadership are good starts. Interesting idea, thanks for the read!
ReplyDeleteI watched the Peach Orchard clips too, and my thought of relating them to Shinto were pretty similar. I think after the little boy cried, the spirits felt empathy for him because he didn't know what the true importance of nature was. You can tell that he feels more emotion towards the disappearance of the trees and he has a better appreciation for nature and beauty. Kami believe that spirituality is vital and that humanity, nature, and the spirits/gods intertwine with one another, and that's what the boy realized later.
ReplyDeleteI really liked how you said that the Gods knew exactly what they were doing when they first picked on the boy, because I agreed with that completely. I feel that it was the perfect way to teach him a lesson but at the same time comfort him when he was upset about loosing the orchard. I also watched this clip for my assignment and I think that it was really evident about the 'inseparable' aspect of this clip. Nature, humanity, really did seem like one. By really showing the importance of the orchard to both the Kami and to the little boy it provides that direct connection between nature, God and humans.
ReplyDeleteI like your take that the gods knew what they were doing when they led the boy into the forest. I took it as maybe they could show him why it was bad what his family was doing and by him listening to them in what they were saying that perhaps he could share some light to his family and convince them what they was doing was wrong and upsetting the kami.
ReplyDeleteI watched this clip too and I agree that it clearly demonstrates the inseperation of spirit and matter with the kami and the peach trees.
ReplyDeletei too also watched this clip. i thought it was confusing at first. i thought your first sentence about the spirits was interesting, i actually did not notice that when i saw that till after couple times. the scene with the little girl was confusing to me,until the gods explained the reasoning of the peach orchard to the little boy
ReplyDeleteI agree with your comments on how it appeared that the gods were picking on the little boy at first. It appears that they changed their ways because they realized that this little boy loved the orchards for the right reason, he understood the god-like nature to them and the beauty they represented.
ReplyDelete