Shinto Shrines

​


Here are examples of household shrines and portable shrines.  The household shrine is known as a kamidana and the portable shrine is known as a zushi.  The top photo is a hand crafted miniature reproduction of a temple in Nepal, sent to me a few years ago

In Japan, a number of different traditions, both foreign and original to Japan, combined ultimately to create gods and other beings that had complex rich stories.  Some of these gods came from Nepal and India and their names as well as their attributes gradually changed.

In ‘Guardians of Azuma’, not only do you have shrines in each village as your own home but you can build pilgrimage sites as you obtain the recipes for them.


As Buddhism attained greater popularity and political power, native deities often were replaced with traditional Buddhist statues.  Even so, there was a tendency often to accommodate more than one religious tradition at ancient sacred places, and that was an admirable method by which religious tolerance was maintained and spiritual enlightenment expanded.

Popular posts from this blog

Traditional Japanese Festivals

Image
​The creators of Guardians of Azuma expressed a wish to invest the game with as many of the traditions of Japan as possible. Japan of course has diverse spiritual as well as mundane cultures and each has had its own special influence through the centuries but the Japanese managed to create a very unique synthesis finally between some of its native religions and beliefs rather than continuing to perceive other belief systems as a hostile or corrupting threat.   I am not an expert in Shinto beliefs but I studied and taught comparative religion and legends and to me, Guardians of Azuma enshrines Shintoism far more than any other belief system.  Although Buddhism has played a large part in shaping the culture and aesthetics of religious art and rituals, the animism that is so much a part of  Shinto beliefs is very apparent the world of Guardians of Azuma.  Thus, the reverence shown to Ulalaka’s sacred cherry tree that is displayed at the very beginning of this game and t...
Read more

Starting a New Game, Post 1, Restoring the Spring Village

Image
Comprehensive Guide by Freyashawk: This is the first in a series of posts that will constitute a detailed Walkthrough.   Restoring the Spring Village: (Above, note the little bubble the Monster holds or has with him.  This denotes a villager who has been transformed into a Momster.  There will be a number of these in the four seasonal villages.  Some are Chemists and others Carpenters.  When defeated, they will come to one of the Villages as humans again. I started a new game to minimise errors and maximise options as well as being able to write a guide.  What I have decided is that 'make haste to repent at leisure' does apply to some extent.  Your abilities do increase with use.  I now believe even physical acts such as jumping may increase with better stats.  I will try to test this when I return to more difficult dungeons. I 'beat the game' fairly early but had much frustration with Blight and puzzles.  I doubt there is any 'fix' wher...
Read more