Shinto in popular culture

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Shinto is frequently a theme in

Some works in Japanese or international popular culture borrow significantly from Shinto myths, deities, and beliefs. Aside from the many games, movies, manga and other cultural products that mention the religion or the names of its deities, some anime, film, video games, or other works feature Shinto elements as central elements.

Shinto itself features in popular culture as folk Shinto or Minkan Shinto.^{[1][page needed]}

Anime and manga

Shinto

• In Dream Saga, the Earth is destroyed and recreated whenever humans have polluted it. This is done when Susanoo, the Shinto god of the sea and storms, (the brother to Amaterasu) consumes Amaterasu, the sun goddess. The two main characters, Yuuki and Takaomi, are given key roles in the process.^{[7][non-primary source needed]}

Film

Some Japanese films feature themes from Shinto religion or characters based on kami.^[8] This is especially the case in animated films, such as Hayao Miyazaki's Princess Mononoke or Spirited Away,^[8] but can also be seen in other films.

• The Three Treasures (1959) features several gods, including Amaterasu, Izanagi and others as characters.^[9]
• In the Stargate series, Amaterasu is a Goa'uld System Lord who comes to Earth with Lord Yu and Camulus to form a temporary truce between Earth and the Goa'uld.^[10]
• In
  Little Prince and the Eight-Headed Dragon Susanoo wishes to follow his mother, Izanami, to heaven when she dies, but his father, Izanagi, tells him he cannot.^[11]

Video games may relate to themes or characters from Shinto, as well as Buddhism, Christianity, and other religions.^[12][13] Such games may present a heterodox or alternative take on religion, or even parody traditional practice or belief.^[14] In addition to Shinto stories or kami, themes such as the sacredness of nature or the place of magic in everyday life are also visible in such games.^[13]

• In the 2006 video game Ōkami, Amaterasu is depicted as a white wolf and she is the main protagonist of the game. As in the traditional Shinto, Amaterasu is the goddess of the sun, but in the game she controls many other powers as well by painting things.^[15] This depiction of Amaterasu is also a playable character in Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds and Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3.^{[citation needed]}
• In 2016, Amaterasu, Raijin, Susano, Izanami, in 2017, Hachiman, and in 2020, Tsukuyomi, were included as playable characters in the multiplayer online battle arena video game Smite.^[16]
• In the 2022 game Overwatch 2, a new support hero, Kiriko, was introduced into the game at release. Her overall design and abilities are heavily influenced by spiritual objects based on Shintoism. Her attire is based on the attire worn by Shinto shrine maidens and her overall design incorporates allusions to Kitsune. Her abilities are also heavily influenced by spiritual objects associated with Shintoism, such as ofuda and suzu.^{[17][third-party source needed]} Later in February 2023, a skin for her based on Amaterasu, the goddess of sun in Shinto, was added into the game in the battle pass.^{[18][19][third-party source needed]}

Theatrical plays

Yamata Amasung Keibu Keioiba (English: Yamata-no-Orochi and Keibu Keioiba) is a

• The Shinto deities Izanami and Izanagi (the latter incorrectly spelled as "Izaghi") appear in
  Puccini's opera Madama Butterfly.^{[22][page needed}
  ]
• The Shinto deities Izanami and Izanagi (spelled "Izanaki") appear in Natsuo Kirino's The Goddess Chronicle.^{[23][non-primary source needed]}
• In the novel, Giles Goat-Boy, author John Barth makes reference to the people of Japan as the "Amaterasu," who were EATEN by WESCAC (a reference to the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki) during the "Second Campus Riot" (World War II).^{[24][non-primary source needed][page needed]}
• Izanagi and Izanami appear as minor supporting characters in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures comic book series, aiding the Turtles and their allies in battle against a powerful demon whose emergence from a damaged nuclear reactor threatens the safety of all Japan.^{[25][26][non-primary source needed]}
• Several kami, including Susano-o-no-mikoto, Izanami, and Tsukuyomi, appear as supporting characters in the Vertigo Comics series Sandman and its spinoff Lucifer.^[27][28]

References