Quote:
Originally Posted by Nyororin
With a car, it`s to protect the car from accidents, keep everyone inside the car safe, and to get some divine "insurance" so to speak.
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I love that phrase Nyororin-- "divine insurance". I know my father in law has a buttload of beads in his car. He asked me if I knew what they were one day and I was kinda being careful and said something like "for safety?" and he said pretty straight forward that it was to avoid accidents. Ironically some of the beads were hanging from his mirror undoubtedly making it, even if ever so slightly, harder to drive.
And not to be rude, but there is a kami for just about everything... and I mean everything. I guess Nyororin's explanation makes the most sense to me. I've heard people say there are even kami for things like toilets. On the other hand, you'll sometimes see like 400 year old trees in shrines in Japan that are obviously kami. I don't know if this pertains to any of your questions (and you probably know this), but every time you enter a shrine, you're like entering the world of the kami so you have to show your respect.
Just for a little admission-- I once drove through one of those gates. I was driving through some really narrow streets in Fukui-ken and I eventually ended up kind of in a shrine thing (there were houses in it too though so it was very hard to distinguish).
I might be going beyond the scope of what I've studied and have heard by saying this, but I get the feeling there is a connection with these "kami" for everything and how people seem to respect things more in Japan (at least verbally). You might have seen it happen before or read about it, but Japanese people sometimes apologize to inanimate objects. They will also apologize to small bugs and stuff like that. Even if there is nobody there to hear the apology I suspect it still happens. Like if someone bumps into something they might apologize to it. I realize this has a lot to do with respect for other peoples' property, but I think there may be a connection to the shinto that is mixed in with everyday Japanese culture. Even when saying "itadakimasu" or "gochisosamadeshita" I feel there is a hint of it. While saying those before/after meals shows an appreciation for everyone involved in what you ate (like the driver, the fisherman, the grocery store workers, the person who cooked it, etc etc etc... this is at least what is taught at the elementary school I worked at), I think there is a kami-aspect to it. It may be getting back to what Nyororin said-- if someone beleives in it, then it exists. Like when I eat Ayu (which will usually come from the big river in my town) I like to think about the fish and the river. It's like the distribution of life. Whether that last bit has anything to do with Shinto is something I don't know though so I apologize for ramblin'.