Shinto

===''Kannagara'', morality, and ethics===

[[File:Yasukuni Shrine 2012.JPG|thumb|The actions of priests at the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo have generated controversy across East Asia]]

Shinto incorporates morality tales and myths but no codified ethical doctrine,{{sfn|Cali|Dougill|2013|p=13}} and thus no "unified, systematized code of behaviour".{{sfn|Offner|1979|p=191}} An ethical system nevertheless arises from its practice,{{sfn|Picken|2011|pp=80-81}} with emphasis placed on sincerity ({{lang|ja-Latn|makoto}}),{{sfnm|1a1=Picken|1y=1994|1p=xxiii|2a1=Bocking|2y=1997|2p=115|3a1=Picken|3y=2011|3p=82}} honesty ({{lang|ja-Latn|tadashii}}),{{sfn|Picken|1994|p=xxiii}} hard work ({{lang|ja-Latn|tsui-shin}}),{{sfn|Picken|2011|p=83}} and thanksgiving ({{lang|ja-Latn|kansha}}) directed towards the {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}}.{{sfn|Picken|2011|p=83}} {{lang|ja-Latn|Shojiki}} is regarded as a virtue, encompassing honesty, uprightness, veracity, and frankness.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=182}} Shinto sometimes includes reference to four virtues known as the {{lang|ja-Latn|akaki kiyoki kokoro}} or {{lang|ja-Latn|sei-mei-shin}}, meaning "purity and cheerfulness of heart", which are linked to the state of {{lang|ja-Latn|harae}}.{{sfnm|1a1=Bocking|1y=1997|1p=157|2a1=Picken|2y=2011|2pp=34, 82}} Attitudes to sex and fertility tend to be forthright in Shinto.{{sfn|Picken|2011|pp=84-85}} Shinto's flexibility regarding morality and ethics has been a source of frequent criticism, especially from those arguing that the religion can readily become a pawn for those wishing to use it to legitimise their authority and power.{{sfn|Nelson|1996|p=198}}

In Shinto, {{lang|ja-Latn|kannagara}} ("way of the {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}}") is the law of the [[cosmos|natural order]],{{sfn|Picken|1994|p=xxiii}} with {{lang|ja-Latn|wa}} ("benign harmony") being inherent in all things.{{sfn|Littleton|2002|p=58}} Disrupting {{lang|ja-Latn|wa}} is deemed bad, contributing to it is thought good;{{sfn|Littleton|2002|pp=58, 61}} as such, subordination of the individual to the larger social unit has long been a characteristic of the religion.{{sfn|Littleton|2002|pp=11, 57}} Throughout Japanese history, the notion of {{lang|ja-Latn|saisei-itchi}}, or the union of religious authority and political authority, has long been prominent.{{sfn|Kitagawa|1987|p=xvii}} In the modern world, Shinto has tended toward conservatism,{{sfn|Cali|Dougill|2013|p=10}} as well as nationalism,{{sfnm|1a1=Bocking|1y=1997|1p=ix|2a1=Cali|2a2=Dougill|2y=2013|2p=10}} an association that results in various Japanese [[civil liberties]] groups and neighboring countries regarding Shinto suspiciously.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=ix}} Particularly controversial has been the [[Yasukuni Shrine]] in Tokyo, devoted to Japan's war dead. In 1979 it enshrined 14 men who had been declared Class-A defendants at the 1946 [[Tokyo War Crimes Trials]], generating domestic and international condemnation, particularly from China and Korea.{{sfnm|1a1=Nelson|1y=2000|1p=12|2a1=Littleton|2y=2002|2p=99|3a1=Picken|3y=2011|3pp=18–19}}

[[File:Hushimi-inari-taisha otsuka3.jpg|thumb|left|Assemblage of small ''torii'' at the Fushimi Inari-taisha shrine in Kyoto]]

Shinto priests face ethical conundrums. In the 1980s, for instance, priests at the [[Suwa Shrine (Nagasaki)|Suwa Shrine]] in [[Nagasaki]] debated whether to invite the crew of a U.S. Navy vessel docked at the port city to their festival celebrations given the sensitivities surrounding the [[Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki#Nagasaki|1945 U.S. use of the atomic bomb on the city]].{{sfn|Nelson|1996|pp=66–67}} In other cases, priests have opposed construction projects on shrine-owned land;{{sfnm|1a1=Ueda|1y=1979|1p=317|2a1=Rots|2y=2015|2p=221}} at [[Kaminoseki]] in the early 2000s, a priest was pressured to resign after opposing the sale of shrine lands to build a [[nuclear power plant]].{{sfn|Rots|2015|p=221}} 
In the 21st century, Shinto has increasingly been portrayed as a nature-centred spirituality with [[environmentalism|environmentalist]] credentials;{{sfn|Rots|2015|pp=205, 207}} several shrines have collaborated with local environmentalist campaigns,{{sfn|Rots|2015|p=223}} while an international interfaith conference on environmental sustainability was held at the Ise shrine in 2014.{{sfn|Rots|2015|pp=205–206}} Critical commentators have characterised the presentation of Shinto as an environmentalist movement as a rhetorical ploy rather than a concerted effort by Shinto institutions to become environmentally sustainable.{{sfn|Rots|2015|p=208}}