Fitting for the Deities

This is an interesting film by NHK about the indigenous Shinto religion in Japan and the priests and craftsmen who work for it.

Subtitled Sacred Ornamentation Purifies and Elevates, the film examines the work of all types of craftsmen and their dedication to their art.

We see people who make the sacred ropes that divide the secular from the sacred worlds in the Shinto shrines, ornamentalists working on crests and other sacred objects, chasers, tassle and mirror makers.

What comes over very strongly in the film is the dedication of the craftsmen to their work, doing as well as possible, in order to care for the deities and to give the worshipper the best possible connection.

Although the film is about Shintoism and not Buddhism, we can see how a lot of the Buddhism that is found in Japan has been influenced by the indigenous religion, and recognise that everywhere Buddhism went it managed to absorb and syncretise with the best in the host culture.