In Russia, very little is known about the traditional religion of Japan - Shinto, on the basis of which, from time immemorial, the worldview and worldview of the Japanese, the Japanese mentality, has been formed. "Shinto is more than a religious belief. It is a complex of ideas, attitudes, and behavioral norms that have been the basis of Japanese existence for more than two millennia ... " 1

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the International Shinto Scientific Society (INOS). (Shinto kokusai gakkai) has opened a branch in Moscow for Russian researchers of Japanese culture. By that time, the main ancient manuscripts had been translated in Russia - the first state-historical work in the history of Japan, Kojiki (Notes on the Deeds of Antiquity) (712)2 and Nihon Seki (Annals of Japan) (720)3, in which ancient Japanese myths were recorded in writing for the first time, and some of them were translated into Russian. other sources.

The IOM representative office in Moscow has allocated funds for the publication in Russia of the fundamental two-volume book "Shinto-the Way of the Japanese Gods", published in 2002.4 It includes Shinto texts and works of Russian Japanese scholars. Since 2004, a competition of works on Shinto in Russian has been held in Russia. In 2010, a collection of works by young researchers and students of Russian universities who won prizes in this competition was published. A symposium "Shinto and Japanese culture" was held, which was also attended by researchers from Ukraine and Belarus.

Since 2004, the Russian branch of the International Scientific Society of Shinto (since 2007, a Branch of the International Scientific Society in Russia) has been headed by the Deputy Director of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Doctor of Historical Sciences Elgena Molodyakova, author, translator and scientific editor of a number of scientific and popular works on Shinto.

In 2007, an editorial committee for the development of the Shinto encyclopedic dictionary was established in the IOS Branch in the Russian Federation. In May 2010, the Center for Oriental Literature of the Russian State Library, with the participation of Yoshimi Umeda, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the IOS, and his wife Setsuko Umeda, presented the first scientific publication on Shinto of this kind outside of Japan, "Gods, Sanctuaries, Rites of Japan: Encyclopedia of Shinto" (ed. by A. N. Meshcheryakov, M. A. Meshcheryakov)., RSUH, 2010;. The compilers of the Encyclopedia faced many difficulties of a scientific and didactic nature, since the reference publications on shinto that exist in Japan, which the authors of the Encyclopedia relied on, are designed for basic knowledge of Shinto and Japanese culture of the Japanese reader, which significantly differ from those of the domestic reader. Therefore, the authors abandoned the purely dictionary construction, highlighting the sections that are necessary for delineating such a complex and diverse phenomenon as Shinto: Preface (the task of introducing the reader to the world of Shinto was undertaken by the editor-in-chief of the publication, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor A. N. Meshcheryakov); Sources and written monuments; Myths and deities; Ritual in the Shinto tradition; Main shrines and their structure; Schools and interpreters; Reflection of Shinto in art and literature.

The author's team of the Encyclopedia includes the leading Japanese scholars of the country: A. S. Bachurin, E. M. Dyakonova, L. M. Ermakova, S. V. Kapranov, L. B. Karelova, A. N. Meshcheryakov, V. E. Molodyakov, E. V. Molodyakova, G. B. Navlitskaya, A. A. Nakorchevsky, E. K. Simonova-Gudzenko, V. A. Shishkin, V. A. Shishkin. Fedyanina (executive secretary of the publication) with the participation of A.M. Gorbyleva, A.M. Dulina.

It should be noted that the conceptual positions of the authors of the publication do not always coincide, which is reflected in the interpretation of certain phenomena and reflects the complexity and versatility of the subject under study. After all, the boundaries of Shinto are not always obvious, this is discussed in detail in the preface to the sections "Myths and deities" and "Schools and interpreters".

For the first time, the term "shinto" is found in the Nihon Seki, where it is used to distinguish between traditional folk faith and Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism, which came to Japan from the continent. To denote a particular denomination in Japanese, a hieroglyph is used that carries the concept of "teaching", which indicates the presence of the founder of the religion, a written canon, and a developed theological and ethical tradition. These religions include Christianity, IS-

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lam, Buddhism, i.e. the so-called "world religions".

"The concept of shinto consists of two hieroglyphs - 'deity' and 'path'. This second hieroglyph (Chinese: tao) means, rather, not a doctrine, but a lifestyle and general orientation of thought, its content is not specific and depends on the will of the user of this term. And this is not accidental, because in Shinto there is no founder of the faith, an officially fixed canon, a developed theology and ethical teaching, rituals differ significantly from place to place... In each of the numerous areas of Shinto, there are specific rituals, canons, and saints. Many Shinto movements rely on oral tradition rather than written texts... However, there are provisions that, as a rule, are shared by most adherents. All of them operate with the concept of" deity " (Komi), which is understood as a deity who has (or is considered to have) Japanese origin... For most adepts, the concept of "shinto" and "Japanese emperor" (tenno) are interrelated. Thus, Shinto is a religion created by and for the Japanese" (p. 6).

In Russian religious studies, Shinto remained poorly studied. The first book devoted to Japanese religions was published in the Soviet Union only in 1968. Not the least role was played by the negative and politicized image of Shintoism as a conductor of nationalist ideas during the period of totalitarianism in Japan in the 30s-first half of the 40s of the XX century, formed in Soviet and Western historiography.

The fact is that the Encyclopedia notes that " ... the sharp juxtaposition in traditional Japanese culture along the lines of friend/foe (both for residents of individual villages and regions, and for representatives of different classes) made it easier to use shinto as a tool for building the Japanese nation and the entire ideological complex accompanying this process. In this complex, the friend/foe opposition was expanded to the whole country, and Shintoism was recognized as one of the parameters that marked the watershed between Japanese and non-Japanese. However, in our opinion, to ostracize the Shinto goddess Amaterasu for such use of shinto is just as absurd as to attribute the sins of his followers to Jesus Christ" (p.7).

Many of the attitudes and values of Shinto go back to the prehistoric, pre-written era. From about the sixth century A.D., ideas that came from China and Korea began to have a significant impact on the appearance of the Japanese court, society, state, culture and ideology. "The ability to receive new ideas from the continent in a ready-made form for a long time blocked Shinto's own potentials for development; in the Middle Ages, it was largely absorbed by Buddhism, both ideologically and organizationally" (p.9).

When in the mid-19th century, after the "discovery" of Japan by the West, the country was faced with the task of creating a national state and preserving national identity, Shinto was involved in this task. When Emperor Meiji ascended the throne in 1867, he positioned himself as the successor of the "great" sovereigns of antiquity. The figure of the mythical first emperor Jimmu was also updated. Public consciousness accepted this, which led to the actualization of the complex of ideas that existed (or allegedly existed) in ancient Japan, or at that time in that part of it that had not yet been subjected to continental influence. The concept of "unity of ritual and administration" (saisei itti) was developed, suggesting that the emperor combines managerial and priestly functions, and also, "in accordance with ancient texts," the emperor was given the function of a military commander. During this period, new meanings were added to old texts.

The task of the authors of the Encyclopedia was to identify the ancient substrate and the latest strata. "Such work is very important not only for the history of Shinto proper. It provides answers to broad historical problems related to the process of modernization, the formation of the phenomenon of nationalism, the totalitarian state, and ways of manipulating the public consciousness and subconsciousness" (p. 10).

The authors hope that the "Encyclopedia of Shinto" will be interesting and useful not only for specialists, but also for a wide range of readers interested in the history and culture of Japan, and will serve as an incentive for young scientists to start new research in this field.

Material prepared by E. V. SAFONOVA

1 The national religion of the Japanese. Shinto. Branch of the International Scientific Society of Shinto (Japan) in the Russian Federation (Scientific ed. by E. V. Molodyakov; translated from English by A. L. Garibov). M. Kraft+, 2008.

2 Kojiki. Notes on the deeds of antiquity. Translated by E. M. Pinus, L. M. Ermakova, and A. N. Meshcheryakov, St. Petersburg: Shar Publ., 1994.

3 Nihon seki. Annals of Japan. Translated by E. M. Ermakova and A. N. Meshcheryakov, Hyperion, St. Petersburg, 1997.
4 Shinto. The way of the Japanese gods. Edited by E. M. Ermakova, G. E. Komarovsky, and A. N. Meshcheryakov. St. Petersburg, Hyperion Publ., 2002.

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