Monday, April 25, 2011
Peach Orchard
I found it a very interesting expierence watching this video. I can see in many ways how it would relate to shinto. At first, I was a little confused and did not understand why this little boy was chasing this girl that apparently did not seem to exist to anyone else but himself. I now understand that the purpose of the girl was to lead him to the Kami I feel. In this scence, the Kami were standing on a hill scolding him and his family for cutting down the peach orchard. I feel that by the Kami scolding him, it shows what a big deal nature is to the Shinto religion. That everything is important, continuious, and that what the boy and his family did is practically a sin. And from my impression, it seems that the things that are considered sinful to Shinto are things such as destroying nature. This example of the peach field reminds me of the sin of the story told that a kami destroyed a rice field and was punished.Another aspect of Shinto seen here is that usually during shinto rites, drums are played and there is clapping and bowing. This could be seen in peach orchard, where the Kami was appearing to bow and almost seem as if they were dancing. One of the last scenes, of just showing the one peach tree, I feel that represents the kami and it's role in nature.
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I also watched the Peach Orchard segment and came to many of the same conclusions that you did. I found it interesting that, even though the Kamis were trying to punish the little boy for what his family had done, they still showed him the peach orchard in bloom once more; I feel that this is contradictory to what they were saying to begin with.
ReplyDeleteI like the idea in Shinto that places in nature can be considered sacred.
Nature is definitely placed as a priority when it comes to shinto religion and I believe that this is indeed the main themes of shintoism. I also feel that the dolls that came alive reperesent kami and the idea that cutting down beautiful peach orchards is considered to be a great sin.
ReplyDeleteI was confused as well when I first saw the clip and I had to really pay attention in detail to pick out certain aspects of Shinto. I viewed the act (cutting down the peach orchards) of the boy's family as a sin as well because it was something that the kami took pride in and thought was beautiful and that should not be destroyed.
ReplyDeleteI also watched the peach orchard clip. i agree with you that when i first watched it i was confused on what was happening, until i got an understanding of the Shinto religion.its true that nature is important to the Shinto religion. i really had to pay attention to the clip in detail to understand the importance of each scene
ReplyDeleteI also found it weird that only the little boy saw the kami. Why didn't anyone else? The kami were “the spirits of the trees, the life of the blossoms.” Cutting them down was a sin against a sacred place; which is one of the Shinto’s ethics. This is why they were angry with the whole family. The ritual they performed is how you communicate with the kami.
ReplyDeleteI came to the same conclusion as you; nature is one of the most important things in the Shinto religion. Kami can be represented by important things in nature and Kami came out to represent the orchard. I do however believe that Kami believes in forgiveness and knows when someone is being honest and this is the reason that they let the little boy off and allowed him to see the orchard one last time.
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