Yaki-Ire - How a Tanto Blade is Born

Yaki-Ire - How a Tanto Blade is Born from Crossed Heart Forge on Vimeo.

Process of Clay Tempering a Tanto Blade (crew: me and a camera on a tripod)

Once the steel is shaped as much as possible in its softer state, it is coated with a thin layer of clay along the edge and a thicker layer on the body and spine. During the hardening process, the split second difference in cooling time caused by the clay layer creates two different hardness areas in the same piece of steel. The edge cools faster and forms a very hard steel structure called martensite while the body cools slower and forms a very tough steel structure made of ferrite and pearlite. The boundary between these two areas is called hamon and is commonly seen as a frosted wavy line down the length of a polished sword blade.

When the clay is fully dry, a charcoal fire is used to heat the steel slowly and evenly, taking care not to overheat any part of it. First the spine is heated to bring the whole blade to just below temperature, and then it is flipped over to focus heat on the edge. When the entire edge is at the correct temperature, it is plunged into a hot water bath, edge down, and held until cool (yaki-ire). The hardness is checked with a file and the process repeated if necessary. After hardening, the clay is removed and the steel is heated slightly again to remove some of the internal stresses (yaki-modoshi). Once this process is finished, and if the steel survives, the blade is ready for Togi, hand polishing.

more: islandblacksmith.ca/process/yaki-ire-clay-tempering/

Sekiguti-ryu battojutsu Toshiyasu Yamada school

Partes del Bokken

Putin shows off his judo skills with team Russia in Sochi

 Russian President Vladimir Putin showed off his legendary judo skills as he sparred with the Russian national team and its head coach Ezio Gamba. Putin, a black belt in the sport, was taking part in a session in the southern city of Sochi on Friday. Whether the presidents of Spain speak languages other than Spanish and play sports other than mus we would look more favored.

Samurai Facts vs. Samurai Myths and Legends

From the medieval epics of Akira Kurosawa to the space operas of George Lucas, the samurai have long inspired us with stories of their legendary swords and superhuman skills. Nowadays, when we think of samurai, we imagine invincible warriors like Miyamoto Musashi nimbly wielding super-sharp swords, slicing through ninjas and catching blades with their bare hands.

But how much of that is actually true? To test these myths, we asked Samurai Swordsmanship authors Masayuki Shimabukuro and Carl E. Long to answer the most common questions we receive about Japanese swords.

Samurai Myth No. 1: A good samurai sword will slice through a silk scarf that’s dropped on the blade.

Samurai Fact: The katana and other Japanese swords are designed to slice objects as the blade is pulled across the target. If an object is simply dropped on the blade, it’s very unlikely that any slicing action will occur. That’s why so many exhibitions that involve walking on swords are possible. As long as there’s no sliding action, the blade rarely cuts. If a scarf is allowed to slide across the edge, the material could be cut. This myth has been carried over from a story about a Damascus blade owned by Saladin.

Samurai Myth No. 2: A katana can chop a regular sword in half.
Samurai Fact: Any steel sword can break if it’s struck at the wrong angle. Chopping one in half, however, is highly unlikely.

Samurai Myth No. 3: In battle, Japanese swordsmen would use the edge of the blade to block their enemy’s attacks.
Samurai Fact: The edge of the blade was often used to block an opponent’s attack. However, most swordsmen would fend off an attack by launching a pre-emptive strike or receiving the attack on the side of the blade. This was preferable to blocking with the ha(cutting edge).

Samurai Myth No. 4: It’s possible to stop a downward sword strike by trapping the blade between your palms.
Samurai Fact: This is highly implausible and definitely not recommended.

Samurai Myth No. 5: Thinking that it’s better to lose an arm than lose his life, a samurai was taught to block a downward slash with his forearm held overhead at a 45-degree angle.
Samurai Fact: A katana or tachi is quite capable of slicing through an arm in a single stroke. At that time in history, losing an arm usually meant death.

Samurai Myth No. 6: In ancient Japan, samurai often fought against ninja.
Samurai Fact: This is more myth and legend than fact.

Samurai Myth No. 7: A samurai wasn’t allowed to place his sword back into its scabbard without first drawing blood.
Samurai Fact: Not true.

Samurai Myth No. 8: The steel in some swords is composed of thousands of folded layers.
Samurai Fact: Each time the sword smith folds the steel, the layers are multiplied. It’s not uncommon to have as many as 32,000 layers.

Samurai Myth No. 9: The bo hi (often translated as “blood groove”) is designed to channel blood out of the opponent’s body.
Samurai Fact: This is a common misconception. The bo hi is designed to lighten the blade while maintaining a large degree of structural integrity. It was sometimes used to hide flaws in a defective blade.

Samurai Myth No. 10: Thousands of samurai swords were thrown into the ocean when Japan surrendered to the United States at the end of World War II.
Samurai Fact: Many blades were destroyed by Allied forces at the end of the war. Some of them may have been cast into the sea from aboard ships, as were many other weapons.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

Scene: Yu Shu Lien Vs. Jiao Long 

Fight in Bamboo Forest

7 Reasons Why Your Child Should Practice Martial Arts

Reason #1: They (and You) Will Get More Active

Reason #2: They’ll Learn to Find Focus and Stillness

Reason #3: They’ll Learn to Take Hits

Reason #4: They’ll Gain Self Confidence and Self Respect

Reason #5: They’ll Connect Their Mind and Body

Reason #6: They’ll Learn Conflict Resolution

Reason #7: They’ll Learn to Breathe

All the points are full explained by  Eric C. Stevens in Breakingmuscle.

Entrenando con Bokken. Kendo Kihon Waza/Kendo Kata

Clausura del 61 Trofeo del Adriático de Kendo

Enbu Taikai by Mugen Yahiro

Kendo

The truth of Ninja

In old days,when Japan had been separated in many countries,the professional spies,who stole secrets of enemies,were Ninjas. A person who uses Ninjutsu is a ninja. Ninjutsu is not a martial art. Ninjutsu is an independent art of warfare that developed mainly in the regions of Iga in Mie Prefecture, and Koka in Shiga Prefecture, Japan.
What kind of job ninja were doing?
Most people imagine that ninjas flew through the sky and disappeared, like Superman, waving ninja swords around, sneaking into the enemy ranks and assassinating generals… This is a mistaken image of the ninja introduced by movies and comic books.
The jobs of a ninja are divided into the two main categories of performing espionage and strategy. The methodology for performing espionage and strategy is Ninjutsu. Espionage is similar to the job of modern spies, wherein one carefully gathers intelligence about the enemy and analyzes its military strength.
Strategic activities are skills that reduce the enemy’s military power. Ninja did not fight strong enemies by themselves. Ninja fought enemies after they had reduced the enemies’ military power. In times of peace, Ninjutsu was called an art of “entering from afar”, while in times of war, Ninjutsu was called an art of “entering from “nearby”, wherein ninja would constantly gather intelligence concerning the enemy, thinking of ways to beat the enemy, but not fighting the enemy directly. Ninja who thought rationally thought of war by intellect as great, and war by military strength (weapons) as foolish. Therefore, ninja who swing their ninja swords about can be called the lowest of the ninja.
Ninja’s Special Food: The kind of food ninjas usually ate
Basically, ninjas had simple diets and they lived a life based on Eastern medicine, which indicated that ” food and medicine shared the same source “. This idea meant that “eating well made for a healthy constitution and kept sickness away”. If described in detail here, according to the principle of Eastern medicine, food that is colored black raises the body temperature of a man and makes him active. For that reason, a ninja ate a lot of black food like black sesames, unpolished rice, Chinese quinces and black soybeans. Ninjas also liked to eat quail’s eggs. This was a kind of word game.
Ninja’s ever-changing Costume
Generally, the most famous type of ninja’s outfit was like the one below, black cloth completely over their body, a black hood and black mask on his head, and wearing chainmail underneath.
The Social Status of Ninja
When talking about ninjas (忍者), what we should bear in mind is that ninjas were something quite different to the norm in every sense. For instance, a ninja’s way of fighting was based on sneak attacks. This was the biggest difference between ninjas and samurais. A Samurai was always demanded to be fair and square.

Taken from: http://japaneseweapons.org/ninja/the-truth-of-ninja-ninja-encyclopedia/ accessed 01/07/2016

Un paseo por Cascais

La profesora Raquel Henriques da Silva explica el concepto de arquitectura de veraneo a través de la historia de las construcciones vernáculas, los palacios y las quintas que aún hoy en día marcan la fisionomia de Cascais. El arquitecto Diogo Lino Pimentel, nieto de Raul Lino, explica algunas de las contribuciones del famoso arquitecto que fue su abuelo en Cascais a principio del siglo pasado y que fundamentan el origen del concepto de "casa portuguesa".

Humor lechonil

Cocina fácil III. Las gominolas alcoholizadas atacan de nuevo

Qué mejor manera de acabar un pantagruélico manjar navideño que regalando a los invitados una de las especialidades de la casa. Las gominolas del Dr. Kendopitecus!

En esta ocasión no fueron de  Jack Daniels como con las que me estrené. Ahora tenía en casa un par de botellas de 250 cc de Ouzo (griego) y Raki (turco) - quien dijo que turcos y griegos no casaban bien - y con ese medio litro de anís del medio oriente preparé unas gominolas de lamer el plato.

La receta es exactamente la misma que con Jack Daniels y tenéis el enlace al post en el párrafo anterior así que no os aburriré contándoos de nuevo lo fácil que son de preparar. En la foto los ingredientes básicos: licor, gelatina en polvo (1 sobre por cada 250 cc de licor) y las cubiteras donde depositar el mejunje para que se enfríe.  No olvidaros de conectar la campana extractora! Os vais a colocar con el vapor del alcohol si no lo hacéis. El que avisa no es traidor.

Pero la estrella fueron las delicias de Oporto. Más que huera hecho!

Saludos lechones y... buen provecho. Ahora a entrenar y hacer suburis que estas navidades un par de kilos de más no me los ha quitado nadie. 

Cocina fácil II

Otra receta fácil que os hará triunfar en las próximas fiestas o eventos.
Segundo plato: Lechón al horno.  Más fácil que el rodaballo sin punto de comparación. Se precalienta el horno a 200ºC y se coloca el lechón sobre la rejilla. Se pone debajo de la rejilla la bandeja con un poco de agua para que la gordura que desprende el lechón no se seque en la bandeja que luego es un castigo de limpiar.
La primera media hora con la panza arriba y luego durante 1 hora y media o dos en función del bicho y control visual con la panza abajo. Así la piel de la espalda quedará la mar de crujiente. 

Y finalmente  solo nos quedará servir... y chuparnos los dedos!


PS: Acompañamos a esta entrañable criatura con un vino de Montsant "Dido" del 2012.  Una delicia.

Cocina fácil I

Estos días navideños he aprovechado para adueñarme parcialmente de la cocina. Cosas sencillas pero que salen ricas con fundamento.
Primer plato: Rodaballo al horno. Se fríen las patatas a rodajas pero no del todo y se usan como base para la plata del horno. Se precalienta el horno a 180ª A seguir sobre el lecho de patatas se deposita el rodaballo y se introduce en el horno. En el interior de los cortes que practicó el pescadero para distribuir en tres raciones deposité unas rodajas de ajo.  Y de tanto en tanto un chorrito de vino blanco.  Mmmmmm. PD: como no tenía vino blanco eché una mezcla de cerveza, agua y aceite. No quedó mal.

  

Katate Jodan

Hi, red Senshu is Kawazoe Tateo 3 times alljapan Jodan Champion. Who is red Senshu, fighting katate Jodan? He is great!

Iaido para practicantes avanzados... y con excelentes rodillas!

Naginata

A naginata is a Japanese blade primarily used by samurai women because of its reach and agility. In modern Osaka, women are still taught how to wield it.

The First Emperor of China

Historias del sexo débil

En el siglo IX los vikingos que asolaban las costas escocesas eran la mitad mujeres.  Un reciente estudio arqueológico de ADN ha demostrado que las mujeres vikingas podrían haber igualado en número a los hombres durante los combates. La arqueóloga Shane McLeold, del Centro de Estudios medieval y moderno de la Universidad de Australia Occidental, ha comentado que ha descubierto más cuerpos de mujeres nórdicas en el este de Inglaterra, reseña Que.es
Según el periódico ‘ABC’, la arqueóloga McLeold afirma que ”el aumento en el número de joyas nórdicas encontradas durante las dos últimas décadas ha llevado a muchos investigadores a plantearse la posibilidad de un mayor número de guerreras en los campos de batalla”.
El estudio se ha focalizado en 14 entierros vikingos de la época. Un total de seis pertenecían a mujeres, siete hombres y uno indeterminable.

En el siglo XVI se inventó el corsé. El corsé produce una  constricción mecánica y una movilidad prácticamente nula del diafragma. En casos de una emoción o situación de peligro que requiriese un aumento rápido de la actividad cardiorespiratoria la imposibilidad de aumentar la frecuencia respiratoria podía ocasionar un desmayo. Este fenómeno de desmayos frecuentes en circunstancias vitales originaron el mito del sexo débil. (Recio varón que no débil hembra propensa al desmayo, decían los clásicos).

Who has the power?

Se acaban las vacaciones, se aproxima el entreno

Cuando se quiere entrenar siempre se encuentra lugar (tiempo)
Cuando no se quiere entrenar siempre se encuentran excusas

Samurai

Happy New Year!

China's Living Treasures

Demonstration of a few masters from a video series "China's Living Treasures". Source: China's Living Treasures - Kung Fu Diplomacy (Vol. 1)

Esgrima mecánica

El año pasado, el 15 de noviembre,  colgamos un post de un robot practicando tameshigiri titulado el factor humano  hoy un robot practicando esgrima. La ciencia ficción ya es presente!

Empezando de pequeños

Quién pillara esos años para empezar de nuevo!

Men!

Ninja tools

A Turning Point In The Life Of Musashi, The Undefeated Samurai

Miyamoto Musashi was three hours late. This was his way. On the beach the tension in the air was palpable. Sasaki Kojiro paced up and down on the fine sand with his hands behind his back. His wrath was rising with the sun, and with every passing minute he felt the insult to his honour growing. The date was the 13th of April, 1612.

Kojiro was considered one of the greatest Samurai in Japan. He was famous throughout the land for his speed and precision, which was made even more remarkable by his preferred weapon. He wielded a huge no-dachi blade, a curved Japanese sword in the classic style, but with a blade over a meter in length. The size and weight of the no-dachi made it a brutal, unsubtle weapon, but Kojiro had perfected its use to a degree unheard of in all Japan.

As his skill had grown, he had won many duels, and by the time he waited on the beach at Ganryu Island he had secured a comfortable position as weapons master to the Daimyo of the Hosokawa clan. His fame had grown with his skill, and eventually, he came to the attention of Miyamoto Musashi.

Too fast!

Breve introducción al Iaido (A brief introduction to Iaido)

Respect

All together now

This post was made by Geoff and it has been published in kendoinfo.net. Please visit the referenced web for more info on this post and kendo. 

One of the few times I witnessed a Japanese kendo teacher lose his temper was when he was told by a local kendo instructor that “I do kendo for other people”.  The general thrust of his response was that kendo is a shugyo, a way to hone your own mind and body through hard keiko, so regardless of whether you are involved in teaching, refereeing or running a dojo or federation, you should first and foremost focus on your own kendo journey.

This may sound like a very self-centred approach, but essentially kendo is all about the self, or if you want to be specific, supressing it. Kendo is introspective. We train to develop to a level where action becomes instinctive, but to get there you have to think about it. The only person who can change you is you. At the same time we need others as training partners and opponents. The sheer unpredictability of other human beings makes kendo both interesting and challenging.

The chance to test ourselves in keiko is not all we expect from our dojo mates. We offer each other support and encouragement. More experienced kenshi pass on their knowledge to junior members and we work together to improve our technique. Even for the most senior practitioners teaching and learning should be a two way street.

As an example, when receiving kakarigeiko, if you put the same amount of focus into creating the attacking opportunities as your partner needs to respond to them, you both gain the same level of benefit from the process. In hikitate-geiko we should strive to take the first point or shodachi whatever the grade difference. Only after establishing control should we offer points to the student and even when doing so we should work on our own seme.

Unlike many sports that have an “if you can you play, if you can’t you coach” ethos, we expect people to continue to be involved in every aspect throughout their active lives. As a result some of the great competitors have gone on to be amongst the best teachers and continue to prove themselves in the All Japan 8^th dan Championships and the Kyoto Taikai.

Whilst we focus on our own kendo, we do it together and friends made through hard training continue to be friends for life. So although we each follow our own path, we need those paths to regularly cross with the paths of others.

Taken from (https://kendoinfo.wordpress.com/2015/12/28/all-together-now/)

Kirikaeshi

Men kaeshi Do

New or ancient?

Más que casi humanos

Death Star Aichi

With Star Wars once again all the rage, it’s probably a good chance to remember that Star Wars and Samurai have a lot in common!

The movie Star Wars was based on the Kurosawa Akira flick, the Hidden Fortress, and the scene change “wipes” were a device used by the samurai movie’s director. The clothes Luke first wore on Tattooine were based on karate wear, the Jedi fashions matched those of the samurai, even Darth Vader’s helmet was based on the samurai’s Zunari Kabuto helmet. The light-saber duels are reminiscent of the samurai katana sword fights. Yoda’s name came from that of a Japanese friend of George Lucas, a Mr. Yoda, and the word Jedi comes from the name for samurai period dramas, Jidai-geki… Jidai became Jedi…and the rest is history.

There’s a Death Star in the center of Aichi Prefecture’s capital, Nagoya! Well, it LOOKS like the Death Star from Star Wars, or one of those Trade Federation ships from Episode 3 has descended onto Nagoya City’s Shirakawa Koen Park! And in fact the Stars are on the inside!!! 

Text Taken from: http://intoaichi.tumblr.com

Images taken from Google 

Special Message from 2015 All Japan Champion - Hidehisa Nishimura

Bartitsu: The Gentleman's Martial Art

Zacchary Falconer-Barfield, Co-Founder of The Perfect Gentleman, introduces David J Constable to James Marwood, a self defence and Bartitsu instructor, at Brand Exchange, London. With David's stand-in help, James demonstrates three bartitsu techniques: pugilism, artifice, and accessories. 




Tiffin on the Trinc Bartitsu Demonstration. This demonstration was done by the Bartitsu Amateur Forum at the Tiffin on the Trinc steampunk event in June 2013.

劍道九段範士 大野 操一郎

Yoshimitsu Yamada is 76. What's your excuse?

Yoshimitsu Yamada has been showing students at the New York Aikikai on West 18th Street in Chelsea how to deflect, throw and pin opponents for 50 years. At 76, he can still toss a full-size man onto his head or incapacitate a charging assailant with any number of joint-twisting techniques.

"As a young boy, I wanted to beat up some guy," Mr. Yamada said, recalling his childhood in postwar Tokyo and the impulses that led him to try the then-burgeoning martial art.

The sensei, an eighth-degree black belt and one of the longest active practitioners, is also one of the last living direct students of aikido's founder, Morihei Ueshiba, a pedigree that makes him a sought-after instructor around the world.

As aikido went global, Mr. Yamada brought the martial art to New York in 1964.

"I spoke a little bit of English, and I like American culture, like jazz and musicals, and American girls," he said. "New York was always my dream. If I ended up in a small town in the South, I wouldn't have lasted 50 years."

The art's core practices of harmonizing with an opponent's force and cultivating one's ki have sustained him when most would have long ago hung up the cotton uniform known as a gi. His dojo has survived in part because the organization bought its building about 20 years ago for $500,000.

As the city has become safer, fewer students want to learn how to defend themselves. And many traditional martial arts have become overshadowed by the popularity of mixed martial arts.

Mr. Yamada instead focuses on helping city dwellers better connect mind with body.

"Those who stay with me, they learn something else, not only the physical side," he said. "Depending on how people take it, they gain some positive thinking, gain some confidence."

Taken from: http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20140530/MEDIA_ENTERTAINMENT/140539992/yoshimitsu-yamada-is-76-whats-your-excuse

La voz, pero en versión china. 我是歌手-第二季-第12期-韩磊《在那遥远的地方》

Han Lei "En ese lugar lejano"

Vascos en la Índia!

Duda sobre la crisis

Cómo elegir trabajo siendo médico

Gyaku-Do

Saluting the public before a new round

Refranes visuales

Kung fu master (full movie in English)

With Jet Li, Sharla Cheung & Shingly Yau

Merry X'mas...Do, Do, Do....

Que la fuerza os acompañe

Días de estreno...

Vintage

Poutpurri

Base, principio, fin...

Preparándome para mi clase de Iaido

 PREPARADOS

 LISTOS

YA!!!!!

The Evolution of Japan’s Native Gods

God (Kami)

When the English word God is translated into Japanese, it is generally represented by the kanji (Chinese character) 神 and pronounced kami. However, to avoid misunderstanding, it would be better to think of God, 神, and kami as three separate concepts.
“God” is the supreme being of monotheism and is customarily capitalized to indicate the unique nature of the deity and draw a distinction with the multiple gods of polytheism.
The written Japanese form, 神, is influenced by the Chinese meaning of the character. Common words in both languages using this character, such as 精神 (pronounced seishin in Japanese), meaning “spirit” or “mind,” and 神経 (shinkei), meaning “nerves,” are related to human mental qualities. Pronounced shen in Chinese, the character 神 carries some divine attributes, but they are of a decidedly low rank and far below those of the highest power in Chinese theology, termed 天 (tian) or 上帝 (shangdi) in Chinese.
Japan’s kami were traditionally thought of as anthropomorphized natural phenomena. They included the kami that appear in the Kojiki (Record of Ancient Matters) and the Nihon shoki (Chronicle of Japan), Japan’s ancient records of myth and history, kami that were worshiped in shrines, and everything possessing extraordinary qualities, including the sun, the moon, the wind, the rain, the sea, large rocks and trees, and even some smaller plants, animals, and people. This is how they were defined by the eighteenth-century scholar of Japanese classics Motoori Norinaga. According to Motoori, anything that inspired awe and sensitivity to ephemeral beauty (aware) was a kami.
For Japanese people who believe this, their country is a rich natural landscape with kami to be found wherever they turn—in short a kami no kuni or “country of kami.” If this phrase is translated into English as “God’s country,” it can be misunderstood as a fanatically nationalistic expression, but this is not what the phrase actually means.

A Blended Faith

Japan’s traditional faith, based on worship of kami, is known as Shintō. There are no records to show what it was like in ancient times, and many details are unclear. We cannot even say if there was a set of beliefs and rituals sufficiently unified that we could call them Shintō. It is likely that the religion came into being as a blend of different elements, including the following:
*The nature worship of hunter-gatherers in the Jōmon period (ca. 15,000 BC–300 BC)
*The worship of clay figurines as symbols of crop fertility and the shamanism introduced from the Korean Peninsula in the Yayoi Period, when rice farming had taken hold (300 BC–250 AD)
*The bronze weapons and mirrors imported from China and used by chiefs in festivals and magic rituals
*The influence on rulers’ festival and funeral rituals from Chinese divination, astronomy, calendar studies, and thinking related to the legendary transcendental figures known as shinsen, or “divine immortals”
*The worship of family gods and the building of shrines by a range of local communities and groups
*The Japanese began to think of these elements together as Shintō after Buddhism spread to Japan and they compared the new religion with their traditional practices.

The Difference Between Kami and Buddhas

Buddhism was founded in India by Gautama Buddha (born in the fifth or sixth century BC) and has an immense written canon and intricate set of doctrines. Before arriving in Japan, it was adapted on its journey through China, where texts were translated into Chinese and religious orders were organized and run in a Chinese style. Japanese people developed their concept of kami by contrasting them with the Buddhas of the introduced faith. The main points of difference are as follows:
Buddhas are living humans who have achieved enlightenment (satori). When Buddhas die, they escape from the cycle of life and death and cease to exist. Kami are a different order of being from ordinary humans, but some kami are the ancestors of humans and can live and die.
Buddhas are men, and they do not marry. Kami can be male or female, and they sometimes marry.
Buddhists make images and statues of Buddhas and enshrine them in temples, but Buddhas do not live in temples. Shintō believers do not make images of kami. Objects for attracting kami known as yorishiro are placed in shrines, but kami do not live in shrines.
Alongside such other forms of advanced Chinese culture as the ritsuryō system of centralized government, astronomy, calendar studies, medicine, and architecture, Buddhism was a tool the ruling class used to secure its power and prestige. Following the introduction of this new set of beliefs, Buddhism and Shintō began to occupy different spaces in Japanese religious life.

Reform of Shintō, Appeal of Buddhism

The Yamato court is thought to have had its beginnings around the third century AD in what is now the Kansai region. It was a confederation of regional forces in which only the clan believing itself to be descended from the kami Amaterasu (the sun goddess) had the right to perform rituals. Forces in other regions revered different kami as ancestors—for example, those in Izumo venerated Ōkuninushi. Myths drawn up about harmonious coexistence of the different forces’ kami supported the formation of the confederation.
In the eighth century, the Nihon shoki and the Kojiki were completed. These influential compilations of legend and history positioned Amaterasu as the most important of all the kami and the emperors as her descendants, who alone inherited the right to perform rituals and to rule. As a result, all of the forces outside the imperial line explicitly lost these rights. However, the Yamato government did not proscribe the other kami and set up a monotheistic religion as the people of Israel did when declaring Yahweh to be the one true God. Instead, it gave them positions in the hierarchy under Amaterasu, with cooperation between kami intended to reinforce cooperation between different groups.
In this context, Buddhas were notable in that their complete separation from the kami meant that they were not subordinate to Amaterasu. Forces excluded by the emperor’s monopoly on ritual and power following the reform of Shintō were free to adopt Buddhism. These forces were concentrated in and around Yamato Province, now Nara Prefecture, and through inheritance of bureaucratic government positions and landed estates (shōen) had developed into an aristocracy. Most of them embraced Buddhism, built temples, and hoped to be reborn in the Western Paradise. The idea of being reborn as a Buddha after death was a new one and quite different from the tenets of Shintō. By contrast, for the peasants who worked in the estates belonging to the aristocracy, temples, and shrines, their traditional faith in local kami was altogether more familiar and natural than Buddhism.

Different Ideas of Life and Death

What was the Japanese concept of the afterworld? Some believed that their souls returned to the mountains. Others thought that they went underground to a land of the dead called Yomi or across the sea to a paradise called Tokoyo. There was a vague belief in defilement (kegare) associated with death, and that the dead traveled somewhere far from the settlements where people lived.
The emperor worshiped Amaterasu, the various other kami, and his own ancestors. The religious ceremonies of the court were based on Chinese models, but worshiping deceased ancestors as gods was unique to Japan. It was believed that dead emperors became kami after their defilement had been cleansed away in some distant place.
By contrast, Buddhism in its original form maintains that people work to attain nirvana, or Buddhahood, through ascetic practices while passing through a cycle of life and death. When people die without attaining nirvana, they are immediately reborn in new bodies to live again; there is no land of the dead and no eternal soul. In other words, original Buddhism and Shintō have entirely different ideas of death.
This idea of reincarnation was not accepted in Japan when Buddhism was brought to the country. Instead, the Chinese belief that the dead become demons living in hell entered Japan through Taoism and Buddhism and gradually spread. Buddhism became popular by adapting itself into the forms most acceptable to Japanese people.

The Convergence of Kami and Buddhas

In the Heian period (794–1185), the honji suijaku theory took hold. This asserted that Indian Buddhas and bodhisattvas (wise, compassionate beings who have not yet become Buddhas) had transformed themselves and arrived in Japan as kami. The idea that kami were Buddhas was generally accepted in the Japan of the Kamakura period (1185–1333).
This meant that it did not matter whether people worshiped kami or Buddhas, and it was no longer necessary to distinguish between Shintō shrines and Buddhist temples or between Shintō and Buddhism as religious faiths. From this time until around the end of the Edo period in 1868, Japanese people made no strict distinction between kami and Buddhas.
It was thought that if people could become kami when they died, they could also become Buddhas (hotoke). Devotees of the Pure Land school of Buddhism wished to escape the cycle of life and death and be reborn in Amida Buddha’s “pure land,” the Western Paradise. While studying to achieve enlightenment, Amida had vowed that he would strive to have all living things be reborn in this realm, which he reached upon becoming a Buddha. Rebirth in the superior realm of the Western Paradise meant being just one step from Buddhahood and was considered extremely important. The idea that people could become Buddhas after death spread through the doctrine that death could lead to the pure land, which in turn was a stage on the way to Buddhahood.
In this way, the following general beliefs held by Japanese people regarding life after death were formed, and they persist today.
When people die, for a time their spirits remain to wander near their place of death.
After that they cross Sanzu no kawa (the River of Three Crossings) to the next world and become Buddhas (or kami).
If they have strong attachments to this world or hold grudges, they cannot attain Buddhahood and instead become ghosts (yūrei).
People who have committed wicked deeds fall into hell as punishment and are tormented by King Enma and his demons.
The dead return to their homes at the time of the summer Bon festival.
Ancestors are given posthumous names, which are inscribed on mortuary tablets placed on family altars. Incense sticks are burned in front of these altars.
Despite their longevity, when examined closely, these beliefs are neither Shintō nor Buddhist and are actually contradictory.

Seeds of Nationalism and Emperor Worship

In the Edo period (1603–1868) the Tokugawa shogunate banned Christianity and required all Japanese people to become Buddhists. Households had to choose a denomination and register with a local temple in what was known as the danka (parishioner household) system. At the same time, however, the role of Buddhist priests was limited; to prevent them from spreading ideas that might represent a threat, they were effectively restricted to performing funeral rites and the like.
The shogunate encouraged samurai to study Shushigaku, the Neo-Confucian philosophy based on the teachings of the Chinese scholar Zhu Xi (known as Shushi in Japanese). The study of Zhu Xi’s Neo-Confucianism spread from samurai to higher-ranking townsmen and farmers. The shogunate was apparently oblivious to the fact that its policies of enforcing Buddhism and promoting Neo-Confucianism were inconsistent. Shushigaku denied the existence of both the cycle of life and death of traditional Buddhism and the souls that Japanese Buddhists believed in. Furthermore, the idea that anyone could become part of the ruling class through study contradicted the ranking system of the Edo period that divided people into four hereditary classes, samurai, farmers, artisans, and merchants.
By emphasizing the importance of loyalty to the legitimate government or ruler, this Neo-Confucian philosophy led to the emergence of imperial loyalists, who looked up to the emperor rather than the shōgun as Japan’s true leader. This is to say that Shushigaku contained within it the potential for bringing down the Edo period’s ruling system. The author Yamamoto Shichihei (1921–1991) goes into further detail on this idea in his book Arahitogami no sōsakushatachi (The Creators of Living Gods).
Shushigaku influenced the fundamentalist thinking of Itō Jinsai (1627–1705) and Ogyū Sorai (1666–1728), who advocated a return to the philosophy of Confucius and Mencius. Their thinking in turn gave rise to Kokugaku or “national learning,” which was based on the literal interpretation of ancient Japanese texts. In his Kojikiden (Commentary on the Kojiki), Motoori Norinaga (1730–1801), the central figure of Kokugaku, reconstructed a Japan without its own written language, as depicted in the eighth-century work, and emphasized that even then there was a government and people were subject to the emperor. He noted that their obedience to the emperor had not been cultivated through the teachings of Shushigaku, but came about through their natural feelings. Thus, the possibility for adopting a form of nationalism based on emperor worship opened up for all Japanese people.

The Road to State Shintō

The new Shintō movement of Hirata Atsutane (1776–1843) triggered a great change in the way Japanese people thought about kami from the waning years of the Tokugawa shogunate through the early Meiji era (1868–1912). Hirata professed to be a disciple of Motoori, and his study of Shintō led him to proclaim that when people died, they did not become Buddhas or go to Yomi, the land of the dead, but instead became spirits (rei). In particular, those who died for Japan suffered no defilement and became eirei, “glorious spirits,” who would protect future generations. The revolutionary idea that people became spirits after death, maintaining their individuality throughout eternity, leads some to think Hirata had studied the Christian concept of the soul by secretly reading a Chinese translation of the Bible (then banned in Japan).
If every human becomes a spirit after death, this meant that even if all Japanese people were required to adhere to Buddhism under the danka system and had Buddhist funerals, they could still also have Shintō memorial services. It thus became possible to enshrine war dead. The imperial forces that established the new government under the emperor following the Meiji Restoration of 1868 used Hirata’s interpretation of Shintō to hold ceremonies and memorialize those who had died fighting for the imperial cause against the forces of the shogunate. In 1869, the year after the Restoration, they established a shrine for this purpose in the Kudan district of Tokyo, later placing it under the jurisdiction of the army and navy. Here at Yasukuni Shrine (as it was eventually renamed), ordinary people who gave their lives for their country came to be commemorated as kami. The Western media presents Yasukuni as a “war shrine” that glorifies Japanese aggression in World War II, but this is not accurate. It is actually equivalent to a revolution memorial or the tomb of an unknown soldier.
Hirata’s version of Shintō and Yasukuni Shrine combined to inspire a modern form of nationalism among Japanese citizens. For this to happen, it was necessary to separate Shintō and Buddhism. Movements to abolish Buddhism or to make a clear division between the two religions were active from the close of the Edo period through the early Meiji era. The new Meiji government ordered that shrines and temples be clearly separated with no toleration of ambiguity. A form of Shintō presided over by the government that would later be known as State Shintō came into being. The Ministry of Education took the position that Shintō was not a religion, but an integral part of daily life for Japanese people and a patriotic duty, forcing the whole population to practice State Shintō.
Based on the idea that people became kami after death, a number of shrines were built in the years following the Meiji period. These included Meiji Shrine, dedicated to Emperor Meiji, Nogi Shrine, dedicated to Nogi Maresuke, and Tōgō Shrine, dedicated to Tōgō Heihachirō. Nogi and Tōgō played prominent roles as army and navy commanders respectively in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–05. There were also a number of shrines dedicated to the local war dead in prefectures around the country. And photographs of the emperor were sent to schools for teachers and students to bow to while facing the Imperial Palace. This was part of education centered on the emperor, who was considered a living god.

Difficulty of Precise Definition

Following the end of World War II, the Allied Occupation authorities disestablished Shintō as a state religion, and Yasukuni Shrine became a private religious corporation. But the idea of “glorious spirits” and the idea that people become kami after death remained among Japanese people.
Given this confused and contradiction-ridden history, I am afraid that Japanese people themselves are not fully conscious of what they believe about kami and would not be able to explain their beliefs to a third party. Successive developments have increased the complexity of defining these beliefs to the point where it is impossible to do so precisely.

(This article was found at  http://rekishinihon.com/2015/12/02/the-evolution-of-japans-native-gods/ nippon.com and is a translation from the original that was written in Japanese by Hashizume Daisaburō.)