Shinto

For this post I watched "Sunshine Through the Rain."  This section of the film "Dreams" was about a boy who disobeyed his mother and was therefore given a grave punishment for his actions. 

In the first part of the clip a boy is seen walking outside of his home.  As he walks toward the gate of his house it starts to rain.  At this point the boy's mother runs outside to gather things so that they do not get wet in the rain.  She then tells her son that he is to stay home since foxes like to get married in this weather and they do not like to be watched.  Of course, being told that he could not do something made the bot want to do it even more.  He took off and is next seen in the woods wondering about.  He comes across a passing with think fog and hides behind a tree.  The boy then sees that there are people in costume (the foxes supposedly) that are parading around in a very organized and strange manner.  The boy in intrigued by this and stays to watch them for a little while.  When the boy returns home he is greeted by his mother outside of the gate to the house.  She said that they (the foxes) left something for him.  When the boy looks at what was left he finds that it is a dagger/knife.  He looks at his mother and she tells him that he mist kill himself since he has seen something that he should never have seen.  She then says that he has another option which is to go to the foxes and ask for their forgiveness.  The boy says he does not where they live and his mother tells him to look under a rainbow.  The boy sets off and is last seen walking toward a rainbow with hopes of finding the foxes and getting their forgiveness.

I think that there are a few different ways in which the Shinto religions is expressed.  First of all, honor is one of the most important things in the religion.  When the boy went against what his mother said he dishonored his family.  In order to pay for what he had done he had to kill himself.  This can also be seen as being impure and then purifying himself when he hills himself.  Honor, in the Shinto religion, is one of the most important things by far. Dishonor is seen as much worse than death and is clearly seen in the film.  In this case, it is better for the boy to kill himself than to go on being shamed by his family and dishonored.  Overall, this film clearly represents qualities of the Shinto religion.