To Live Honestly Before the Gods
Meditations of a Shinto Priest (and our brand philosophy explained).
In April 2026, I travelled to Otaru, Hokkaido, to check in on the progress of our Kingston single-source Made in Japan collection, tailored by Kaneko-san and his team. Following the visit, Takanori-san, the Otaru workshop manager, took Kaneko, Tamami-san (Kaneko's right hand), and I to Sumiyoshi Jinja - one of Otaru's oldest shrines.
The meeting came about because over the years of working with Kingston woolgrower Simon Cameron and Kaneko, I had noticed something that kept coming up in our conversations. Both men - from opposite ends of the earth, in different languages, and in relatively different contexts - inevitably returned to the same ideas: stewardship, interdependency, respect for the land, and the harmony between humans, animals and nature. It sounded, to my untrained ear, unmistakably Shinto - and I wanted to hear it from the source.
At Sumiyoshi Jinja, I shared all this with the chief priest, Hoshino-san. He asked me questions about Kingston - the environment, sheep and Simon's farming methods. I asked him how this connects to Shinto.
What follows is the priest's response, in his own words.
Jonathan Lobban
On the Land, the Animals, and the Relationship Between Them
So, when we begin talking about land, stewardship, and mutual dependence, these ideas are not unfamiliar.
The relationship between people and place is very important.
The relationship between people and what sustains life is also very important.
These ideas exist in many forms within Shinto.
The exact form may differ.
But the underlying relationship is familiar.
I think there is resonance with Shinto.
Because the important point is not dominance.
It is relationship.
The land matters.
The animals matter.
People matter.
All are connected.
All affect one another.
No part exists completely alone.
Each depends on the others.
That understanding feels very compatible with Shinto thought.
Shinto teaches that humans are not separate from nature.
We live within it.
We are sustained by it.
We depend on it.
Because of that, gratitude matters.
Respect matters.
Balance matters.
When that balance is maintained, life flourishes.
There is also the idea of sacred forest.
In shrine forests, especially in Honshu, broadleaf forests are common.
Leaves fall.
The fallen leaves return to the forest to create a soil of memories and make it better.
The tree grows
If it is a magnificent tree, we will be grateful for the abundance of fruit that it bears.
In this way it circulates cumulatively to create a sacred grove.
Life continues.
Life is a cycle of renewal.
A cycle of coexistence.
A cycle of mutual support.
It is about ecological movement.
Balance.
Regeneration.
On the Spirit in All Things
When we think about animals, land, and living things, and their mutual dependence - or perhaps mutual trust - it can be difficult to see this clearly in a place like Hokkaido.
At the foundation of Japanese culture, and particularly within Shinto, there is the belief that all things have souls.
All things possess spirit.
There is a teaching:
even in trees souls reside in them,
and even stones have stone gods residing within them,
the gods of the sea reside in the sea,
and also in the mountains, it is said mountain gods reside there.
Each has its own kami.
Because of this, Japanese people have developed a shared awareness toward things, land, and nature.
That awareness is gratitude.
We always offer gratitude.
I think this shared recognition - gratitude toward things, land, and nature - is something the Japanese people have cultivated over a very long time.
On Animals and the Sacred
In Egyptian civilisation, for example, cats are associated with gods.
Japan is similar in some ways.
At Mitsumine Shrine in Saitama, wolves are revered as manifestations of the divine.
Normally, shrines have guardian lion-dogs.
But there, the guardian figures are wolves.
Then there is Inari worship.
At Inari shrines, foxes are regarded as divine messengers.
Why foxes?
Because mice eat rice.
Foxes hunt and eliminate mice.
Therefore foxes protect rice.
That is why foxes are revered in Inari worship.
They are treated as messengers - or manifestations - of the divine.
So, in Japan, animals are not separate from sacred life.
Animals may guide people.
Animals may protect what sustains human life.
Animals may serve as vessels for divine presence.
That is how these things are connected.
When someone is lost, Yatagarasu appears and guides them.
There are stories like that.
There is also the story of a god becoming a white bird after death.
These legends remain.
On the Way
"Shinto" means the Way of the Gods.
The word do - "way" or “path” - is important.
We see it in many Japanese disciplines. Kendo. Judo. Shodo.
Why do they all use the word "do"?
Because each one is ultimately about finding one's way of living.
It is about one's path.
Shinto is the same.
We are beings who live while being sustained by the gods.
Because of that, we follow the way of the gods.
That is Shinto.
On Living Honestly Before the Gods
But if we think about Bushido - the way of the warrior - I believe there is a connection to Shinto views of life and death.
To live honestly before the gods.
To live sincerely.
That may be the essence.
On Living Honestly Before the Gods
But if we think about Bushido - the way of the warrior - I believe there is a connection to Shinto views of life and death.
To live honestly before the gods.
To live sincerely.
That may be the essence.
More important than sharpening technique is sharpening the heart.
I think that idea connects strongly to Japanese thought.
Perhaps the deeper idea is this:
One lives in a way that can be witnessed by the gods.
One's way of life matters.
That is important.
On Simplicity, Restraint, and Care for Things
When we talk about simplicity or modest living in Japan, one phrase comes to mind:
Shisso ken'yaku.
This means simplicity, frugality, and restraint.
I think this is very important in Japanese culture.
If we consider this from a Shinto perspective, it relates directly to the belief that spirit exists in all things.
As I said earlier, all things contain spirit.
Everything contains the presence of kami.
Because of this, things should not be treated carelessly.
Things should be handled with respect.
They should be used carefully.
They should be valued.
I think this is one reason the Japanese idea of restraint developed.
Not simply as thrift.
Not simply as saving money.
But as an attitude toward life.
An attitude of care.
When something carries spirit, you do not waste it.
You do not discard it thoughtlessly.
You respect it.
That feeling becomes part of daily life.
This is not only about objects.
It also affects how we live.
How we behave.
How we carry ourselves.
Living simply is not about deprivation.
It is about reducing excess.
It is about understanding what truly matters.
If you live with gratitude and awareness, unnecessary excess naturally falls away.
That is one way to think about simplicity.
So simplicity is connected to reverence.
Restraint is connected to gratitude.
And both are connected to how we live with the gods.
The important thing is not only owning things.
The important thing is how we treat them.
How we care for them.
How we preserve them.
That applies to objects.
It applies to nature.
It applies to daily life.
Everything is connected.
On Life, Death, and Return
There are Buddhists here as well, and in Buddhism there is the idea that when we die, we go to the Pure Land - Paradise.
That is the Buddhist understanding.
But before Buddhism came to Japan, the Japanese understanding was different.
Before Buddhism entered Japan, during the Jomon and Yayoi periods, the Japanese people lived as an island people with their own beliefs.
Of course, there were ideas about an afterlife.
But fundamentally, when a person died, they did not simply disappear into another world.
They became protective spirits.
After death, a person became a god of the nearby mountain.
They became a mountain kami.
Then, when spring came, they descended from the mountain.
They came down to the rice fields.
And they became the gods of the rice paddies.
As gods of the rice fields, they remained there for about half the year.
During that time, they protected the rice.
They allowed rice to grow.
They sustained the harvest.
Then, after the harvest, they returned to the mountains.
They became mountain gods once again.
So, there is a cycle.
Mountain.
Rice field.
Harvest.
Return to mountain.
That cycle continues.
In Shinto, greater emphasis is placed on the spring and autumn equinoxes.
These seasonal transitions are very important.
In Japan, when speaking to the dead, we do not usually say:
"Please go peacefully to the next world."
Instead, we say something closer to:
"Please remain peacefully as the guardian spirit of this home."
That way of thinking remains very important.
On Rice
When we talk about Japanese spirituality, we ultimately return to rice.
Rice is central.
Rice is not simply food.
Rice sits at the centre of Japanese life.
In Shinto offerings, rice is always placed first before the gods.
That is important.
Rice comes first.
Then come things created from rice.
First comes rice.
Then sake.
Sake is made from rice.
Then mochi.
Mochi also comes from rice.
Only after that do we place offerings from the sea or the mountains.
That order is meaningful.
It reflects what has historically sustained Japanese life.
Rice sustained life.
Rice sustained communities.
Rice sustained culture.
This is why rice is inseparable from Japanese spirituality.
It is inseparable from ritual.
It is inseparable from gratitude.
Rice is not only something we consume.
It represents a relationship.
A relationship between people and land.
Between people and ancestors.
Between people and the gods.
That relationship is cyclical.
We receive life.
We offer gratitude.
We are sustained.
Then we pass that on.
That is why rice remains so important.
It is the foundation.
So when we talk about rice, we are also talking about:
life,
death,
ancestors,
nature,
gratitude,
and continuity.
All of these are connected.
I think Japanese people perhaps do not always consciously think about this anymore.
But deep down, the importance of rice remains.
It is still there.
Rice still carries emotional meaning.
It still carries cultural meaning.
That connection has not disappeared.
On Spring
When we think about Otaru's seasons, or Japan's seasons more broadly, we naturally divide the year into four seasons.
Spring.
Summer.
Autumn.
Winter.
I think many aspects of Japanese culture have emerged from these four seasons.
Among these, the season I want to focus on most is spring.
To explain this, I first want to talk about kotodama.
Kotodama means that spirit resides in words.
Words carry soul.
Words carry spiritual power.
This is an important belief in Japan.
As we move into spring, I want to talk about cherry blossoms.
Sakura is a word that carries very strong kotodama.
It carries deep meaning.
The word sakura can be broken apart.
This is an etymological or spiritual explanation, not strictly linguistic.
"Sa" refers to the coming of spring.
It refers to growth beginning.
It refers to plants budding and life emerging.
It signals the arrival of spring.
"Kura" means a place where a deity resides.
A sacred dwelling place.
A place where the gods settle.
So, when you combine these ideas, sakura becomes something that signifies the arrival of the spring deity.
Cherry blossoms indicate that the god of spring has arrived.
That is one way of understanding it.
For people like us - an agricultural people - the arrival of spring was extremely important.
When cherry blossoms bloomed, people understood:
Spring has arrived.
The spring deity has come.
People would gather beneath the cherry blossoms.
Offerings would be made.
Food would be placed before the tree.
Then the offerings would be lowered and shared among everyone.
Everyone would eat together.
This was the origin of hanami.
Today people think of hanami as drinking under cherry blossoms.
But originally, it had much deeper meaning.
It was a ritual act.
It was about welcoming spring.
Welcoming the deity.
Praying for the agricultural season.
When the cherry blossoms bloom, rice field work begins.
The agricultural season begins.
That is the signal.
Then around autumn - around the autumn equinox, roughly - the rice harvest comes.
After harvest, gratitude is expressed.
The rice has been provided.
The gods have sustained life.
Then the deity is invited to return to the mountains.
There are still traditions in rural Japan where people perform rituals for this.
Offerings are made.
People invite the deity into the home.
They lay out food.
Pour sake.
Offer thanks.
They say:
Thank you for this year.
Thank you for protecting us.
Please continue to watch over us.
Then the deity is ceremonially guided back.
This was the foundation of ancestor worship in earlier Japan.
This cycle was central.
That is why cherry blossoms matter so much to Japanese people.
Yes, cherry blossoms are beautiful.
But fundamentally, sakura marks the arrival of spring.
It marks the arrival of the spring deity.
It marks the beginning of agricultural life.
It marks a major turning point.
A seasonal threshold.
That is why cherry blossoms carry such weight in Japan.
Among the four seasons, I think spring carries special importance.
Spring carries deep weight.
Even the word "spring" carries meaning.
Spring is associated with life force.
With budding plants.
With growth beginning.
That is why spring holds such significance.
On Gratitude and Endurance
But if I speak from a Shinto perspective, I think the important thing is reverence toward nature.
Respect for nature.
Awareness of nature's power.
And gratitude for daily life.
In Japan we say:
Itadakimasu before eating.
Gochisousama after eating.
These are everyday words.
But their meaning runs very deep.
Before eating, there is gratitude.
After eating, there is gratitude.
This is not a small thing.
This is spiritual practice.
At the heart of this is gratitude toward the gods.
Especially gratitude toward Amaterasu Omikami.
The sun goddess.
Without sunlight, crops do not grow.
Without sunlight, vegetables do not grow.
Fruit does not grow.
Nothing grows.
So before eating, we acknowledge this.
We acknowledge that all food ultimately comes from divine blessing.
From sunlight.
From nature.
From life itself.
That is why gratitude before eating matters.
We are receiving life.
That way of thinking is important.
It teaches humility.
It teaches awareness.
It teaches gratitude.
Life contains hardship.
Nature can be severe.
There are difficult times.
But gratitude keeps us aligned.
It keeps us steady.
I think this attitude shapes resilience.
It shapes patience.
It shapes endurance.
On the Difference Between Buddhism and Shinto
Buddhism is different.
Buddhism has teachings.
Buddhism has scripture.
Shinto does not have scripture in the same way.
Buddhism in Japan became philosophy.
Shinto became morality.
That is one way to think about it.
Shinto is made of many overlapping elements.
It is like layers.
Many things overlap and combine.
Together they form Japanese culture.
There is no single root text.
That is important.
On Community, Festival, and Shared Life
From around the first week of June until around the second week of September, there is almost always a festival happening somewhere in Otaru.
That is the rhythm of the city.
A festival cannot happen through the shrine alone.
It requires many people.
The local neighbourhood associations help.
Residents help.
Volunteers help.
The community supports it.
Festivals bring people together.
They strengthen human relationships.
They deepen community life.
Festivals connect:
nature,
community,
economy,
tradition,
and daily life.
All of these overlap.
Rituals preserve memory.
Even if people do not consciously think about it, traditions carry history.
They carry inherited meaning.
This is not only about religion.
It is also about identity.
Community identity.
Local identity.
Shared belonging.
I think rituals also teach coexistence.
They remind people that life is not individual.
Life is shared.
We live together.
With family.
With community.
With nature.
With forces greater than ourselves.
That awareness changes how people behave.
It changes how they understand responsibility.
It changes how they understand gratitude.
Closing
I may not have answered perfectly.
Perhaps my answers were strange.
But I hope they were useful.