Shinto's love of uprightness and righteousness (not self-righteous)

 

Arrow-straight geometry here rings true of Shinto's center: raw honesty, deep sincerity, full purity.

Leaving aside the many institutional contexts of Shinto (shrine, imperial, state, folk, home), what lies under all the visible parts of ceremonies, rituals, and locations is an essential attitude or heart-stance to relate to the wider world of events, other people, and one's own place in it all. Wikipedia in English puts it this way, "akaki kiyoki kokoro ...meaning "purity and cheerfulness of heart." So while everyday life is filled with peer pressure, fear-of-missing-out (FOMO), and feelings self-consciousness or at least self-awareness, within the universe of Shinto, one's heart is meant to be direct, naked, and without pretense or guile. Under that general description, the classic elements of "honest, sincere, pure [of heart's intentions]" all fit together consonantly.

Of course, it is one thing to analyze or put something into words and altogether something different to dispense with verbal layers and embody or enact those values. Some scholars have pinpointed that physical, practical dimension as the most important part of Shinto: no doctrines, teachers or prophets, simply a group of practices suited to each stage of life and the circumstances one my encounter in a single year's cycle or, indeed, across an entire lifespan. Looking at this photo, the traffic sign's ruler-straight arrows, the street's lane lines, and the geometry of perpendiculars in the high-rise building all express this idea of uprightness. No, this is not anywhere near the precincts of a shrine in Japan. But it does illustrate the concept of uprightness, right-angles, righteousness (but not self-referential, self-righteousness).