ABSTRACT
In my opinion Aston may be right in saying that ancient Shintō has no moral teachings to speak of. The germs of morality, nevertheless, can be found in some of the traditions of the Kojiki and the Nihongi. For instance, when the God Susano-o was to visit his divine sister Amaterasu-Ōmikami in Heaven, the latter was greatly alarmed and thought that her impetuous brother Susano-o had “no good intent” and it was only that he wished to wrest her land from her (E.T.K., p. 45). When the God Susano-o protested, Amaterasu-Ōmikami demanded of him to prove the “sincerity of his intention” (E.T.K., p. 47). Here we have the expressions “good intent” and “sincerity” of heart. This implies no other than the germs of moral ideas in ancient Shintō.
