한국의 무속신앙과 일본신도(神道)에 대한 연구 - 시바 료타로(司馬遼太郎)의 「샤머니즘 사상」을 중심으로 -

Abstract

In this article, I studied shamanistic beliefs and Shinto, which are folk religions in Korea and Japan, respectively. I approached these beliefs from the perspective of Shiba Ryotaro. In the literatures, he discussed the differences in cognition of folk religions between Koreans and Japanese, focusing on shamanism and foreign religions. He put emphasis on the similarity of the role of the shaman, which is called as “Mudang” and “Mico” in Korea and Japan, respectively, in that behavior and appearance of shamans are similar in both Korea and Japan. He also argued that shamanistic beliefs in Korea were considered superstition, and even restricted, since Confucianism originated from the other countries’ suppressed folk religions. On the other hand, he discussed the superiority of Shinto based on the fact that it has become a distinct and unique religion by combining foreign and folk religions in Japan. However, I argue that Shiba Ryotaro’s shamanistic idea is based on Japanese nationalism, as he discriminatingly described the superiority of the combinatory nature in Shinto, ignoring that shamanistic beliefs in Korea had been combined into folk culture, while the shamanistic beliefs were largely suppressed after the Joseon Dynasty.