are told that it is because Izanami spoke first, and they are told to "descend back again and amend your words." They return and give birth to eight great islands and then the smaller ones. After giving birth to all the countries they give birth to more Kami. In all they produce eighty countries eight hundred myriads of Kami, the eight great islands, the sun mountains and rivers. The last Kami they create is the Fire Kami. Izanami is burnt very badly by the Kami and eventually dies and withdraws to the underworld. Izanagi in a fit of wrath draws his sword and cuts the fire Kami to pieces, thus creating further Kami. Izanagi goes to the underworld to visit his wife. Upon his arrival she asks him not to look at her disfigured form. Izanagi sees her and is horrified, he quickly flees with her chasing him. He makes it to the upper world safely, where he must purify himself from the experience. Ethics in Shintoism are fairly vague. Ethics in Shintoism can be described as situational ethics (Ross 108). In each situation an answer must be earnestly sought and then put into practice. There are no definitive answers, it depends on the particular circumstances and the individual. The basic attitude towards life can be expressed by the word makoto. Makoto is common among both humans and Kami. It is usually translated as honesty, conscientiousness or truthfulness. A person who practices makoto is true to the whole situation. This person is in harmony with Kami and is doing their best under the circumstances. When a person is untrue to a situation and does harm to themselves or others it is not due to a source of evil inside of oneself. Evil is seen as arising from external influences.The concept of soul in Shintoism is also fairly vague. The word Tama is used, which means beautiful jewel or mysterious rock, to describe a spirit or soul. A variation of this is Tamashii, which "meant ball wind…this would correlate it with...
