A Shinto lecture was given March 25 at Chico State University by Dr George M. Williams, Professor of experiential phenomenology and Asian religious study He has studied Eastern religions for years and is interested in Shinto. He has visited Japan many times and has done Misogi (purification in the waterfall) at the Tsubaki Grand Shrine in Japan.

At the beginning of the lecture, he talked about the problems in translating God into Japanese and Kami into English. Next he talked about Japanese culture and the six varieties of Shinto; (I)Shinto of the Imperial family (Kousitsu Saishi), (2) State Shinto (Kokka Shinto), (3) Shrine Shinto (Jinjya Shinto), (4) Sectarian Shinto (Kyoha Shinto), (5) Shamanic or Folk Shinto (Tsuzoku Shinto), (6) Dual or Philosophical Shinto (Ryobu Shinto). He used the computer and several videos in this lecture. His presentation was really helpful in understanding Shinto because Shinto is hard to understand through lectures and books.

The Stockton priest was really impressed by his lecture, by his use of technology, by this depth of his knowledge of Shinto.*