Shinto

The Itsukushima Shrine torii in Hiroshima Prefecture,

Japan. Torii mark the entrance to a Shinto shrine and
are recognisable symbols of the religion.
Shinto,[a] also known as Shintoism or
kami-no-michi, is a religion originating
from Japan. Classified as an East Asian
religion, its practitioners often regard it as
Japan's indigenous religion, although this
description is disputed by various scholars
of religion. Practitioners are often called
Shintoists, although a broader range of
Japanese people who do not identify as
such also take part in Shinto customs.
Shinto is polytheistic and revolves around
the kami, supernatural entities believed to
inhabit the landscape. This link between
the kami and the natural world has led to
Shinto being considered animistic and
pantheistic. Practitioners believe that kami
can behave either benevolently or
destructively toward human beings, and
must be propitiated with offerings to
secure their blessings. The kami are
worshipped at kamidana household
shrines as well as at public shrines. The
latter are staffed by priests who oversee
the provision of offerings, usually of food,
to secure the kami's blessings. Other
common rituals include the kagura dances
and various forms of divination, while
shrines also provide practitioners with
amulets to prevent misfortune. Priests
officiate at seasonal festivals and also
oversee rites of passage, although usually
avoid funerals, which are instead
conducted by Buddhist monks. A major
conceptual focus in Shinto is on ensuring
purity by cleansing individuals of
impurities, typically through washing.
Shinto does not emphasize specific moral
codes although it has historically been
closely linked to the values of
conservatism and Japanese nationalism.

Historians regard Shinto as a modern

phenomenon, albeit one that draws on
older traditions from Japanese culture.
Belief in kami can be traced back several
thousand years to the Yayoi period (1000
BC to 300 AD), although their veneration
lacked the organization associated with
later Shinto. From the Kofun period (300 to
538 AD), Buddhism was introduced to
Japan and influenced the way kami were
venerated. Under Buddhist influence, kami
came to be depicted anthropomorphically
and were incorporated within Buddhist
cosmology. Various mythological stories
regarding the kami and their worship were
recorded in eighth century texts such as
the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki. During the Meiji
era (1868 to 1912 AD), the state purged
kami-worship of obviously Buddhist
elements, forming the modern religion of
Shinto in the process. The presentation of
Shinto as an "indigenous" Japanese
tradition independent of foreign influences
was pursued as part of a nationalist
agenda. As part of the "State Shinto"
system, shrines came under growing
government influence and the Emperor of
Japan was presented as a kami. With the
formation of the Japanese Empire in the
early 20th century, Shinto was exported to
other areas of East Asia. Following Japan's
defeat in World War II, Shinto was formally
separated from the state.

Shinto is found almost exclusively in

Japan, where there are now around 80,000
public shrines, although a small number of
shrines and practitioners are located
abroad. In Japan, it is considered one of
the two largest religions, along with
Buddhism. Only a minority of Japanese
identify as Shintoists, although a wider
proportion of the population take part in
Shinto activities, especially festivals. This
reflects a common view in Japanese
culture that the beliefs and practices of
different religions need not be exclusive,
with many individuals engaging in both
Buddhist and Shinto activities at different
times. Aspects of Shinto have also been
incorporated into various Japanese new
religious movements.

Definition
In Shinto, everything in nature is believed to be
possessed by spirits, from trees and rocks, to rivers
and mountains.

There is no universally agreed definition of

Shinto.[1] However, the authors Joseph Cali
and John Dougill stated that if there was
"one single, broad definition of Shinto" that
could be put forward, it would be that
"Shinto is a belief in kami."[2] The
Japanologist Helen Hardacre stated that
"Shinto encompasses doctrines,
institutions, ritual, and communal life
based on kami worship",[3] while the
scholar of religion Inoue Nobutaka
observed the term was "often used" in
"reference to kami worship and related
theologies, rituals and practices."[4]
Many scholars refer to Shinto as a
religion.[5] However, religion as a concept
arose in Western countries and many of
the connotations that the term has in
Western culture "do not readily apply" to
Shinto.[6] Unlike religions familiar in the
West, such as Christianity and Islam,
Shinto has no single founder.[2] Western
religions have tended to stress exclusivity,
but in Japan, it has long been considered
acceptable to practice different religious
traditions simultaneously.[7] Shinto
incorporates elements borrowed from
religious traditions imported into Japan
from mainland Asia, such as Buddhism,
Confucianism, Taoism, and Chinese
divination practices.[2] It bears many
similarities with other East Asian religions,
in particular through its belief in many
different deities.[8]

Western scholars have referred to

practitioners of Shinto as Shintoists.[9] The
philosopher Stuart D. B. Picken thought
this term to be "untranslatable" and
"meaningless" in the Japanese language.[9]
Some people prefer to view Shinto not as a
religion but as a "way",[10] partly as a
pretence for attempting to circumvent the
modern Japanese separation of religion
and state and restore the historical links
between Shinto and the Japanese state.[11]

Scholars have debated at what point in

history it is legitimate to start talking
about Shinto as a specific phenomenon.
The scholar of religion Ninian Smart for
instance suggested that one could "speak
of the kami religion of Japan, which lived
symbiotically with organized Buddhism,
and only later was institutionalized as
Shinto."[12] The scholar of religion Brian
Bocking stressed that the term should "be
approached with caution", particularly
when it was applied to periods before the
Meiji era,[13] Inoue Nobutaka stated that
"Shinto cannot be considered as a single
religious system that existed from the
ancient to the modern period",[14] while the
historian Kuroda Toshio noted that "before
modern times Shinto did not exist as an
independent religion".[15]

Some scholars suggest we talk about types of

Shintō such as popular Shintō, folk Shintō,
domestic Shintō, sectarian Shintō, imperial
house Shintō, shrine Shintō, state Shintō, new
Shintō religions, etc. rather than regard Shintō
as a single entity. This approach can be helpful
but begs the question of what is meant by
'Shintō' in each case, particularly since each
category incorporates or has incorporated
Buddhist, Confucian, Taoist, folk religious and
other elements.
— Scholar of religion Brian Bocking[16]

Inoue argued for categorizing Shinto "as a

member of the family of East-Asian
religions".[17] Picken suggested that Shinto
could be classed as a world religion,[18]
while the historian H. Byron Earhart called
it "the only major religion to originate on
Japanese soil".[19] Shinto is often referred
to as an indigenous religion,[20] although
this results in debates over the various
different definitions of "indigenous" in the
Japanese context.[21] Earhart noted that
Shinto's history, which involved
incorporating a great deal of Buddhist and
Chinese influence, was "too complex to be
labelled simply" as an "indigenous
religion".[19] The notion of Shinto as
Japan's "indigenous religion" stemmed
from the growth of modern nationalism in
the Edo period to the Meiji era.[22] As a
result, the idea that Shinto was an ancient
tradition was promoted throughout the
population.[22] Associated with this idea of
Shinto as Japan's indigenous religion,
many priests and practitioners regard it as
a prehistoric belief system that has
continued uninterrupted throughout
Japanese history, regarding it as
something like the "underlying will of
Japanese culture".[23]

Nelson noted that Shinto was "not a

unified, monolithic entity that has a single
center and system all its own".[21] Bocking
noted that the term "Shinto" was akin to
the term "Hinduism" in that it was "a
portmanteau term for widely varying types
and aspects of religion".[1]Various different
types of Shinto have been identified.
"Shrine Shinto" refers to the practices
centred around shrines.[21] Some scholars
have used the term "Folk Shinto" to
designate localised Shinto practices,[24] or
the practices of individuals outside of an
institutionalised setting.[21] In various eras
of the past, there was also a "State Shinto",
in which Shinto beliefs and practices were
closely interwoven with the operations of
the Japanese state.[21]

Shinto is considered one of the two main

religions of Japan, the other being
Buddhism.[25] Whereas Buddhism places a
focus on transcending the cosmos, which
it regards as being replete with suffering,
Shinto focuses on adapting to the
pragmatic requirements of life.[26]

Etymology
Takachiho-gawara. Here is the sacred ground of the
descent to earth of Ninigi-no-Mikoto, the grandson of
Amaterasu.

The term "Shinto" is often translated into

English as "the way of the kami".[27] The
word Shintō (Way of the Gods) was
adopted, originally as Jindō[28] or
Shindō,[29] from the written Chinese
Shendao (神道, pinyin: shéndào),[note 1]
 神
combining two kanji: shin ( ), meaning
"spirit" or kami; and michi (道), "path",
meaning a philosophical path or study
(from the Chinese word dào).[30] The
oldest recorded usage of the word Shindo
is from the second half of the sixth
century.[29]

Among the term's earliest known

appearance in Japan is in the Nihon Shoki,
an eighth-century text. Here, it may simply
be used in reference to popular belief, and
not merely that of Japan.[31] Alternatively,
it is possible that in this Japanese context,
the early uses of Shinto were also a
reference to Taoism, as many Taoist
practices had recently been imported to
Japan.[32] It is apparent that in these early
Japanese uses, the word Shinto did not
apply to a distinct religious tradition nor to
anything seen as being uniquely
Japanese.[33] In the Konjaku
monogatarishui, composed in the eleventh-
century, references are made to a woman
in China practicing Shinto rather than
Buddhism, indicating that at this time the
term Shinto was not used in reference to
purely Japanese traditions.[34] The same
text also referred to people in India
worshipping kami, reflecting use of that
term to describe localised deities outside
of Japan.[34]

In medieval Japan, kami-worship was

generally seen as being part of Japanese
Buddhism, with the kami themselves often
being interpreted as Buddhas.[35] At this
point, the term Shinto increasingly referred
to "the authority, power, or activity of a
kami, being a kami, or, in short, the state or
attributes of a kami."[36] It appears in this
form in texts such as Nakatomi no harai
kunge and Shintoshu tales.[36] In the
Japanese Portuguese Dictionary of 1603,
Shinto is defined as referring to "kami or
matters pertaining to kami."[37]

In the seventeenth century, under the

influence of Edo period thinkers, the
practice of kami worship came to be seen
as distinct from Taoism, Confucianism,
and Buddhism.[22] The term Shinto only
gained common use from the early
twentieth century onward, when is
superseded the term taikyō ('great
religion') as the name for the Japanese
state religion.[1] The term Shinto has been
used in different ways throughout
Japanese history.[38]

A range of other terms have been used as

synonyms for Shinto. These include kami
no michi ("Way of the Kami"), kannagara no
michi ("way of the divine transmitted from
time immemorial"), Kodō ("the ancient
way"), Daidō ("the great way"), and Teidō
("the imperial way").[39]

Beliefs
Kami
Susanoo-no-Mikoto slaying the Yamata no Orochi, by
Utagawa Kuniyoshi
Shinto is a polytheistic belief system
involving the veneration of many deities,
known as kami.[2] The Japanese language
makes no distinction between singular and
plural, and hence the term kami refers both
to individual kami and the collective group
of kami.[40] This term has varyingly been
translated into English as "god", "deity", or
"spirit".[41] An alternative term used for the
kami is jingi.[42] According to Japanese
mythology, there are eight million kami.[43]
They are not regarded as omnipotent,
omniscient, or necessarily immortal.[44]
Kami have been venerated since
prehistory, although it was only under the
influence of Buddhism that they were
depicted anthropomorphically.[3] In the
Yayoi period, they were regarded as being
formless and invisible.[45]

The term kami is "conceptually fluid",[44]

and Shinto practitioners believe that kami
are present everywhere.[3] They are
believed to inhabit both the living and the
dead, organic and inorganic matter, and
natural disasters like earthquakes,
droughts, and plagues.[2] Their presence is
seen in natural forces such as the wind,
rain, fire, and sunshine,[24] and in Japanese
the term kami is often applied to the power
of phenomena that inspire a sense of
wonder and awe in the beholder.[46]
Accordingly, Nelson commented that
Shinto regards "the actual phenomena of
the world itself" as being "divine".[47] The
Shinto understanding of kami has also
been characterised as being both
pantheistic,[2] and animistic.[48]

Kami are often associated with a specific

place, often one that is noted as a
prominent feature in the landscape such
as a waterfall, volcano, large rock, or
distinctive tree.[24] The kami is seen as
being represented in the shrine by the go-
shintai,[49] and its presence may be
symbolised by an object such as a mirror
or a sword.[50] Kami are believed to be
capable of both benevolent and
destructive deeds.[51] Offerings and
prayers are given to the kami to gain their
blessings and to dissuade them from
engaging in destructive actions.[2] Shinto
seeks to cultivate and ensure a
harmonious relationship between humans
and the kami and thus with the natural
world.[52] More localised kami may be
subject to feelings of intimacy and
familiarity from members of the local
community that are not directed towards
more widespread kami like Amaterasu.[53]
Kami are not understood as being
metaphysically different from humanity,[44]
and in Shinto it is seen as possible for
humans to become kami.[54] Dead humans
are sometimes venerated as kami, being
regarded as protector or ancestral
figures.[55] One of the most prominent
examples is that of the Emperor Ōjin, who
on his death was enshrined as the kami
Hachiman, believed to be a protector of
Japan and a god of war.[24] In Japanese
culture, ancestors can be viewed as a form
of kami.[56] In Western Japan, the term
jigami is used to describe the enshrined
kami of a village founder.[57] In some
cases, living human beings were also
viewed as kami.[2] In the State Shinto
system of the Meiji era, the Emperor of
Japan was declared to be a kami,[54] while
several Shinto sects have also viewed their
leaders as living kami.[54]
A 3000 year old sacred tree (shintai) of Takeo Shrine

Although some kami are venerated only in

a single location, others have shrines
devoted to them across many areas of
Japan.[58] Hachiman for instance has
around 25,000 shrines dedicated to
him.[24] The act of establishing a new
shrine to a kami who already has one is
called bunrei ("dividing the spirit").[59] As
part of this, the kami is invited to enter a
new place, where it can be venerated, with
the instalment ceremony being known as a
kanjo.[58] The new, subsidiary shrine is
known as a bunsha.[60] Individual kami are
not believed to have their power
diminished by their residence in multiple
locations, and there is no limit on the
number of places a kami can be
enshrined.[58] In some periods, fees were
charged for the right to enshrine a
particular kami in a new place.[58] Shrines
are not necessarily always designed as
permanent structures.[3]

Many kami are believed to have

messengers, known as kami no tsukai or
tsuka washime, and these are generally
depicted as taking animal form.[58] The
messenger of Inari, for example, is
depicted as a fox, while the messenger of
Hachiman is a dove.[58] Shinto cosmology
also includes bakemono, spirits who cause
malevolent acts.[61] Bakemono include oni,
tengu, kappa, mononoke, and yamanba.[61]
Japanese folklore also incorporates belief
in the goryō or onryō, unquiet or vengeful
spirits, particularly of those who have died
violently and without appropriate funerary
rites.[62] These are believed to inflict
suffering on the living, meaning that they
must be pacified, usually through Buddhist
rites but sometimes through enshrining
them as a kami.[62]

Cosmology
Izanami-no-Mikoto and Izanagi-no-Mikoto, by
Kobayashi Eitaku, late 19th century

The origin of the kami and of Japan itself

are recounted in two eighth-century texts,
Kojiki and Nihon shoki.[63] These were texts
commissioned by ruling elites to
legitimate and consolidate their rule,[64]
and drew heavily upon Chinese
influence.[65] These texts were never of
great importance to the religious life of the
Japanese.[65] Views regarding the truth of
the cosmological stories recounted in
these texts have varied. In the early
twentieth century, for instance, the
Japanese government proclaimed that it
was irrefutable history.[66]
These texts recount that the universe
started with ame-tsuchi, the separation of
light and pure elements (ame, "heaven")
from heavy elements (tsuchi, "earth").[67]
Three kami then appeared:
Amenominakanushi, Takamimusuhi no
Mikoto, and Kamimusuhi no Mikoto.[66]
Other kami followed, including a brother
and sister, Izanagi and Izanami.[66] The
kami then instructed Izanagi and Izanami
to create land on earth. To this end, the
siblings stirred the briny sea with a
jewelled spear, from which Onogoro Island
was formed.[68] Izanagi and Izanami then
descended to Earth, where she gave birth
to further kami. One of these was a fire
kami, whose birth killed Izanami.[69]
Izanagi then descended to the netherworld
(yomi) to retrieve his lover-cum-sister, but
there he saw her body putrefying.
Embarrassed to be seen in this state, she
chased him out of yomi, and he closed its
entrance with a boulder.[70][71]
Izanagi then bathed in the sea to rid
himself from the pollution brought about
by witnessing Izanami's putrefaction.
Through this act, further kami emerged
from his body: Amaterasu (the sun kami)
was born from his left eye, Tsukiyomi (the
moon kami) from his right eye, and
Susanoo (the storm kami) from his
nose.[71][70] Susanoo behaved in a
destructive manner, and to escape him
Amaterasu hid herself within a cave,
plunging the earth into darkness. The
other kami eventually succeeded in
coaxing her out.[72] Susanoo was then
banished to earth, where he married and
has children.[73] With humans now living
on Earth, the "age of the gods" came to an
end.[73]

In Shinto, the creative principle permeating

all life is known as mutsubi.[74]

Purity and impurity

A key theme in Shinto thought is the
importance of avoiding kegare ("pollution"
or "impurity"),[69] while ensuring harae
("purity").[75] Rites of purification are
conducted to as to restore an individual to
"spiritual" health and render them useful to
society.[76] Shinto teaches that certain
deeds create a kind of ritual impurity that
one should want cleansed for one's own
peace of mind and good fortune rather
than because impurity is wrong. Wrong
deeds are called "impurity" ( 穢れ kegare),
which is opposed to "purity" ( 清め kiyome).
Normal days are called "day" (ke), and
festive days are called "sunny" or, simply,
"good" (hare).[77]

Shinto purification rite after a ceremonial children's

sumo tournament at the Kamigamo Jinja in Kyoto
This notion of purity is present in many
facets of Japanese culture, such as the
focus it places on bathing.[78] Purification
is for instance regarded as important in
preparation for the planting season.[79]
Among the things regarded as particular
pollutants in Shinto are death, disease,
witchcraft, the flaying alive of an animal,
incest, bestiality, excrement, and blood
associated with either menstruation or
childbirth.[80] Various words, termed imi-
kotoba, are regarded as taboo, and people
avoid speaking them when at a shrine;
these include shi (death), byō (illness), and
shishi (meat).[81]

Full immersion in the sea is often regarded

as the most ancient and efficacious form
of purification.[82] This act links with the
mythological tale in which Izanagi
immersed himself in the sea to purify
himself after discovering his deceased
wife; it was from this act that other kami
sprang from his body.[83] Salt is often
regarded as a purifying substance;[84]
some Shinto practitioners will for instance
sprinkle salt on themselves after a
funeral.[85] Fire, also, is perceived as a
source of purification.[86]

Kannagara, morality, and ethics

In Shinto, kannagara ("way of the kami")

describes the law of the natural order.[87]
Shinto incorporates morality tales and
myths but no over-arching, codified ethical
doctrine.[2] Its views of kannagara
influence certain ethical views, focused on
sincerity (makoto) and honesty
(tadashii).[87] Shinto's flexibility regarding
morality and ethics has been a source of
frequent criticism, especially from those
arguing that Shinto can readily become a
pawn for those wishing to use it to
legitimise their authority and power.[88]
Cali and Dougill noted that Shinto had long
been associated with "an insular and
protective view" of Japanese society.[89]
They added that in the modern world,
Shinto tends toward conservatism and
nationalism.[89] As a result of these
associations, Shinto is still viewed
suspiciously by various civil liberties
groups in Japan and by many of Japan's
neighbours.[90]

The priests of Shinto shrines may face

various ethical conundrums. In the 1980s,
for instance, the priests at the Suwa Shrine
in Nagasaki debated whether to invite the
crew of a U.S. Navy vessel docked at the
port city to their festival celebrations given
the sensitivities surrounding the 1945 U.S.
use of the atomic bomb on the city.[91]

Practice
Shinto tends to focus on behavior rather
than doctrine.[89] The philosophers James
W. Boyd and Ron G. Williams stated that
Shinto is "first and foremost a ritual
tradition".[92] As observed by Picken,
"Shinto is interested not in credenda but in
agenda, not in things that should be
believed but in things that should be
done."[93] It is often difficult to distinguish
Shinto practices from Japanese customs
more broadly,[94] with Picken observing
that the "worldview of Shinto" provided the
"principal source of self-understanding
within the Japanese way of life".[93] Nelson
stated that "Shinto-based orientations and
values[…] lie at the core of Japanese
culture, society, and character".[95]

Shrines
The main gate to Fushimi Inari-taisha, one of the
oldest shrines in Japan

Public structures in which the kami are

worshipped are often known under the
generic term jinja ("kami-place");[96] this is
usually translated as "shrine" in English.[97]
In earlier literature, jinja was sometimes
translated as "temples",[9] although this
term is now more commonly reserved for
Japan's Buddhist structures.[97] In the early
twenty-first century, there are an estimated
80,000 shrines across Japan.[98] They are
found all over the country, from isolated
rural areas to dense metropolitan ones.[99]
Some of the grand shrines with imperial
associations are termed jingū.[100]

The architectural styles of Shinto shrines

had largely developed by the Heian
period.[101] The inner sanctuary in which
the kami is believed to live is known as a
honden.[102] Typically, human worshippers
carry out their acts outside of the
honden.[25] Near the honden can
sometimes be found a subsidiary shrine,
the bekkū, to another kami; the kami
inhabiting this shrine is not necessarily
perceived as being inferior to that in the
honden.[103] At some places, halls of
worship have been erected, termed
haiden.[104] On a lower level can be found
the hall of offerings, known as a
heiden.[105] Together, the building housing
the honden, haiden, and heiden is called a
hongū.[106] In some shrines, there is a
separate building in which to conduct
additional ceremonies, such as weddings,
known as a gishikiden,[107] or a specific
building in which the kagura dance is
performed, known as the kagura-den.[108]

The entrance to shrines are marked out by

a two-post gateway with either one or two
crossbeams atop it, which are known as
torii.[99] These are regarded as
demarcating the area where the kami
resides.[25] More broadly, torii have also
become internationally-recognised
symbols of Japan.[25] Shrines are often set
within gardens, even in cities.[109] The
shrine office is known as a shamusho,[110]
while various kiosks sell amulets to
visitors.[111] Since the late 1940s, shrines
have had to be financially self-sufficient,
relying on the donations of worshippers
and visitors.[112] These funds are used to
pay the wages of the priests, to finance the
upkeep of the buildings, to cover the
shrine's membership fees of various
regional and national Shinto groups, and to
contribute to disaster relief funds.[112]

Through to the Edo period, it was common

for Shinto shrines to be demolished and
rebuild at a nearby location so as to
remove any pollutants and ensure
purity.[113] This has continued into recent
times at certain sites, such as the Ise
Grand Shrine, which is moved to an
adjacent site every two decades.[101]
Separate shrines can also be merged in a
process known as jinja gappei.[114] Shrines
may have legends about their foundation,
which are known as en-gi. These
sometimes also record miracles
associated with the shrine.[115] From the
Heian period on, the en-gi were often retold
on picture scrolls known as emaki-
mono.[115]

Priesthood and miko

Yutateshinji ceremony performed by Shinto priests at
the Miwa Shrine in Sakurai, Nara

Shrines may be cared for by priests known

as Kannushi, by local communities, or by
families on whose property the shrine is
found.[25] Many priests take on the role in a
line of hereditary succession traced down
specific families.[43] In contemporary
Japan, there are two main training
universities for those wishing to become
Shinto priests, at Kokugakuin University in
Tokyo and at Kogakkan University in Mie
Prefecture.[43][116] Women can also
become kannushi and widows can
succeed their husbands in their job.[116]
Priests can rise through the ranks over the
course of their careers.[117]

Priestly dress includes a tall, rounded hat

known as an eboshi,[118] and black
lacquered wooden clogs known as asa-
gutsu.[119] Also part of standard priestly
attire is a hiōgi fan.[120] The outer garment
worn by a priest, usually colored black, red,
or light blue, is the hō,[121] or the ikan.[81] A
white silk version of the ikan, used for
formal occasions, is known as the
saifuku.[81]

Miko performing a Shinto ceremony near the Kamo

River
River

The chief priest at a shrine is known as a

gūji.[122] As with teachers, instructors, and
Buddhist clergy, Shinto priests are often
referred to as sensei by lay
practitioners.[123] Historically, there were
various female priests although they were
largely pushed out of their positions in
1868.[124] During the Second World War,
women were again allowed to become
priests to fill the void caused by large
numbers of men being enlisted in the
military.[125] In the early twenty-first
century, male priests have still dominated
Shinto institutions.[126] Male priests are
free to marry and have children.[125] Before
certain major festivals, priests may
undergo a period of abstinence from
sexual relations.[127] Some of those
involved in festivals also abstain from a
range of other things, such as consuming
tea, coffee, or alcohol, immediately prior to
the events.[83]
Miko dancers are unmarried women,
although not necessarily virgins.[128] They
are considered subordinate to the priests
in the shrine hierarchy.[129] Their most
important role is in the kagura dance,
known as otome-mai.[130] Miko receive only
a small salary but gain respect from
members of the local community and
learn skills such as cooking, calligraphy,
painting, and etiquette which can benefit
them when later searching for
employment or a marriage partner.[130]
They generally do not live at the
shrines.[130] Sometimes they fill other
roles, such as being secretaries in the
shrine offices or clerks at the information
desks, or as waitresses at the naorai
feasts. They also assist Kannushi in
ceremonial rites.[130]

Visits to shrines

Unlike in certain other religious traditions

such as Christianity and Islam, Shinto
shrines do not have weekly services that
practitioners are expected to attend.[131]
Individual worship conducted at a shrine is
known as hairei.[132] A visit to a shrine,
which is known as jinja mairi in Japanese,
typically takes only a few minutes.[133]
Some individuals visit the shrines every
day, often their route to work each
morning.[133] The general procedure entails
an individual approaching the honden,
where they place a monetary offering in a
box before ringing a bell to call the
attention of the kami. Then, they bow, clap,
and stand while silently offering a
prayer.[133] The clapping is known as
kashiwade or hakushu.[134] When at the
shrine, individuals offering prayers are not
necessarily praying to a specific kami.[133]
A worshipper may not know the name of a
kami residing at the shrine nor how many
kami are believed to dwell there.[133]
A priest purifies the area in front of the residence of a
kami.

Many individuals approach the kami

asking for pragmatic requests.[135]
Requests for rain, known as amagoi ('rain-
soliciting') have been found across Japan,
with Inari a popular choice for such
requests.[136] Other prayers reflect more
contemporary concerns. For instance,
people may ask that the priest approaches
the kami so as to the purify their car in the
hope that this will prevent it from being
involved in an accident.[135] Before a
building is constructed, it is common for
either private individuals or the
construction company to employ a Shinto
priest to come to the land being developed
and perform the jichinsai, or earth
sanctification ritual. This purifies the site
and asks the kami to bless it.[137]

People often ask the kami to help offset

inauspicious events that may affect them.
For instance, in Japanese culture, the age
33 is seen as being unlucky for women
and the age 42 for men, and thus people
can ask the kami to offset any ill-fortune
associated with being this age.[138] Certain
directions can also be seen as being
inauspicious for certain people at certain
times and thus people can approach the
kami asking them to offset this problem if
they have to travel in one of these unlucky
directions.[138]

Shinto also features pilgrimages to

shrines, known as junrei.[139] A round of
pilgrimages, whereby individuals visit a
series of shrines and other sacred sites
that are part of an established circuit, is
known as a junpai.[139] For many centuries,
people have also visited the shrines for
primarily cultural and recreational reasons,
as opposed to spiritual ones.[133] Many of
the shrines are recognised as sites of
historical importance and some are
recognised as UNESCO World Heritage
Sites.[133]

Harae and hōbei

Shinto rituals begin with a process of purification,
often involving the washing of the hands and mouth
at the temizu basin; this example is at Itsukushima
Jinja.

Shinto rituals begin with a process of

purification, or harae.[140] This entails an
individual sprinkling water on the face and
hands, a procedure known as temizu,[141]
using a font known as a temizuya.[142]
Another form of purification at the start of
a Shinto rite entails waving a white paper
streamer or wand known as the
haraigushi.[143] When not in use, the
haraigushi is usually kept in a stand.[141]
The priest waves the haraigushi
horizontally over a person or object being
purified in a movement known as sa-yu-sa
("left-right-left").[141] Sometimes, instead of
a haraigushi, the purification is carried out
with a o-nusa, a branch of evergreen to
which strips of paper have been
attached.[141]

The acts of purification accomplished,

petitions known as norito are spoken to
the kami.[144] This is followed by an
appearance by the miko, who commence
in a slow circular motion before the main
altar.[144]

Following the purification procedure,

offerings are presented to the kami by
being placed on a table.[144] This act is
known as hōbei.[121] Historically, the
offerings given the kami included food,
cloth, swords, and horses.[145] In the
contemporary period, lay worshippers
usually give gifts of money to the kami
while priests generally offer them food,
drink, and sprigs of the sacred sakaki
tree.[24] A common offering in the present
are sprigs of the sakaki tree.[146] Animal
sacrifices are not considered appropriate
offerings, as the shedding of blood is seen
as a vile act that necessitates
purification.[147] The offerings presented
are sometimes simple and sometimes
more elaborate; at the Grand Shrine of Ise,
for instance, 100 styles of food are laid out
as offerings.[144]

Offerings to the kami at the Tsubaki Grand Shrine of

America near Granite Falls, Washington
After the offerings have been given, people
often sip rice wine known as o-miki.[144]
Drinking the o-miki wine is seen as a form
of communion with the kami.[148] On
important occasions, a feast is then held,
known as naorai, inside a banquet hall
attached to the shrine complex.[149]

The Kami are believed to enjoy music.[150]

One style of music performed at shrines is
gagaku.[151] Instruments used include
three reeds (fue, sho, and hichiriki), the
yamato-koto, and the "three drums" (taiko,
kakko, and shōko).[152] Other musical
styles performed at shrines can have a
more limited focus. At shrines such as
Ōharano Shrine in Kyoto, azuma-asobi
('eastern entertainment') music is
performed on April 8th.[61] Also in Kyoto,
various festivals make use of the dengaku
style of music and dance, which originated
from rice-planting songs.[153] During
rituals, people visiting the shrine are
expected to sit in the seiza style, with their
legs tucked beneath their bottom.[154] To
avoid cramps, individuals who hold this
position for a lengthy period of time may
periodically move their legs and flex their
heels.[155]

Home Shrines

A kamidana displaying a shimenawa and shide

Many people also have a kamidana or
family shrine in their home.[156] Kamidana
can also be found in shops and ocean-
going ships.[86] Many Japanese
households also have butsudan, Buddhist
altars focusing on the ancestors.[86]

Household Shinto can focus attention on

the dōzoku-shin, kami who are perceived to
be ancestral to the dōzoku or extended
kinship group.[157] Small village shrines
containing the tutelary kami of an
extended family are known as iwai-den.[158]

In addition to the temple shrines and the

household shrines, Shinto also features
small wayside shrines known as
hokora.[106] Other open spaces used for
the worship of kami are iwasaka, an area
surrounded by sacred rocks.[159]

Amulets and talismans

A woman tying her fortune written on a white piece of
paper (omikuji) to a frame at Kasuga Shrine

The use of amulets are widely sanctioned

and popular in Japan.[131] These may be
made of paper, wood, cloth, metal, or
plastic.[131]Ema are small wooden plaques
that wishes or desires are written upon
and left at a place in the shrine grounds so
that one may get a wish or desire
fulfilled.[160] They have a picture on them
and are frequently associated with the
larger Shrines.[161] At new year, many
shrines sell hamaya ("evil-destroying
arrows") which people can purchase and
keep in their home over the coming year to
bring good luck.[162]
Ofuda are talismans—made of paper,
wood, or metal—that are issued at shrines.
They are inscribed with the names of kami
and are used for protection in the home.
They are typically placed in the home at a
kamidana. Ofuda may be kept anywhere,
as long as they are in their protective
pouches, but there are several rules about
the proper placement of kamidana. They
are also renewed annually.[161]

Omamori are personal-protection amulets

that are sold by shrines. They are
frequently used to ward off bad luck and to
gain better health. More recently, there are
also amulets to promote good driving,
good business, and success at school.
Their history lies with Buddhist practice of
selling amulets.[161] They are generally
replaced once a year, and old omamori are
brought to a shrine so they can be properly
disposed of through burning by a priest.

Omikuji are paper lots upon which

personal fortunes are written.[161] The
fortunes can range from daikichi ( ⼤吉),
meaning "great good luck," to daikyou ( ⼤
凶), meaning "great bad luck." [163]

A daruma is a round, paper doll of the

Indian monk, Bodhidharma. The recipient
makes a wish and paints one eye; when
the goal is accomplished, the recipient
paints the other eye. While this is a
Buddhist practice, darumas can be found
at shrines, as well. These dolls are very
common.[161]
Other protective items include dorei, which
are earthenware bells that are used to pray
for good fortune. These bells are usually in
the shapes of the zodiacal animals:[161]
hamaya, which are symbolic arrows for the
fight against evil and bad luck;[161] and
Inuhariko, which are paper dogs that are
used to induce and to bless good
births.[161]

Kagura
Kagura describes the music and dance
performed for the kami.[164] There is a
mythological tale of how kagura dance
came into existence. According to the
Kojiki and the Nihon Shoki, Ame-no-Uzume
performed a dance to entice Amaterasu
out of the cave in which she had hidden
herself.[164] The word "kagura" is thought
to be a contracted form of kami no kura or
"seat of the kami" or the "site where the
kami is received."[165]
Kagura traditional dance, Katori Jingu, Katori City

There are two broad types of kagura.[164]

One is Imperial kagura, also known as
mikagura. This style was developed in the
imperial court and is still performed on
imperial grounds every December.[166] It is
also performed at the Imperial harvest
festival and at major shrines such as Ise,
Kamo, and Iwashimizu Hachiman-gū. It is
performed by singers and musicians using
shakubyoshi wooden clappers, a hichiriki, a
kagura-bue flute, and a six-stringed
zither.[108] The other main type is sato-
kagura, descended from mikagura and
performed at shrines across Japan.
Depending on the style, it is performed by
miko or by actors wearing masks to
portray various mythological figures.[108]
These actors are accompanied by a
hayashi band using flutes and drums.[108]

There are also other, regional types of

kagura.[108]

Music plays a very important role in the

kagura performance. Everything from the
setup of the instruments to the most
subtle sounds and the arrangement of the
music is crucial to encouraging the kami
to come down and dance. The songs are
used as magical devices to summon the
gods and as prayers for blessings. Rhythm
patterns of five and seven are common,
possibly relating to the Shinto belief of the
twelve generations of heavenly and earthly
deities. There is also vocal
accompaniment called kami uta in which
the drummer sings sacred songs to the
gods. Often the vocal accompaniment is
overshadowed by the drumming and
instruments, reinforcing that the vocal
aspect of the music is more for
incantation rather than aesthetics.[167]
In both ancient Japanese collections, the
Kojiki and the Nihon Shoki, Ame-no-
uzeme's dance is described as asobi,
which in the old Japanese language
means a ceremony that is designed to
appease the spirits of the departed, and
which was conducted at funeral
ceremonies. Therefore, kagura is a rite of
tama shizume, of pacifying the spirits of
the departed. In the Heian period, this was
one of the important rites at the Imperial
Court and had found its fixed place in the
tama shizume festival in the eleventh
month. At this festival people sing as
accompaniment to the dance: "Depart!
Depart! Be cleansed and go! Be purified
and leave!"[168] This rite of purification is
also known as chinkon. It was used for
securing and strengthening the soul of a
dying person. It was closely related to the
ritual of tama furi (shaking the spirit), to
call back the departed soul of the dead or
to energize a weakened spirit. Spirit
pacification and rejuvenation were usually
achieved by songs and dances, also called
asobi. The ritual of chinkon continued to be
performed on the emperors of Japan,
thought to be descendants of Amaterasu.
It is possible that this ritual is connected
with the ritual to revive the sun goddess
during the low point of the winter
solstice.[169]

Festivals
Participants in a procession for Aoi Matsuri in Kyoto

Public festivals are known as matsuri.[170]

Picken suggested that the festival was
"the central act of Shinto worship" because
Shinto was a "community- and family-
based" religion.[171] According to a
traditional view of the lunar calendar,
Shinto shrines should hold their festival
celebrations on hare-no-hi or "clear" days",
the days of the new, full, and half
moons.[172] Other days, known as ke-no-hi,
were generally avoided for festivities.[172]
However, since the late 20th century, many
shines have held their festival celebrations
on the Saturday or Sunday closest to the
date so that fewer individuals will be
working and will be able to attend the
festivities.[173]

Spring festivals are called haru-matsuri

and often incorporate prayers for a good
harvest.[172] They sometimes incorporate
ta-asobi ceremonies, in which rice is
ritually planted.[172] Autumn festivals are
known as aki-matsuri and primarily focus
on thanking the kami for the rice or other
harvest.[174] The Niiname-sai, or festival of
new rice, is held across many Shinto
shrines on 23 November.[175] Winter
festivals, called fuyu no matsuri often
feature on welcoming in the spring,
expelling evil, and calling in good
influences for the future.[176] There is little
difference between winter festivals and
specific new year festivals.[176]

Procession of the kami as part of the Fukagawa

Matsuri festival in Tokyo

Many people visit shrines to celebrate new

year;[177] this "first visit" of the year is
known as hatsumōde or hatsumairi.[178]
There, they buy amulets and talismans to
bring them good fortune over the coming
year.[179] To celebrate this festival, many
Japanese put up rope known as
shimenawa on their hopes and places of
business.[180] Some also put up
kadomatsu ("gateway pine"), an
arrangement of pine branches, plum tree,
and bamboo sticks.[181] In many places,
new year celebrations incorporate hadaka
matsuri ("naked festivals") in which men
dressed only in a fundoshi loincloth,
engage in a particular activity, such as
fighting over a specific object or
immersing themselves in a river.[182]

Many festivals are specific to particular

shrines or regions. The Aoi Matsuri
festival, held on May 15th to pray for an
abundant grain harvest, takes place at
shrines in Kyoto.[183]

Processions or parades during Shinto

festivals are known as gyōretsu.[184] During
public processions, the kami travel in
portable shrines known as mikoshi.[82] The
processions for matsuri can be raucous,
with many of the participants being
drunk.[185] They are often understood as
having a regenerative effect on both the
participants and the community.[186] In
various cases the mikoshi undergo
hamaori ("going down to the beach"), a
process by which they are carried to the
sea shore and sometimes into the sea,
either by bearers or a boat.[134] In the
Okunchi festival held in the southwestern
city of Nagasaki, the kami of the Suwa
Shrine are paraded down to Ohato, where
they are placed in a shrine there for several
days before being paraded back to
Suwa.[187]

Rites of passage

The formal recognition of events is given

great importance in Japanese culture.[188]
Bocking noted that most Japanese people
are "still 'born Shinto' yet 'die Buddhist'."[90]
A common ritual, the hatsumiyamairi,
entails a child's first visit to a Shinto
shrine.[189] A tradition holds that if a boy,
the child should be brought to the shrine
on the thirty-second day after birth, and if
a girl it should be brought on the thirty-
third day.[178] Historically, the child was
commonly brought to the shrine not by the
mother, who was considered impure after
birth, but by another female relative; since
the late 20th century it has been more
common for the mother to do so.[178]
Another, the saiten-sai, is a coming of age
ritual marking the transition to adulthood
and occurs when an individual is around
twenty.[190]

Wedding ceremonies are often carried out

at Shinto shrines.[191] Funerals tend to take
place at Buddhist temples.[191] Shinto
funerals were established during the
Tokugawa period and focused on two
themes: concern for the fate of the corpse
and maintenance of the relationship
between the living and the dead.[192] There
are at least twenty steps involved in
burying the dead. Mourners wear solid
black in a day of mourning called Kichu-
fuda and a Shinto priest will perform
various rituals. People will give monetary
gifts to the deceased's family called
Koden, and Kotsuge is the gathering of the
deceased's ashes. Some of the ashes are
taken by family members to put in their
home shrines at the step known as
Bunkotsu.[193]
Divination and spirit mediumship

An itako at the autumn Inako Taisai festival at Mount

Osore, Aomori Prefecture, Japan

Divination is the focus of many Shinto

rituals.[194] Among the ancient forms of
divination found in Japan are rokuboku
and kiboku.[195]
The itako and ichiko, are blind women who
train to become spiritual mediums in the
northern Tohoku region of Japan.[196] In
the late twentieth century, they were
present in Japanese urban centers.[196]
Itako train in the role under other itako
from childhood, memorialising sacred
texts and prayers, fasting, and undertaking
acts of severe asceticism, through which
they are believed to cultivate supernatural
powers.[196] In an initiation ceremony, a
kami is believed to possess the young
woman, and the two are then ritually
"married". After this, the kami becomes her
tutelary spirit and she will henceforth be
able to call upon it, and a range of other
spirits, in future. Through contacting these
spirits, she is able to convey their
messages to the living.[196] Itako usually
carry our their rituals independent of the
shrine system.[197]

Today, itako are most commonly

associated with Mount Osore in Aomori
Prefecture. There, an annual festival is
held beside the Entsuji Buddhist temple,
which hangs signs disavowing any
connection to the itako.[198] Itako gather
there to channel the dead for thousands of
tourists.[199]:31 In contemporary Japan,
itako are on the decline. In 2009, less than
20 remained, all over the age of 40.[200]
Contemporary education standards have
all but eradicated the need for specialized
training for the blind.[200]

History
Before Shinto

The historian Helen Hardacre noted that it

was the Yayoi period of Japanese
prehistory which was the "first to leave
artifacts that can reasonably be linked to
the later development of Shinto".[201] Kami
were worshipped at various landscape
features during this period; at this point,
their worship consisted largely of
beseeching and placating them, with little
evidence that they were viewed as
compassionate entities.[45] In the
subsequent Kofun period, Korean
migration to Japan brought with it both
Confucianism and Buddhism.[202]
Buddhism had a particular impact on the
kami cults.[203] Migrant groups and
Japanese who increasingly aligned with
these foreign influences built Buddhist
temples in various parts of the Japanese
islands.[203] Several rival clans who were
more hostile to these foreign influences
began adapting the shrines of their kami
to more closely resemble the new
Buddhist structures.[203]

From the early sixth century CE, the style

of ritual favored by the Yamato clan began
spreading to other kami shrines around
Japan as the Yamato extended their
territorial influence.[204] Buddhism was
also growing. According to the Nihon
Shoki, in 587 Emperor Yōmei converted to
Buddhism and under his sponsorship
Buddhism spread.[205]
From the eighth century, Shinto and
Buddhism were thoroughly intertwined in
Japanese society.[94]

Kofun Period

The great bells and drums, Kofun burial

mounds, and the founding of the imperial
family are important to this period. This is
the period of the development of the
feudal state, and the Yamato and Izumo
cultures. Both of these dominant cultures
have a large and central shrine which still
exists today, Ise Shrine in the North East
and Izumo Taisha in the South West. This
time period is defined by the increase of
central power in Naniwa, now Osaka, of
the feudal lord system. Also there was an
increasing influence of Chinese culture
which profoundly changed the practices of
government structure, social structure,
burial practices, and warfare. The
Japanese also held close alliance and
trade with the Gaya confederacy which
was in the south of the peninsula. The
Paekche in the Three Kingdoms of Korea
had political alliances with Yamato, and in
the 5th century imported the Chinese
writing system to record Japanese names
and events for trade and political records.
In 513 they sent a Confucian scholar to the
court to assist in the teachings of
Confucian thought. In 552 or 538 a
Buddha image was given to the Yamato
leader which profoundly changed the
course of Japanese religious history,
especially in relation to the undeveloped
native religious conglomeration that was
Shinto. In the latter 6th century, there was
a breakdown of the alliances between
Japan and Paekche but the influence led
to the codification of Shinto as the native
religion in opposition to the extreme
outside influences of the mainland. Up to
this time Shinto had been largely a clan
('uji') based religious practice, exclusive to
each clan.[30]
Asuka Period

The Theory of Five Elements in Yin and

Yang philosophy of Taoism and the
esoteric Buddhism had a profound impact
on the development of a unified system of
Shinto beliefs. In the early Nara period, the
Kojiki and the Nihon Shoki were written by
compiling existing myths and legends into
a unified account of Japanese mythology.
These accounts were written with two
purposes in mind: the introduction of
Taoist, Confucian, and Buddhist themes
into Japanese religion; and garnering
support for the legitimacy of the Imperial
house, based on its lineage from the sun
goddess, Amaterasu. Much of modern
Japan was under only fragmentary control
by the Imperial family, and rival ethnic
groups. The mythological anthologies,
along with other poetry anthologies like
the Collection of Ten Thousand Leaves
(Man'yōshū) and others, were intended to
impress others with the worthiness of the
Imperial family and their divine mandate to
rule.[30]

In particular the Asuka rulers of 552–645

saw disputes between the more major
families of the clan Shinto families. There
were disputes about who would ascend to
power and support the imperial family
between the Soga and
Mononobe/Nakatomi Shinto families. The
Soga family eventually prevailed and
supported Empress Suiko and Prince
Shōtoku, who helped impress Buddhist
faith into Japan. However, it was not until
the Hakuho ruling period of 645–710 that
Shinto was installed as the imperial faith
along with the Fujiwara Clan and reforms
that followed.[30]

Hakuho Period

Beginning with Emperor Tenmu (672–

686), continuing through Empress Jitō
(686–697) and Emperor Monmu (697–
707) Court Shinto rites are strengthened
and made parallel to Buddhist beliefs in
court life. Prior to this time clan Shinto had
dominated and a codification of "Imperial
Shinto" did not exist as such. The
Nakatomi family are made the chief court
Shinto chaplains and chief priests at Ise
Daijingū which held until 1892. Also the
practice of sending imperial princesses to
the Ise shrine begins.[30] This marks the
rise of Ise Daijingū as the main imperial
shrine historically. Due to increasing
influence from Buddhism and mainland
Asian thought, codification of the
"Japanese" way of religion and laws
begins in earnest. This culminates in three
major outcomes: Taihō Code (701 but
started earlier), the Kojiki (712), and the
Nihon Shoki (720).[30]

The Taiho Code also called Ritsuryō ( 律令)

was an attempt to create a bulwark to
dynamic external influences and stabilize
the society through imperial power. It was
a liturgy of rules and codifications,
primarily focused on regulation of religion,
government structure, land codes, criminal
and civil law. All priests, monks, and nuns
were required to be registered, as were
temples. The Shinto rites of the imperial
line were codified, especially seasonal
cycles, lunar calendar rituals, harvest
festivals, and purification rites. The
creation of the imperial Jingi-kan or Shinto
Shrine office was completed.[30]

Nara Period
This period hosted many changes to the
country, government, and religion. The
capital is moved again to Heijō-kyō
(modern-day Nara), in AD 710 by Empress
Genmei due to the death of the Emperor.
This practice was necessary due to the
Shinto belief in the impurity of death and
the need to avoid this pollution. However,
this practice of moving the capital due to
"death impurity" is then abolished by the
Taihō Code and rise in Buddhist
influence.[30] The establishment of the
imperial city in partnership with Taihō
Code is important to Shinto as the office
of the Shinto rites becomes more powerful
in assimilating local clan shrines into the
imperial fold. New shrines are built and
assimilated each time the city is moved.
All of the grand shrines are regulated
under Taihō and are required to account
for incomes, priests, and practices due to
their national contributions.[30]

During this time, Buddhism becomes

structurally established within Japan by
Emperor Shōmu (r. 724–749), and several
large building projects are undertaken. The
Emperor lays out plans for the Buddha
Dainichi (Great Sun Buddha), at Tōdai-ji
assisted by the Priest Gyogi (or Gyoki)
Bosatsu. The priest Gyogi went to Ise
Daijingu Shrine for blessings to build the
Buddha Dainichi. They identified the statue
of Viarocana with Amaterasu (the sun
goddess) as the manifestation of the
supreme expression of universality.[30]
The priest Gyogi is known for his belief in
assimilation of Shinto Kami and Buddhas.
Shinto kami are commonly being seen by
Buddhist clergy as guardians of
manifestation, guardians, or pupils of
Buddhas and bodhisattvas.[30] The priest
Gyogi conferred boddhisattva precepts on
the Emperor in 749 effectively making the
Imperial line the head of state and divine
to Shinto while beholden to Buddhism.[206]

Syncretism with Buddhism

Shown here is the syncretism between Buddhism and
kami worship known as shinbutsu-shūgō, once
common in feudal Japan. Foxes sacred to Shinto kami
Inari, a torii, a Buddhist stone pagoda, and Buddhist
figures are placed together at Jōgyō-ji.
With the introduction of Buddhism and its
rapid adoption by the court in the 6th
century, it was necessary to explain the
apparent differences between native
Japanese beliefs and Buddhist teachings.
One Buddhist explanation saw the kami as
supernatural beings still caught in the
cycle of birth and rebirth (reincarnation).
The kami are born, live, die, and are reborn
like all other beings in the karmic cycle.
However, the kami played a special role in
protecting Buddhism and allowing its
teachings of compassion to flourish.

This explanation was later challenged by

Kūkai (空海, 774–835), who saw the kami
as different embodiments of the Buddhas
themselves (honji suijaku theory). For
example, he linked Amaterasu (the sun
goddess and ancestor of the Imperial
family) with Dainichi Nyorai, a central
manifestation of the Buddhists, whose
name means literally "Great Sun Buddha".
In his view, the kami were just Buddhas by
another name.

From the eighth century onward up until

the Meiji era, the kami were incorporated
into a Buddhist cosmology in various
ways.[207] One view is that the kami
realised that like all other life-forms, they
too were trapped in the cycle of samsara
(rebirth) and that to escape this they had
to follow Buddhist teachings.[207]
Alternative approaches viewed the kami as
benevolent entities who protected
Buddhism, or that the kami were
themselves Buddhas, or beings who had
achieved enlightenment. In this, they could
be either hongaku, the pure spirits of the
Buddhas, or honji suijaku, transformations
of the Buddhas in their attempt to help all
sentient beings.[207]

Kokugaku

Buddhism and Shinto coexisted and were

amalgamated in the Shinbutsu-shūgō and
Kūkai's syncretic view held wide sway up
until the end of the Edo period. There was
no theological study that could be called
"Shinto" during medieval and early modern
Japanese history, and a mixture of
Buddhist and popular beliefs proliferated.
At that time, there was a renewed interest
in "Japanese studies" (kokugaku), perhaps
as a result of the closed country policy.

In the 18th century, various Japanese

scholars, in particular Motoori Norinaga
本居 宣⻑, 1730–1801), tried to tear apart
(
the "real" Shinto from various foreign
influences. The attempt was largely
unsuccessful; however, the attempt did set
the stage for the arrival of State Shinto,
following the Meiji Restoration (c. 1868),
when Shinto and Buddhism were
separated (shinbutsu bunri).

State Shinto
Chōsen Jingū in Seoul

Fridell argues that scholars call the period

1868–1945 the "State Shinto period"
because, "during these decades, Shinto
elements came under a great deal of overt
state influence and control as the
Japanese government systematically
utilized shrine worship as a major force for
mobilizing imperial loyalties on behalf of
modern nation-building."[208] However, the
government had already been treating
shrines as an extension of government
before Meiji; see for example the Tenpō
Reforms. Moreover, according to the
scholar Jason Ānanda Josephson, It is
inaccurate to describe shrines as
constituting a "state religion" or a
"theocracy" during this period since they
had neither organization, nor doctrine, and
were uninterested in conversion.[209]
The Meiji Restoration reasserted the
importance of the emperor and the ancient
chronicles to establish the Empire of
Japan, and in 1868 the government
attempted to recreate the ancient imperial
Shinto by separating shrines from the
temples that housed them. During this
period, numerous scholars of kokugaku
believed that this national Shinto could be
the unifying agent of the country around
the Emperor while the process of
modernization was undertaken with all
possible speed. The psychological shock
of the Western "Black Ships" and the
subsequent collapse of the shogunate
convinced many that the nation needed to
unify in order to resist being colonized by
outside forces.

In 1871, a Ministry of Rites (jingi-kan) was

formed and Shinto shrines were divided
into twelve levels with the Ise Shrine
(dedicated to Amaterasu, and thus
symbolic of the legitimacy of the Imperial
family) at the peak and small sanctuaries
of humble towns at the base. The
following year, the ministry was replaced
with a new Ministry of Religion, charged
with leading instruction in "shushin" (moral
courses). Priests were officially nominated
and organized by the state, and they
instructed the youth in a form of Shinto
theology based on the official dogma of
the divinity of Japan's national origins and
its Emperor. However, this propaganda did
not succeed, and the unpopular Ministry of
Rites was dissolved in the mid-1870s.
Although the government sponsorship of
shrines declined, Japanese nationalism
remained closely linked to the legends of
foundation and emperors, as developed by
the kokugaku scholars. In 1890, the
Imperial Rescript on Education was issued,
and students were required to ritually
recite its oath to "offer yourselves
courageously to the State" as well as to
protect the Imperial family. Such
processes continued to deepen
throughout the early Shōwa era, coming to
an abrupt end in August 1945 when Japan
lost the war in the Pacific. On 1 January
1946, Emperor Shōwa issued the Ningen-
sengen, in which he quoted the Five
Charter Oath of Emperor Meiji and
declared that he was not an akitsumikami
(a deity in human form).

Post-war

During the U.S. occupation, a new

constitution was drawn up. This both
enshrined freedom of religion in Japan
and initiated the separation of church and
state, a measure designed to eradicate
"state Shinto" (kokka shinto).[210] As part of
this, the Emperor formally declared that he
was not a kami.[211] This disestablishment
meant that the government subsidies to
shrines ceased, although it also provided
shrines with renewed freedom to organise
their own affairs.[211] In 1946 many shrines
then formed the Association of Shinto
Shrines (Jinja Honchō), a voluntary
organisation to coordinate their
efforts.[212] By the late 1990s around 80%
of Japan's Shinto shrines were part of this
association.[213]

In the post-war decades, many Japanese

blamed Shinto for encouraging the
militaristic policy which had resulted in
defeat and occupation.[211] Post-war,
various legal debates have occurred over
the involvement of public officials in
Shinto.[214] In the post-war period, Shinto
themes were often blended into Japanese
new religious movements.[215]

Shinto has also spread abroad to a limited

extent, and a few non-Japanese Shinto
priests have been ordained. A relatively
small number of people practice Shinto in
America. There are several Shinto shrines
in America. Shrines were also established
in Taiwan and Korea during the period of
Japanese imperial rule, but following the
war, they were either destroyed or
converted into some other use.
Demographics

A Shinto rite carried out at a jinja in San Marino,

Europe

Shinto is primarily found in Japan,

although the period of the empire it was
introduced to various Japanese colonies
and in the present is also practiced by
members of the Japanese diaspora.[19]

Most Japanese people participate in

several religious traditions.[216] The main
exceptions to this are members of smaller,
minority religious groups, including
Christianity and several new religions,
which promote exclusivist worldviews.[217]
Determining the proportions of the
country's population who engage in Shinto
activity is hindered by the fact that, if
asked, Japanese people will often say "I
have no religion".[217] Many Japanese
people avoid the term "religion", in part
because they dislike the connotations of
the word which most closely matches it in
the Japanese language, shūkyō. The latter
term derives from shū ('sect') and kyō
('doctrine').[218]

As much as nearly 80% of the population

in Japan participates in Shinto practices or
rituals, but only a small percentage of
these identify themselves as "Shintoists"
in surveys.[219][220] This is because Shinto
has different meanings in Japan. Most of
the Japanese attend Shinto shrines and
beseech kami without belonging to an
institutional Shinto religion.[221] There are
no formal rituals to become a practitioner
of "folk Shinto". Thus, "Shinto membership"
is often estimated counting only those
who do join organised Shinto sects.[222]
Shinto has about 81,000 shrines and about
85,000 priests in the country.[220]
According to surveys carried out in
2006[223] and 2008,[224] less than 40% of
the population of Japan identifies with an
organised religion: around 35% are
Buddhists, 3% to 4% are members of
Shinto sects and derived religions. In 2008,
26% of the participants reported often
visiting Shinto shrines, while only 16.2%
expressed belief in the existence of a god
神
or gods ( ) in general.[224]

Study of Shinto
In the early twentieth century, and to a
lesser extent in the second half, there were
various taboos influencing academic
research into Shinto in Japan.[225]
Japanese academics who questioned the
historical claims made for various Shinto
ceremonies, or who personally refused to
take part in Shinto rituals, could—and in
some cases did—lose their jobs.[226]
Following the Second World War, many
scholars writing on Shinto were also
priests; they brought insider agendas with
them and wrote as theologians. They often
presented Shinto ahistorically, describing it
as being the essence of the Japanese
people.[226] Various secular scholars
accused these individuals of blurring
theology with historical analysis.[227] In the
late 1970s and 1980s the work of Kuroda
Toshio helped demolish ahistorical views
of Shinto as a timeless entity, exposing
this view as a cloak for Japanese ethnic
nationalism.[227]

See also
Ame-no-Uzume
Chinese folk religion
Culture of Japan
Department of Divinities
Dol hareubang (Korean spirit)
Dōsojin
Hari-Kuyo
History of Japan
Iwakura (Shinto) – rock formation where
a kami is invited to descend
Kodama (spirit)
Korean shamanism
List of Japanese deities
Raijin
Ryukyuan religion (Ryukyu Shinto)
Shide (Shinto)
Shinto shrine
Shinto in popular culture
Shinto architecture
Shinto in Taiwan
Shinto music
Twenty-Two Shrines
Women in Shinto
 Yōsei

Notes
1. During the history of China, at the time
of the spread of Buddhism to the
country, the name Shendao was used
to identify what is currently known as
"Shenism", the Chinese indigenous
religion, distinguishing it from the new
Buddhist religion. (Brian Bocking. A
Popular Dictionary of Shinto.
Routledge, 2005. ASIN B00ID5TQZY
p. 129)
 a. 神道, Shintō, Japanese
pronunciation: [ɕiꜜntoː]

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Further reading
Averbuch, Irit (1995). The Gods Come
Dancing: A Study of the Japanese Ritual
Dance of Yamabushi Kagura. Ithaca, NY: East
Asia Program, Cornell University. ISBN 978-1-
885445-67-4. OCLC 34612865 .
Averbuch, Irit (1998). "Shamanic Dance in
Japan: The Choreography of Possession in
Kagura Performance". Asian Folklore Studies.
57 (2): 293–329. doi:10.2307/1178756 .
JSTOR 1178756 .
Blacker, Dr. Carmen (2003). "Shinto and the
Sacred Dimension of Nature" . Shinto.org.
Archived from the original on 2007-12-22.
Retrieved 2008-01-21.
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External links

Shinto
at Wikipedia's sister projects
Definitions
from
Wiktionary
Media
from
Wikimedia
Commons
Texts from
Wikisource
Data from
Wikidata
Shinto at Curlie
Jinja Honcho – English – The Official
Japanese Organization of 80,000 Shinto
Shrines
Kokugakuin University Encyclopedia of
Shinto and its Japanese Shinto Jinja
Database
Chiga Yoshimi Gallery – The Scenery of
Nara's Shrines and Temples which were
drawn by Chiga Yoshimi
Tsubaki Grand Shrine of America –
Tsubaki Grand Shrine of America: Jinja
Shinto in North America, branch of
Tsubaki Grand Shrine in Mie Japan
Heian Jingu Shrine – Heian Shrine in
Kyoto City was built in 1895 in
commemoration of the 1100th
anniversary of the move of Japanese
Capital from Nara to Kyoto in 794
Meiji Jingu – Meiji Jingu Shrine in
Yoyogi, Tokyo, commemorates Emperor
Taisho and his wife Empress Shoken
Yasukuni Jinja – A shrine for the
honoring of Japanese War Dead
(English)
Shoin-Jinja – Shoin Shrine in Tokyo
enshrines Yoshida Shoin, a spiritual
leader of Meiji Restoration
Yushima Tenjin – A Tokyo Shrine with
and English site—Shrine for Ameno-
tajikaraono-mikoto and Sugawara
Michizane
Editorial on Shintoism in Occupied
Japan following WWII (from Japanese
Press Translations)
Retrieved from
"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?
title=Shinto&oldid=927101881"

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