Shinto

===Rites of passage===
The formal recognition of events is given great importance in Japanese culture.{{sfn|Nelson|1996|p=34}} A common ritual, the {{lang|ja-Latn|hatsumiyamairi}}, entails a child's first visit to a Shinto shrine.{{sfnm|1a1=Nelson|1y=1996|1p=161|2a1=Bocking|2y=1997|2p=47|3a1=Breen|3a2=Teeuwen|3y=2010|3p=3|4a1=Picken|4y=2011|4pp=87-88}} A tradition holds that, if a boy he should be brought to the shrine on the thirty-second day after birth, and if a girl she should be brought on the thirty-third day.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=47}} 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.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=47}} Another rite of passage, the {{lang|ja-Latn|saiten-sai}} or {{lang|ja-Latn|seijin shiki}}, is a coming of age ritual marking the transition to adulthood and occurs when an individual is around twenty.{{sfnm|1a1=Nelson|1y=1996|1pp=212–213|2a1=Bocking|2y=1997|2p=156}} Wedding ceremonies are often carried out at Shinto shrines;{{sfn|Earhart|2004|p=15}} these are called {{lang|ja-Latn|shinzen kekkon}} ("a wedding before the {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}}").{{sfnm|1a1=Bocking|1y=1997|1p=178|2a1=Picken|2y=2011|2p=87}} Prior to the Meiji period, weddings were commonly performed in the home,{{sfn|Bocking|1997|pp=178-179}} although shrines now regard them as an important source of income.{{sfn|Picken|2011|p=87}}

In Japan, funerals tend to take place at Buddhist temples and involve cremation,{{sfnm|1a1=Littleton|1y=2002|1p=92|2a1=Earhart|2y=2004|2p=15}} with Shinto funerals being rare.{{sfn|Picken|2011|p=39}} Bocking noted that most Japanese people are "still 'born Shinto' yet 'die Buddhist'."{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=ix}} In Shinto thought, contact with death is seen as imparting impurity ({{lang|ja-Latn|kegare}}); the period following this contact is known as {{lang|ja-Latn|kibuku}} and is associated with various taboos.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=95}} In cases when dead humans are enshrined as {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}}, the physical remains of the dead are not stored at the shrine.{{sfn|Picken|2011|p=19}} Although not common, there have been examples of funerals conducted through Shinto rites. The earliest examples are known from the mid-17th century; these occurred in certain areas of Japan and had the support of the local authorities.{{sfn|Kenney|2000|p=241}}
Following the Meiji Restoration, in 1868 the government recognised specifically Shinto funerals for Shinto priests.{{sfnm|1a1=Bocking|1y=1997|1p=187|2a1=Kenney|2y=2000|2p=240}} Five years later, this was extended to cover the entire Japanese population.{{sfn|Kenney|2000|pp=240–241}} Despite this Meiji promotion of Shinto funerals, the majority of the population continued to have Buddhist funeral rites.{{sfn|Kenney|2000|p=241}} In recent decades, Shinto funerals have usually been reserved for Shinto priests and for members of certain Shinto sects.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=188}} After [[cremation]], the normal funerary process in Japan, the ashes of a priest may be interred near to the shrine, but not inside its precincts.{{sfn|Picken|2011|p=71}}

Ancestral reverence remains an important part of Japanese religious custom.{{sfn|Picken|2011|p=39}} The invocation of the dead, and especially the war dead, is known as {{lang|ja-Latn|shо̄kon}}.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=182}} Various rites reference this. For instance, at the largely Buddhist festival of [[Bon Festival|Bon]], the souls of the ancestors are believed to visit the living, and are then sent away in a ritual called {{lang|ja-Latn|shо̄rо̄ nagashi}}, by which lanterns are inserted into small boats, often made of paper, and placed in a river to float downstream.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=183}}