Shinto

===Early development===
[[File:DotakuBronzeBellLateYayoi3rdCenturyCE.jpg|thumb|left|A Yayoi period {{lang|ja-Latn|dotaku}} bell; these probably played a key role in {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} rites at the time.{{sfn|Hardacre|2017|p=19}}]]
Earhart commented that Shinto ultimately "emerged from the beliefs and practices of prehistoric Japan",{{sfn|Earhart|2004|p=2}} although Kitagawa noted that it was questionable whether prehistoric Japanese religions could be accurately termed "early Shinto".{{sfn|Kitagawa|1987|p=39}} It was the [[Yayoi period]] of Japanese prehistory which first left traces of material and iconography prefiguring that later included in Shinto.{{sfnm|1a1=Littleton|1y=2002|1p=14|2a1=Hardacre|2y=2017|2p=18}} {{lang|ja-Latn|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.{{sfn|Hardacre|2017|p=19}} [[Archaeology|Archaeological]] evidence suggests that {{lang|ja-Latn|[[dotaku]]}} bronze bells, bronze weapons, and metal mirrors played an important role in {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}}-based ritual during the [[Yayoi period]].{{sfnm|1a1=Littleton|1y=2002|1p=15|2a1=Hardacre|2y=2017|2p=19}}

In this early period, Japan was not a unified state; by the [[Kofun period]] it was divided among {{lang|ja-Latn|[[Uji (clan)|Uji]]}} (clans), each with their own tutelary {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}}, the {{lang|ja-Latn|ujigami}}.{{sfnm|1a1=Littleton|1y=2002|1p=15|2a1=Hardacre|2y=2017|2p=24}} Korean migration during the Kofun period brought Confucianism and Buddhism to Japan.{{sfn|Hardacre|2017|p=23}} Buddhism had a particular impact on the {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} cults.{{sfn|Hardacre|2017|p=24}} Migrant groups and Japanese who increasingly aligned with these foreign influences built Buddhist temples in various parts of the Japanese islands.{{sfn|Hardacre|2017|p=24}} Several rival clans who were more hostile to these foreign influences began adapting the shrines of their {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} to more closely resemble the new Buddhist structures.{{sfn|Hardacre|2017|p=24}} In the late 5th century, the [[Yamato dynasty|Yamato clan]] leader [[Emperor Yūryaku|Yūryaku]] declared himself ''[[wikt:だいおう|daiō]]'' ("great king") and established hegemony over much of Japan.{{sfn|Hardacre|2017|p=25}} From the early 6th century CE, the style of ritual favored by the [[Yamato dynasty|Yamato]] began spreading to other {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} shrines around Japan as the Yamato extended their territorial influence.{{sfn|Hardacre|2017|p=27}} Buddhism was also growing. According to the {{Lang|ja-latn|Nihon Shoki}}, in 587 [[Emperor Yōmei]] converted to Buddhism and under his sponsorship Buddhism spread.{{sfn|Hardacre|2017|p=28}}

In the mid-7th century, a legal code called {{lang|ja-Latn|[[Ritsuryō]]}} was adopted to establish a Chinese-style centralised government.{{sfn|Hardacre|2017|p=17}} As part of this, the [[Jingikan]] ("Council of {{lang|ja-Latn|Kami}}") was created to conduct rites of state and coordinate provincial ritual with that in the capital.{{sfn|Hardacre|2017|pp=17–18}} This was done according to a code of {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} law called the ''Jingiryō'',{{sfn|Hardacre|2017|pp=17–18}} itself modelled on the Chinese ''[[Book of Rites]]''.{{sfn|Hardacre|2017|p=31}} The Jingikan was located in the palace precincts and maintained a register of shrines and priests.{{sfn|Hardacre|2017|p=33}} An annual calendar of state rites were introduced to help unify Japan through {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} worship.{{sfn|Hardacre|2017|p=18}} These legally mandated rites were outlined in the [[Yōrō Code]] of 718,{{sfn|Hardacre|2017|p=31}} and expanded in the ''Jogan Gishiki'' of circa 872 and the ''[[Engi Shiki]]'' of 927.{{sfn|Hardacre|2017|p=31}} Under the Jingikan, some shrines were designated as {{lang|ja-Latn|kansha}} ("official shrines") and given specific privileges and responsibilities.{{sfn|Hardacre|2017|pp=33-34}} Hardacre saw the Jingikan as "the institutional origin of Shinto".{{sfn|Hardacre|2017|p=18}}

[[File:Shinpukuji-bon Kojiki (真福寺本古事記).png|thumb|upright|A page from the 14th-century Shinpukuji manuscript of the {{Lang|ja-latn|Kojiki}}, itself written in the 8th century]]

In the early 8th century, the Emperor [[Tenmu]] commissioned a compilation of the legends and genealogies of Japan's clans, resulting in the completion of the {{Lang|ja-latn|Kojiki}} in 712. Designed to legitimate the ruling dynasty, this text created a fixed version of various stories previously circulating in oral tradition.{{sfn|Hardacre|2017|pp=47–48}} The {{Lang|ja-latn|Kojiki}} omits any reference to Buddhism,{{sfn|Hardacre|2017|p=64}} in part because it sought to ignore foreign influences and emphasise a narrative stressing indigenous elements of Japanese culture.{{sfn|Hardacre|2017|p=68}} Several years later, the ''Nihon shoki'' was written. Unlike the {{Lang|ja-latn|Kojiki}}, this made various references to Buddhism,{{sfn|Hardacre|2017|p=64}} and was aimed at a foreign audience.{{sfn|Hardacre|2017|p=69}} Both of these texts sought to establish the imperial clan's descent from the sun {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} Amaterasu,{{sfn|Hardacre|2017|p=64}} although there were many differences in the cosmogonic narrative they provided.{{sfn|Hardacre|2017|pp=57–59}} Quickly, the ''Nihon shoki'' eclipsed the {{Lang|ja-latn|Kojiki}} in terms of its influence.{{sfn|Hardacre|2017|p=69}} Other texts written at this time also drew on oral traditions regarding the {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}}. The ''[[Kujiki|Sendari kuji hongi]]'' for example was probably composed by the [[Mononobe]] clan while the ''[[Kogoshui]]'' was probably put together for the [[Imbe clan]], and in both cases they were designed to highlight the divine origins of these respective lineages.{{sfn|Hardacre|2017|pp=64-45}} A government order in 713 called on each region to produce {{lang|ja-Latn|[[fudoki]]}}, records of local geography, products, and stories, with the latter revealing more traditions about the {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} which were present at this time.{{sfnm|1a1=Littleton|1y=2002|1p=43|2a1=Hardacre|2y=2017|2p=66}}

From the 8th century, {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} worship and Buddhism were thoroughly intertwined in Japanese society.{{sfn|Cali|Dougill|2013|p=8}} While the emperor and court performed Buddhist rites, they also performed others to honor the {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}}.{{sfn|Hardacre|2017|p=72}} Tenmu for example appointed a virginal imperial princess to serve as the {{lang|ja-Latn|[[Saiō]]}}, a form of priestess, at the Ise Shrine on his behalf, a tradition continued by subsequent emperors.{{sfn|Hardacre|2017|pp=82-83}} From the 8th century onward up until the [[Meiji (era)|Meiji era]], the {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} were incorporated into a Buddhist cosmology in various ways.{{sfn|Kuroda|1981|p=9}} One view is that the {{lang|ja-Latn|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.{{sfn|Kuroda|1981|p=9}} Alternative approaches viewed the {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} as benevolent entities who protected Buddhism, or that the {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} were themselves [[Buddhas]], or beings who had achieved enlightenment. In this, they could be either {{lang|ja-Latn|[[hongaku]]}}, the pure spirits of the Buddhas, or {{lang|ja-Latn|[[honji suijaku]]}}, transformations of the Buddhas in their attempt to help all sentient beings.{{sfn|Kuroda|1981|p=9}}