Shinto

{{Short description|Religion originated in Japan}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Use British English|date=November 2022}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2022}}

[[File:Itsukushima Gate.jpg|The [[torii]] gateway to the [[Itsukushima Shrine]] in Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan, one of the most famous examples of torii in the country.{{sfn|Littleton|2002|pp=70, 72}} Torii mark the entrance to Shinto shrines and are recognizable symbols of the religion.|right|thumb]]
'''<span lang="en" dir="ltr">Shinto</span>''' ({{Lang-ja|神道|translit=Shintō}}) is a [[religion]] originating from [[Japan]]. Classified as an [[East Asian religions|East Asian religion]] by [[Religious studies|scholars of religion]], its practitioners often regard it as Japan's [[indigenous religion]] and as a [[nature religion]]. Scholars sometimes call its practitioners ''Shintoists'', although adherents rarely use that term themselves. There is no central authority in control of Shinto, with much diversity of belief and practice evident among practitioners.

A [[polytheism|polytheistic]] and [[animism|animistic]] religion, Shinto revolves around supernatural entities called the {{lang|ja-Latn|[[kami]]}} (神). The {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} are believed to inhabit all things, including forces of nature and prominent landscape locations. The {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} are worshipped at {{lang|ja-Latn|[[kamidana]]}} household shrines, family shrines, and [[Shinto shrine|''jinja'' public shrines]]. The latter are staffed by priests, known as {{lang|ja-Latn|[[kannushi]]}}, who oversee offerings of food and drink to the specific {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} enshrined at that location. This is done to cultivate harmony between humans and {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} and to solicit the latter's blessing. Other common rituals include the {{lang|ja-Latn|[[kagura]]}} dances, [[rites of passage]], and seasonal festivals. Public shrines facilitate forms of [[divination]] and supply religious objects, such as [[amulet]]s, to the religion's adherents. Shinto places a major conceptual focus on ensuring purity, largely by cleaning practices such as ritual washing and bathing, especially before worship. Little emphasis is placed on specific moral codes or particular afterlife beliefs, although the dead are deemed capable of becoming {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}}. The religion has no single creator or specific doctrine, and instead exists in a diverse range of local and regional forms.

Although historians debate at what point it is suitable to refer to Shinto as a distinct religion, {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} veneration has been traced back to Japan's [[Yayoi period]] (300 BC to 300 AD). [[Chinese Buddhism|Buddhism]] entered Japan at the end of the [[Kofun period]] (300 to 538 AD) and spread rapidly. [[Syncretism|Religious syncretization]] made {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} worship and Buddhism functionally inseparable, a process called ''[[shinbutsu-shūgō]]''. The {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} came to be viewed as part of [[Buddhist cosmology]] and were increasingly depicted [[Anthropomorphism|anthropomorphically]]. The earliest written tradition regarding {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} worship was recorded in the 8th-century {{Lang|ja-latn|[[Kojiki]]}} and {{Lang|ja-latn|[[Nihon Shoki]]}}. In ensuing centuries, {{lang|ja-Latn|shinbutsu-shūgō}} was adopted by Japan's Imperial household. During the [[Meiji era]] (1868 to 1912), Japan's [[Japanese nationalism|nationalist]] leadership expelled Buddhist influence from {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} worship and formed [[State Shinto]], which some historians regard as the origin of Shinto as a distinct religion. Shrines came under growing government influence, and citizens were encouraged to worship the [[Emperor of Japan|emperor]] as a {{lang|ja-Latn|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 [[Secular state|separated from the state]].

Shinto is primarily found in Japan, where there are around 100,000 public shrines, although practitioners are also found abroad. Numerically, it is Japan's largest religion, the second being Buddhism. Most of the country's population takes part in both Shinto and Buddhist activities, especially festivals, reflecting a common view in [[Culture of Japan|Japanese culture]] that the beliefs and practices of different religions need not be exclusive. Aspects of Shinto have been incorporated into various [[Japanese new religions|Japanese new religious movements]].

==Definition==
[[File:YobitoTorii.jpg|thumb|A torii gateway to the Yobito Shrine ({{lang|ja-Latn|Yobito-jinja}}) in Abashiri City, Hokkaido]]
There is no universally agreed definition of Shinto.{{sfnm|1a1=Bocking|1y=1997|1p=viii|2a1=Rots|2y=2015|2p=211}} 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 {{lang|ja-Latn|[[kami]]}}", the supernatural entities at the centre of the religion.{{sfn|Cali|Dougill|2013|p=13}} The Japanologist [[Helen Hardacre]] stated that "Shinto encompasses doctrines, institutions, ritual, and communal life based on {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} worship",{{sfn|Hardacre|2017|p=1}} while the scholar of religion [[Inoue Nobutaka]] observed the term "Shinto" was "often used" in "reference to {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} worship and related theologies, rituals and practices".{{sfn|Inoue|2003|p=1}} Various scholars have referred to practitioners of Shinto as ''Shintoists'', although this term has no direct translation in the [[Japanese language]].{{sfn|Picken|1994|p=xviii}}

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]] suggested that one could "speak of the {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} religion of Japan, which lived symbiotically with organized Buddhism, and only later was institutionalized as Shinto."{{sfn|Smart|1998|p=135}} While several institutions and practices now associated with Shinto existed in Japan by the 8th century,{{sfn|Hardacre|2017|p=18}} various scholars have argued that Shinto as a distinct religion was essentially "invented" during the 19th century, in Japan's [[Meiji era]].{{sfn|Breen|Teeuwen|2010|p=7}} The scholar of religion Brian Bocking stressed that, especially when dealing with periods before the Meiji era, the term ''Shinto'' should "be approached with caution".{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=174}} Inoue Nobutaka stated that "Shinto cannot be considered as a single religious system that existed from the ancient to the modern period",{{sfn|Inoue|2003|p=5}} while the historian [[Kuroda Toshio]] noted that "before modern times Shinto did not exist as an independent religion".{{sfn|Kuroda|1981|p=3}}

===Categorisation===
Many scholars describe Shinto as a [[religion]],{{sfnm|1a1=Picken|1y=1994|1p=xvii|2a1=Nelson|2y=1996|2p=26}} a term first translated into Japanese as ''shūkyō'' around the time of the [[Meiji Restoration]].{{sfn|Azegami|2012|p=68}} Some practitioners instead view Shinto as a "way",{{sfnm|1a1=Picken|1y=1994|1p=xxiv|2a1=Cali|2a2=Dougill|2y=2013|2p=13}} thus characterising it more as custom or [[tradition]],{{sfn|Breen|2010|p=69}} partly as an attempt to circumvent the modern [[separation of religion and state]] and restore Shinto's historical links with the Japanese state.{{sfn|Picken|1994|pp=xxiv–xxv}} Moreover, many of the categories of religion and religiosity defined in [[Western world|Western culture]] "do not readily apply" to Shinto.{{sfn|Picken|1994|p=xix}} Unlike religions familiar in Western countries, such as [[Christianity]] and [[Islam]], Shinto has no single founder,{{sfnm|1a1=Offner|1y=1979|1p=191|2a1=Littleton|2y=2002|2p=6|3a1=Picken|3y=2011|3p=1|4a1=Cali|4a2=Dougill|4y=2013|4p=13}} nor any single canonical text.{{sfn|Offner|1979|p=191}} Western religions tend to stress exclusivity, but in Japan, it has long been considered acceptable to practice different religious traditions simultaneously.{{sfn|Picken|1994|p=xxx}} Japanese religion is therefore highly [[Religious pluralism|pluralistic]].{{sfn|Picken|2011|p=48}} Shinto is often cited alongside [[Buddhism]] as one of Japan's two main religions,{{sfn|Cali|Dougill|2013|p=7}} and the two often differ in focus, with Buddhism emphasising the idea of transcending the cosmos, which it regards as being replete with suffering, while Shinto focuses on adapting to life's pragmatic requirements.{{sfnm|1a1=Nelson|1y=1996|1p=30|2a1=Littleton|2y=2002|2p=10}} Shinto has integrated elements from religions imported from mainland Asia, such as Buddhism, [[Confucianism]], [[Taoism]], and [[Chinese fortune telling|Chinese divination]] practices,{{sfnm|1a1=Kitagawa|1y=1987|1p=139|2a1=Cali|2a2=Dougill|2y=2013|2p=13}} and shares features like its polytheism with other [[East Asian religions]].{{sfn|Inoue|2003|p=7}}

{{Quote box
| quote = 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.
| source=— Scholar of religion Brian Bocking{{sfn|Bocking|1997|pp=173–174}}
| align = left
| width = 25em
}}

Scholars of religion have debated how to classify Shinto. Inoue considered it part of "the family of East-Asian religions".{{sfn|Inoue|2003|p=10}} The philosopher [[Stuart D. B. Picken]] suggested that Shinto be classed as a [[world religion]],{{sfn|Picken|1994|p=xxv}} while the historian [[H. Byron Earhart]] called it a "major religion".{{sfn|Earhart|2004|p=31}} Shinto is also often described as an [[indigenous religion]],{{sfnm|1a1=Kuroda|1y=1981|1p=1|2a1=Nelson|2y=1996|2p=7|3a1=Rots|3y=2015|3p=211}} although this generates debates over the different definitions of "indigenous" in the Japanese context.{{sfn|Nelson|1996|p=7}} The notion of Shinto as Japan's "indigenous religion" stemmed from the growth of modern nationalism between the [[Edo period|Edo]] and Meiji periods;{{sfn|Kuroda|1981|p=19}} this view promoted the idea that Shinto's origins were prehistoric and that it represented something like the "underlying will of Japanese culture".{{sfn|Kuroda|1981|pp=1–2}} The prominent Shinto theologian Sokyo Ono, for instance, said {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} worship was "an expression" of the Japanese "native racial faith which arose in the mystic days of remote antiquity" and that it was "as indigenous as the people that brought the Japanese nation into existence".{{sfn|Kitagawa|1987|p=xviii}} Many scholars regard this classification as inaccurate. Earhart noted that Shinto, in having absorbed much Chinese and Buddhist influence, was "too complex to be labelled simply [as an] indigenous religion".{{sfn|Earhart|2004|p=31}} In the early 21st century it became increasingly common for practitioners to call Shinto a [[nature religion]],{{sfn|Rots|2015|p=210}} which critics saw as a strategy to disassociate the tradition from controversial issues surrounding militarism and imperialism.{{sfn|Rots|2015|p=210}}

Shinto displays substantial local variation;{{sfn|Offner|1979|p=215}} the anthropologist John K. Nelson noted it was "not a unified, monolithic entity that has a single center and system all its own".{{sfn|Nelson|1996|p=7}} [[Shinto sects and schools|Different types of Shinto]] have been identified. "Shrine Shinto" refers to the practices centred around shrines,{{sfnm|1a1=Offner|1y=1979|1p=192|2a1=Nelson|2y=1996|2p=7}} and "Domestic Shinto" to the ways in which {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} are venerated in the home.{{sfn|Offner|1979|p=192}} Some scholars have used the term "Folk Shinto" to designate localised Shinto practices,{{sfnm|1a1=Picken|1y=2011|1p=89|2a1=Cali|2a2=Dougill|2y=2013|2p=14}} or practices outside of an institutionalised setting.{{sfn|Nelson|1996|p=7}} In various eras of the past, there was also a "[[State Shinto]]", in which Shinto beliefs and practices were closely interlinked with the Japanese state.{{sfnm|1a1=Offner|1y=1979|1p=192|2a1=Nelson|2y=1996|2p=7}} In representing "a portmanteau term" for many varied traditions across Japan, the term "Shinto" is similar to the term "[[Hinduism]]", used to describe varied traditions across South Asia.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=viii}}

===Etymology===
[[File:Takachiho-gawara Kirishima City Kagoshima Pref02n4050.jpg|thumb|A torii gate at the [[Takachiho-gawara]] shrine near [[Kirishima, Kagoshima|Kirishima]], [[Kagoshima Prefecture]], which is associated with the mythological tale of [[Ninigi-no-Mikoto]]'s [[tenson kōrin|descent to earth]].]]
The term ''Shinto'' is often translated into English as "the way of the {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}}",{{sfnm|1a1=Offner|1y=1979|1p=193|2a1=Kitagawa|2y=1987|2p=139|3a1=Bocking|3y=1997|3p=173|4a1=Nelson|4y=2000|4p=14|5a1=Earhart|5y=2004|5p=2|6a1=Picken|6y=2011|6p=9}} although its meaning has varied throughout Japanese history.{{sfnm|1a1=Kuroda|1y=1981|1p=4|2a1=Bocking|2y=1997|2pp=viii, 173}} Other terms are sometimes used synonymously with "Shinto"; these include ''{{lang|ja-Latn|kami no michi}}'' ({{lang|ja|神の道}}, "the way of the {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}}"), ''{{lang|ja-Latn|kannagara no michi}}'' ({{lang|ja|神ながらの道}}, also written {{lang|ja|随神の道}} or {{lang|ja|惟神の道}}, "the way of the {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} from time immemorial"), ''{{lang|ja-Latn|Kodō}}'' ({{lang|ja|古道}}, "the ancient way"), ''{{lang|ja-Latn|Daidō}}'' ({{lang|ja|大道}}, "the great way"), and ''{{lang|ja-Latn|Teidō}}'' ({{lang|ja|帝道}}, "the imperial way").{{sfnm|1a1=Picken|1y=1994|1p=xxiv|2a1=Picken|2y=2011|2p=64}}

The term ''Shinto'' derives from the combination of two Chinese characters: ''[[Shen (Chinese religion)|shen]]'' ({{script|Hani|神}}), which means "spirit", and ''[[dao]]'' ({{script|Hani|道}}), which means "way", "road" or "path".{{sfnm|1a1=Kitagawa|1y=1987|1p=139|2a1=Littleton|2y=2002|2p=6|3a1=Picken|3y=2011|3p=9}} "Shendao" ({{lang-zh|t=神道|p=shéndào|l=the Way of the Gods}}) was a term already used in the ''[[Yijing]]'' referring to the divine order of nature.<ref>''Commentary on Judgment'' about ''Yijing'' 20, ''Guan'' ("Viewing"): "Viewing the Way of the Gods (''Shendao''), one finds that the four seasons never deviate, and so the sage establishes his teachings on the basis of this Way, and all under Heaven submit to him".</ref> Around the time of the spread of [[Buddhism]] in the [[Han dynasty]] (206 BCE – 220 CE), it was used to distinguish [[Chinese folk religion|indigenous Chinese religions]] from the imported religion. [[Ge Hong]] used it in his ''[[Baopuzi]]'' as a synonym for [[Taoism]].<ref>Herman Ooms. ''Imperial Politics and Symbolics in Ancient Japan: The Tenmu Dynasty, 650–800''. University of Hawaii Press, 2009. {{ISBN|0824832353}}. p. 166</ref>

The [[Chinese language|Chinese]] term ''Shendao'' was originally adopted into Japanese as ''Jindō'';{{sfn|Teeuwen|2002|p=243}} this was possibly first used as a Buddhist term to refer to non-Buddhist deities.{{sfn|Teeuwen|2002|p=256}} Among the earliest known appearances of the term ''Shinto'' in Japan is in the 8th-century text, {{Lang|ja-latn|[[Nihon Shoki]]}}.{{sfnm|1a1=Teeuwen|1y=2002|1p=236|2a1=Hardacre|2y=2017|2p=41}} Here, it may be a generic term for popular belief,{{sfnm|1a1=Kuroda|1y=1981|1pp=4–5|2a1=Teeuwen|2y=2002|2p=237}} or alternatively reference Taoism, as many Taoist practices had recently been imported from mainland Asia.{{sfnm|1a1=Kuroda|1y=1981|1p=6|2a1=Teeuwen|2y=2002|2p=237|3a1=Hardacre|3y=2017|3p=42}} In these early Japanese uses, the word ''Shinto'' did not apply to a distinct religious tradition nor to anything uniquely Japanese;{{sfn|Kuroda|1981|p=7}} the 11th century ''[[Konjaku Monogatarishū|Konjaku monogatarishui]]'' for instance refers to a woman in China practicing ''Shinto'', and also to people in India worshipping {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}}, indicating these terms were being used to describe religions outside Japan itself.{{sfn|Kuroda|1981|pp=9–10}}

In medieval Japan, {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}}-worship was generally seen as being part of [[Japanese Buddhism]], with the {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} themselves often interpreted as [[Buddhas]].{{sfn|Kuroda|1981|pp=11, 12}} At this point, the term ''Shinto'' increasingly referred to "the authority, power, or activity of a {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}}, being a {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}}, or, in short, the state or attributes of a {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}}."{{sfn|Kuroda|1981|p=10}} It appears in this form in texts such as ''{{lang|ja-Latn|Nakatomi no harai kunge}}'' and ''[[Shintōshū]]'' tales.{{sfn|Kuroda|1981|p=10}} In the ''[[Nippo Jisho|Japanese Portuguese Dictionary]]'' of 1603, ''Shinto'' is defined as referring to "{{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} or matters pertaining to {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}}."{{sfn|Kuroda|1981|pp=10–11}} The term ''Shinto'' became common in the 15th century.{{sfn|Hardacre|2017|p=42}} During the late Edo period, the {{lang|ja-Latn|[[kokugaku]]}} scholars began using the term ''Shinto'' to describe what they believed was an ancient, enduring and indigenous Japanese tradition that predated Buddhism; they argued that ''Shinto'' should be used to distinguish {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} worship from traditions like Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism.{{sfnm|1a1=Kuroda|1y=1981|1p=19|2a1=Bocking|2y=1997|2p=174}} This use of the term ''Shinto'' became increasingly popular from the 18th century.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=174}} The term ''Shinto'' has been commonly used only since the early 20th century, when it superseded the term {{lang|ja-Latn|[[taikyō]]}} ('great religion') as the name for the Japanese state religion.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=viii}}

==Beliefs==
==={{lang|ja-Latn|Kami}}===
{{Main|Kami}}
[[File:A man confronted with an apparition of the Fox goddess.jpg|thumb|An artistic depiction by [[Utagawa Kuniyoshi]] of the {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} Inari appearing to a man]]
Shinto is [[polytheism|polytheistic]], involving the veneration of many deities known as {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}},{{sfnm|1a1=Littleton|1y=2002|1p=23|2a1=Cali|2a2=Dougill|2y=2013|2p=13}} or sometimes as {{lang|ja-Latn|jingi}} (神祇).{{sfnm|1a1=Bocking|1y=1997|1p=70|2a1=Hardacre|2y=2017|2p=31}} In Japanese, no distinction is made here between singular and plural, and hence the term {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} refers both to individual {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} and the collective group of {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}}.{{sfnm|1a1=Boyd|1a2=Williams|1y=2005|1p=35|2a1=Cali|2a2=Dougill|2y=2013|2p=13}} Although lacking a direct English translation,{{sfn|Earhart|2004|p=8}} the term {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} has sometimes been rendered as "god" or "spirit".{{sfnm|1a1=Earhart|1y=2004|1p=2|2a1=Cali|2a2=Dougill|2y=2013|2p=13}} The historian of religion [[Joseph Kitagawa]] deemed these English translations "quite unsatisfactory and misleading",{{sfn|Kitagawa|1987|p=36}} and various scholars urge against translating {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} into English.{{sfnm|1a1=Offner|1y=1979|1p=194|2a1=Bocking|2y=1997|2p=84}} In Japanese, it is often said that there are [[Indefinite and fictitious numbers#Specific values used as indefinite|eight million]] {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}}, a term which connotes an infinite number,{{sfnm|1a1=Nelson|1y=1996|1p=29|2a1=Littleton|2y=2002|2p=24}} and Shinto practitioners believe that they are present everywhere.{{sfn|Hardacre|2017|p=1}} They are not regarded as [[omnipotence|omnipotent]], [[omniscience|omniscient]], or necessarily [[immortality|immortal]].{{sfnm|1a1=Boyd|1a2=Williams|1y=2005|1p=35|2a1=Hardacre|2y=2017|2p=52}}

The term {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} is "conceptually fluid",{{sfn|Boyd|Williams|2005|p=35}} being "vague and imprecise".{{sfn|Offner|1979|p=194}} In Japanese it is often applied to the power of phenomena that inspire a sense of wonder and awe in the beholder.{{sfnm|1a1=Picken|1y=1994|1p=xxi|2a1=Boyd|2a2=Williams|2y=2005|2p=35}} Kitagawa referred to this as "the {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} nature", stating that he thought it "somewhat analogous" to the Western ideas of the [[numinous]] and the [[sacred]].{{sfn|Kitagawa|1987|p=36}} {{lang|ja-Latn|Kami}} are seen to inhabit both the living and the dead, organic and inorganic matter, and natural disasters like earthquakes, droughts, and plagues;{{sfn|Cali|Dougill|2013|p=13}} their presence is seen in natural forces such as the wind, rain, fire, and sunshine.{{sfn|Cali|Dougill|2013|p=14}} Accordingly, Nelson commented that Shinto regards "the ''actual phenomena'' of the world itself" as being "divine".{{sfn|Nelson|1996|p=26}} This perspective has been characterised as being [[animism|animistic]].{{sfnm|1a1=Nelson|1y=1996|1p=7|2a1=Picken|2y=2011|2p=40|3a1=Cali|3a2=Dougill|3y=2013|3p=13}}

In Japan, {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} have been venerated since prehistory.{{sfn|Hardacre|2017|p=1}} During the [[Yayoi period]] they were regarded as being formless and invisible,{{sfn|Hardacre|2017|p=19}} later coming to be depicted anthropomorphically under Buddhist influence.{{sfnm|1a1=Bocking|1y=1997|1p=180|2a1=Hardacre|2y=2017|2p=1}} Now, statues of the {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} are known as {{lang|ja-Latn|shinzo}}.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=180}} {{lang|ja-Latn|Kami}} are usually associated with a specific place, often a prominent landscape feature such as a waterfall, mountain, large rock, or distinctive tree.{{sfnm|1a1=Littleton|1y=2002|1p=75|2a1=Cali|2a2=Dougill|2y=2013|2p=14}} Physical objects or places in which the {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} are believed to have a presence are termed {{lang|ja-Latn|[[shintai]]}};{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=172}} objects inhabited by the {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} that are placed in the shrine are known as {{lang|ja-Latn|go-shintai}}.{{sfnm|1a1=Offner|1y=1979|1p=202|2a1=Nelson|2y=1996|2p=144}} Objects commonly chosen for this purpose include mirrors, swords, stones, beads, and inscribed tablets.{{sfnm|1a1=Offner|1y=1979|1p=202|2a1=Earhart|2y=2004|2pp=36–37}} These {{lang|ja-Latn|go-shintai}} are concealed from the view of visitors,{{sfnm|1a1=Offner|1y=1979|1p=202|2a1=Picken|2y=2011|2p=44}} and may be hidden inside boxes so that even the priests do not know what they look like.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=172}}

{{lang|ja-Latn|Kami}} are deemed capable of both benevolent and destructive deeds;{{sfnm|1a1=Nelson|1y=1996|1p=27|2a1=Cali|2a2=Dougill|2y=2013|2p=13}} if warnings about good conduct are ignored, the {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} can mete out punishment, often illness or sudden death, called {{lang|ja-Latn|shinbatsu}}.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=164}} Some {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}}, referred to as the {{lang|ja-Latn|magatsuhi-no-kami}} or {{lang|ja-Latn|araburu kami}}, are regarded as malevolent and destructive.{{sfnm|1a1=Bocking|1y=1997|1p=114|2a1=Picken|2y=2011|2p=42}} Offerings and prayers are given to the {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} to gain their blessings and to dissuade them from destructive actions.{{sfn|Cali|Dougill|2013|p=13}} Shinto seeks to cultivate and ensure a harmonious relationship between humans and the {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} and thus with the natural world.{{sfn|Earhart|2004|pp=7–8}} More localised {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} may be subject to feelings of intimacy and familiarity from members of the local community that are not directed towards more widespread {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} like Amaterasu.{{sfn|Nelson|1996|p=33}} The {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} of a particular community is referred to it as their {{lang|ja-Latn|ujigami}},{{sfnm|1a1=Bocking|1y=1997|1pp=214-215|2a1=Littleton|2y=2002|2p=24}} while that of a particular house is the {{lang|ja-Latn|yashikigami}}.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=222}}

[[File:Takeo Shrine Sacred tree.jpg|thumb|left|A 3000 year old sacred tree ([[shintai]]) of Takeo Shrine]]

{{lang|ja-Latn|Kami}} are not deemed [[metaphysics|metaphysically]] different from humanity,{{sfn|Boyd|Williams|2005|p=35}} with it being possible for humans to become {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}}.{{sfn|Earhart|2004|p=8}} Dead humans are sometimes venerated as {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}}, being regarded as protector or ancestral figures.{{sfnm|1a1=Littleton|1y=2002|1p=27|2a1=Cali|2a2=Dougill|2y=2013|2p=13|3a1=Hardacre|3y=2017|3p=1}} One of the most prominent examples is that of the [[Emperor Ōjin]], who on his death was enshrined as the {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} [[Hachiman]], believed to be a protector of Japan and a {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} of war.{{sfnm|1a1=Littleton|1y=2002|1pp=31-32|2a1=Cali|2a2=Dougill|2y=2013|2p=14}} In Japanese culture, ancestors can be viewed as a form of {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}}.{{sfn|Earhart|2004|p=10}} In Western Japan, the term {{lang|ja-Latn|[[jigami]]}} is used to describe the enshrined {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} of a village founder.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=69}} In some cases, living human beings were also viewed as {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}};{{sfn|Cali|Dougill|2013|p=13}} these were called {{lang|ja-Latn|akitsumi kami}}{{sfn|Picken|2011|pp=35–36}} or {{lang|ja-Latn|arahito-gami}}.{{sfn|Picken|2011|p=42}} In the State Shinto system of the Meiji era, the emperor of Japan was declared to be a {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}},{{sfn|Earhart|2004|p=8}} while several Shinto sects have also viewed their leaders as living {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}}.{{sfn|Earhart|2004|p=8}}

Although some {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} are venerated only in a single location, others have shrines across many areas.{{sfn|Cali|Dougill|2013|p=15}} Hachiman for instance has around 25,000 shrines dedicated to him,{{sfn|Cali|Dougill|2013|p=14}} while Inari has 40,000.{{sfn|Picken|2011|p=92}} The act of establishing a new shrine to a {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} who already has one is called {{lang|ja-Latn|[[bunrei]]}} ("dividing the spirit").{{sfnm|1a1=Bocking|1y=1997|1p=13|2a1=Picken|2y=2011|2p=57|3a1=Cali|3a2=Dougill|3y=2013|3p=15}} As part of this, the {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} is invited to enter a new place, with the instalment ceremony known as a {{lang|ja-Latn|[[kanjo]]}}.{{sfn|Cali|Dougill|2013|p=15}} The new, subsidiary shrine is known as a {{lang|ja-Latn|bunsha}}.{{sfnm|1a1=Bocking|1y=1997|1p=13|2a1=Picken|2y=2011|2p=58}} Individual {{lang|ja-Latn|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 {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} can be enshrined.{{sfn|Cali|Dougill|2013|p=15}} In some periods, fees were charged for the right to enshrine a particular {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} in a new place.{{sfn|Cali|Dougill|2013|p=15}} Shrines are not necessarily always designed as permanent structures.{{sfn|Hardacre|2017|p=1}}

Many {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} have messengers, known as {{lang|ja-Latn|kami no tsukai}} or {{lang|ja-Latn|tsuka washime}}, that generally take animal forms.{{sfn|Cali|Dougill|2013|p=15}} Inari's messenger, for example, is a fox (''[[kitsune]]''),{{sfnm|1a1=Picken|1y=2011|1p=40|2a1=Cali|2a2=Dougill|2y=2013|2p=15}} while Hachiman's is a dove.{{sfn|Cali|Dougill|2013|p=15}}
Shinto cosmology also includes spirits who cause malevolent acts, {{lang|ja-Latn|[[bakemono]]}}, a category including {{lang|ja-Latn|[[oni]]}}, {{lang|ja-Latn|[[tengu]]}}, {{lang|ja-Latn|[[Kappa (folklore)|kappa]]}}, {{lang|ja-Latn|[[mononoke]]}}, and {{lang|ja-Latn|[[Yama-uba|yamanba]]}}.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=8}} Japanese folklore also incorporates belief in the {{lang|ja-Latn|[[goryō]]}} or {{lang|ja-Latn|[[onryō]]}}, unquiet or vengeful spirits, particularly of those who died violently and without appropriate funerary rites.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=37}} 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 {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}}.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=37}} Other Japanese supernatural figures include the {{lang|ja-Latn|[[Bake-danuki|tanuki]]}}, animal-like creatures who can take human form.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=200}}

===Cosmogony===
{{Main|Amenominakanushi|Japanese creation myth}}
[[File:Kobayashi Izanami and Izanagi.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Izanami]]-no-Mikoto and [[Izanagi]]-no-Mikoto, by Kobayashi Eitaku, late 19th century]]

Although the narratives differ in detail,{{sfn|Hardacre|2017|pp=48–49}} the origin of the {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} and of Japan itself are recounted in two 8th-century texts, {{Lang|ja-latn|[[Kojiki]]}} and {{Lang|ja-latn|Nihon Shoki}}.{{sfnm|1a1=Offner|1y=1979|1p=195|2a1=Kitagawa|2y=1987|2p=142|3a1=Littleton|3y=2002|3p=23|4a1=Earhart|4y=2004|4p=32|5a1=Cali|5a2=Dougill|5y=2013|5p=18}} Drawing heavily on Chinese influence,{{sfnm|1a1=Offner|1y=1979|1p=195|2a1=Kitagawa|2y=1987|2p=142|3a1=Littleton|3y=2002|3p=37|4a1=Earhart|4y=2004|4p=33}} these texts were commissioned by ruling elites to legitimize and consolidate their rule.{{sfnm|1a1=Earhart|1y=2004|1pp=33–34|2a1=Cali|2a2=Dougill|2y=2013|2pp=18–19}} Although never of great importance to Japanese religious life,{{sfn|Earhart|2004|p=33}} in the early 20th century the government proclaimed that their accounts were factual.{{sfn|Cali|Dougill|2013|p=19}}

The {{Lang|ja-latn|Kojiki}} recounts that the universe started with {{lang|ja-Latn|ame-tsuchi}}, the separation of light and pure elements ({{lang|ja-Latn|ame}}, "heaven") from heavy elements ({{lang|ja-Latn|tsuchi}}, "earth").{{sfnm|1a1=Bocking|1y=1997|1p=5|2a1=Picken|2y=2011|2p=38|3a1=Cali|3a2=Dougill|3y=2013|3p=19}} Three {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} then appeared: [[Amenominakanushi]], [[Takamimusubi|Takamimusuhi no Mikoto]], and [[Kamimusubi|Kamimusuhi no Mikoto]]. Other {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} followed, including a brother and sister, [[Izanagi]] and [[Izanami]].{{sfnm|1a1=Cali|1a2=Dougill|1y=2013|1p=19|2a1=Hardacre|2y=2017|2p=48}} The {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} 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.{{sfnm|1a1=Kitagawa|1y=1987|1p=143|2a1=Cali|2a2=Dougill|2y=2013|2pp=19–20|3a1=Hardacre|3y=2017|3p=49}} Izanagi and Izanami then descended to Earth, where the latter gave birth to further {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}}. One of these was a fire {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}}, whose birth killed Izanami.{{sfnm|1a1=Kitagawa|1y=1987|1p=143|2a1=Cali|2a2=Dougill|2y=2013|2p=20|3a1=Hardacre|3y=2017|3p=50}} Izanagi descended to {{lang|ja-Latn|[[yomi]]}} to retrieve his sister, but there he saw her body putrefying. Embarrassed to be seen in this state, she chased him out of {{lang|ja-Latn|yomi}}, and he closed its entrance with a boulder.{{sfnm|1a1=Kitagawa|1y=1987|1p=143|2a1=Bocking|2y=1997|2p=67|3a1=Cali|3a2=Dougill|3y=2013|3p=20|4a1=Hardacre|4y=2017|4p=50}}

Izanagi bathed in the sea to rid himself from the pollution brought about by witnessing Izanami's putrefaction. Through this act, further {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} emerged from his body: [[Amaterasu]] (the sun {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}}) was born from his left eye, [[Tsukuyomi]] (the moon {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}}) from his right eye, and [[Susanoo]] (the storm {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}}) from his nose.{{sfnm|1a1=Offner|1y=1979|1p=196|2a1=Kitagawa|2y=1987|2p=143|3a1=Bocking|3y=1997|3p=67|4a1=Cali|4a2=Dougill|4y=2013|4p=20|5a1=Hardacre|5y=2017|5p=53}} Susanoo behaved in a destructive manner, to escape him Amaterasu hid herself within a cave, plunging the earth into darkness. The other {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} eventually succeeded in coaxing her out.{{sfnm|1a1=Offner|1y=1979|1pp=196–197|2a1=Kitagawa|2y=1987|2p=144|3a1=Bocking|3y=1997|3p=3|4a1=Cali|4a2=Dougill|4y=2013|4p=21|5a1=Hardacre|5y=2017|5pp=53-54}} Susanoo was then banished to earth, where he married and had children.{{sfnm|1a1=Cali|1a2=Dougill|1y=2013|1p=22|2a1=Hardacre|2y=2017|2p=54}} According to the {{Lang|ja-latn|Kojiki}}, Amaterasu then sent her grandson, [[Ninigi]], to rule Japan, giving him curved beads, a mirror, and a sword: the symbols of Japanese imperial authority.{{sfnm|1a1=Kitagawa|1y=1987|1p=144|2a1=Hardacre|2y=2017|2p=57}} Amaterasu remains probably Japan's most venerated {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}}.{{sfn|Littleton|2002|p=98}}

===Cosmology and afterlife===
In Shinto, the creative principle permeating all life is known as {{lang|ja-Latn|musubi}}, and is associated with its own {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}}.{{sfnm|1a1=Bocking|1y=1997|1p=129|2a1=Boyd|2a2=Williams|2y=2005|2p=34}} Within traditional Japanese thought, there is no concept of an overarching duality between good and evil.{{sfnm|1a1=Littleton|1y=2002|1p=26|2a1=Picken|2y=2011|2p=36}} The concept of {{lang|ja-Latn|aki}} encompasses misfortune, unhappiness, and disaster, although it does not correspond precisely with the Western concept of evil.{{sfn|Picken|2011|p=36}} There is no [[eschatology]] in Shinto.{{sfn|Picken|2011|p=71}} Texts such as the {{Lang|ja-latn|Kojiki}} and {{Lang|ja-latn|Nihon Shoki}} portray multiple realms in Shinto cosmology.{{sfn|Doerner|1977|pp=153–154}} These present a universe divided into three parts: the Plane of High Heaven ({{lang|ja-Latn|[[Takamagahara|Takama-no-hara]]}}), where the {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} live; the Phenomenal or Manifested World ({{lang|ja-Latn|[[Ashihara no Nakatsukuni|Utsushi-yo]]}}), where humans dwell; and the Nether World ({{lang|ja-Latn|Yomotsu-kuni}}), where unclean spirits reside.{{sfnm|1a1=Kitagawa|1y=1987|1p=143|2a1=Bocking|2y=1997|2p=216}} The mythological texts nevertheless do not draw firm demarcations between these realms.{{sfn|Kitagawa|1987|p=143}}

Modern Shinto places greater emphasis on this life than on any afterlife,{{sfnm|1a1=Doerner|1y=1977|1p=153|2a1=Littleton|2y=2002|2p=90}} although it does espouse belief in a human spirit or soul, the {{lang|ja-Latn|mitama}} or {{lang|ja-Latn|tamashii}}, which contains four aspects.{{sfn|Hardacre|2017|p=75}} While indigenous ideas about an afterlife were probably well-developed prior to Buddhism's arrival,{{sfn|Littleton|2002|p=90}} contemporary Japanese people often adopt Buddhist afterlife beliefs.{{sfn|Littleton|2002|p=89}}
Mythological stories like the {{Lang|ja-latn|Kojiki}} describe {{lang|ja-Latn|yomi}} or {{lang|ja-Latn|yomi-no-kuni}} as a realm of the dead,{{sfnm|1a1=Littleton|1y=2002|1p=90|2a1=Picken|2y=2011|2p=71}} although this plays no role in modern Shinto.{{sfn|Littleton|2002|p=90}} Modern Shinto ideas about the afterlife largely revolve around the idea that the spirit survives bodily death and continues to assist the living. After 33 years, it then becomes part of the family {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}}.{{sfn|Littleton|2002|pp=89-91}} These ancestral spirits are sometimes thought to reside in the mountains,{{sfnm|1a1=Littleton|1y=2002|1p=91|2a1=Picken|2y=2011|2p=39}} from where they descend to take part in agricultural events.{{sfn|Picken|2011|p=39}} Shinto's afterlife beliefs also include the {{lang|ja-Latn|obake}}, restless spirits who died in bad circumstances and often seek revenge.{{sfn|Littleton|2002|p=92}}

===Purity and impurity===
A key theme in Shinto is the avoidance of {{lang|ja-Latn|[[kegare]]}} ("pollution" or "impurity"),{{sfnm|1a1=Bocking|1y=1997|1p=93|2a1=Cali|2a2=Dougill|2y=2013|2p=20}} while ensuring {{lang|ja-Latn|[[harae]]}} ("purity").{{sfnm|1a1=Nelson|1y=1996|1p=101|2a1=Bocking|2y=1997|2p=45|3a1=Cali|3a2=Dougill|3y=2013|3p=21}} In Japanese thought, humans are seen as fundamentally pure.{{sfn|Picken|2011|pp=45, 82}} {{lang|ja-Latn|Kegare}} is therefore seen as being a temporary condition that can be corrected through achieving {{lang|ja-Latn|harae}}.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=93}} Rites of purification are conducted so as to restore an individual to "spiritual" health and render them useful to society.{{sfn|Nelson|1996|p=102}}

[[File:Karasuzumo purification ritual.jpg|thumb|left|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.{{sfn|Nelson|1996|p=38}} Purification is for instance regarded as important in preparation for the planting season,{{sfn|Nelson|1996|p=63}} while performers of {{lang|ja-Latn|[[noh]]}} theatre undergo a purification rite before they carry out their performances.{{sfn|Picken|2011|p=7}} 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.{{sfnm|1a1=Offner|1y=1979|1p=206|2a1=Nelson|2y=1996|2p=104}} To avoid {{lang|ja-Latn|kegare}}, priests and other practitioners may engage in abstinence and avoid various activities prior to a festival or ritual.{{sfnm|1a1=Bocking|1y=1997|1p=93|2a1=Picken|2y=2011|2p=86}}
Various words, termed {{lang|ja-Latn|imi-kotoba}}, are also regarded as taboo, and people avoid speaking them when at a shrine; these include {{lang|ja-Latn|shi}} (death), {{lang|ja-Latn|byō}} (illness), and {{lang|ja-Latn|shishi}} (meat).{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=58}}

A purification ceremony known as {{lang|ja-Latn|misogi}} involves the use of fresh water, salt water, or salt to remove {{lang|ja-Latn|kegare}}.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=124}} Full immersion in the sea is often regarded as the most ancient and efficacious form of purification.{{sfn|Nelson|1996|p=140}} 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 {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} sprang from his body.{{sfnm|1a1=Nelson|1y=1996|1p=141|2a1=Bocking|2y=1997|2p=124}} An alternative is immersion beneath a waterfall.{{sfnm|1a1=Bocking|1y=1997|1p=124|2a1=Picken|2y=2011|2p=45}} Salt is often regarded as a purifying substance;{{sfnm|1a1=Nelson|1y=1996|1p=141|2a1=Earhart|2y=2004|2p=11}} some Shinto practitioners will for instance sprinkle salt on themselves after a funeral,{{sfnm|1a1=Nelson|1y=1996|1pp=141–142|2a1=Picken|2y=2011|2p=70}} while those running restaurants may put a small pile of salt outside before business commences each day.{{sfn|Picken|2011|p=6}} Fire, also, is perceived as a source of purification.{{sfn|Earhart|2004|p=11}} The {{lang|ja-Latn|yaku-barai}} is a form of harae designed to prevent misfortune,{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=219}} while the {{lang|ja-Latn|oharae}}, or "ceremony of great purification", is often used for end-of-year purification rites, and is conducted twice a year at many shrines.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=136}} Before the Meiji period, rites of purification were generally performed by {{lang|ja-Latn|[[onmyōji]]}}, a type of diviner whose practices derived from the Chinese [[yin and yang]] philosophy.{{sfn|Breen|Teeuwen|2010|p=12}}

===''Kannagara'', morality, and ethics===

[[File:Yasukuni Shrine 2012.JPG|thumb|The actions of priests at the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo have generated controversy across East Asia]]

Shinto incorporates morality tales and myths but no codified ethical doctrine,{{sfn|Cali|Dougill|2013|p=13}} and thus no "unified, systematized code of behaviour".{{sfn|Offner|1979|p=191}} An ethical system nevertheless arises from its practice,{{sfn|Picken|2011|pp=80-81}} with emphasis placed on sincerity ({{lang|ja-Latn|makoto}}),{{sfnm|1a1=Picken|1y=1994|1p=xxiii|2a1=Bocking|2y=1997|2p=115|3a1=Picken|3y=2011|3p=82}} honesty ({{lang|ja-Latn|tadashii}}),{{sfn|Picken|1994|p=xxiii}} hard work ({{lang|ja-Latn|tsui-shin}}),{{sfn|Picken|2011|p=83}} and thanksgiving ({{lang|ja-Latn|kansha}}) directed towards the {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}}.{{sfn|Picken|2011|p=83}} {{lang|ja-Latn|Shojiki}} is regarded as a virtue, encompassing honesty, uprightness, veracity, and frankness.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=182}} Shinto sometimes includes reference to four virtues known as the {{lang|ja-Latn|akaki kiyoki kokoro}} or {{lang|ja-Latn|sei-mei-shin}}, meaning "purity and cheerfulness of heart", which are linked to the state of {{lang|ja-Latn|harae}}.{{sfnm|1a1=Bocking|1y=1997|1p=157|2a1=Picken|2y=2011|2pp=34, 82}} Attitudes to sex and fertility tend to be forthright in Shinto.{{sfn|Picken|2011|pp=84-85}} Shinto's flexibility regarding morality and ethics has been a source of frequent criticism, especially from those arguing that the religion can readily become a pawn for those wishing to use it to legitimise their authority and power.{{sfn|Nelson|1996|p=198}}

In Shinto, {{lang|ja-Latn|kannagara}} ("way of the {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}}") is the law of the [[cosmos|natural order]],{{sfn|Picken|1994|p=xxiii}} with {{lang|ja-Latn|wa}} ("benign harmony") being inherent in all things.{{sfn|Littleton|2002|p=58}} Disrupting {{lang|ja-Latn|wa}} is deemed bad, contributing to it is thought good;{{sfn|Littleton|2002|pp=58, 61}} as such, subordination of the individual to the larger social unit has long been a characteristic of the religion.{{sfn|Littleton|2002|pp=11, 57}} Throughout Japanese history, the notion of {{lang|ja-Latn|saisei-itchi}}, or the union of religious authority and political authority, has long been prominent.{{sfn|Kitagawa|1987|p=xvii}} In the modern world, Shinto has tended toward conservatism,{{sfn|Cali|Dougill|2013|p=10}} as well as nationalism,{{sfnm|1a1=Bocking|1y=1997|1p=ix|2a1=Cali|2a2=Dougill|2y=2013|2p=10}} an association that results in various Japanese [[civil liberties]] groups and neighboring countries regarding Shinto suspiciously.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=ix}} Particularly controversial has been the [[Yasukuni Shrine]] in Tokyo, devoted to Japan's war dead. In 1979 it enshrined 14 men who had been declared Class-A defendants at the 1946 [[Tokyo War Crimes Trials]], generating domestic and international condemnation, particularly from China and Korea.{{sfnm|1a1=Nelson|1y=2000|1p=12|2a1=Littleton|2y=2002|2p=99|3a1=Picken|3y=2011|3pp=18–19}}

[[File:Hushimi-inari-taisha otsuka3.jpg|thumb|left|Assemblage of small ''torii'' at the Fushimi Inari-taisha shrine in Kyoto]]

Shinto priests face ethical conundrums. In the 1980s, for instance, priests at the [[Suwa Shrine (Nagasaki)|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 [[Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki#Nagasaki|1945 U.S. use of the atomic bomb on the city]].{{sfn|Nelson|1996|pp=66–67}} In other cases, priests have opposed construction projects on shrine-owned land;{{sfnm|1a1=Ueda|1y=1979|1p=317|2a1=Rots|2y=2015|2p=221}} at [[Kaminoseki]] in the early 2000s, a priest was pressured to resign after opposing the sale of shrine lands to build a [[nuclear power plant]].{{sfn|Rots|2015|p=221}} 
In the 21st century, Shinto has increasingly been portrayed as a nature-centred spirituality with [[environmentalism|environmentalist]] credentials;{{sfn|Rots|2015|pp=205, 207}} several shrines have collaborated with local environmentalist campaigns,{{sfn|Rots|2015|p=223}} while an international interfaith conference on environmental sustainability was held at the Ise shrine in 2014.{{sfn|Rots|2015|pp=205–206}} Critical commentators have characterised the presentation of Shinto as an environmentalist movement as a rhetorical ploy rather than a concerted effort by Shinto institutions to become environmentally sustainable.{{sfn|Rots|2015|p=208}}

== Practices ==
Shinto [[Orthopraxy|focuses on ritual behavior rather than doctrine]].{{sfnm|1a1=Offner|1y=1979|1p=214|2a1=Cali|2a2=Dougill|2y=2013|2p=10}} The philosophers James W. Boyd and Ron G. Williams stated that Shinto is "first and foremost a ritual tradition",{{sfn|Boyd|Williams|2005|p=33}} while Picken observed that "Shinto is interested not in ''credenda'' but in ''agenda'', not in things that should be believed but in things that should be done."{{sfn|Picken|1994|p=xxxii}} The scholar of religion Clark B. Offner stated that Shinto's focus was on "maintaining communal, ceremonial traditions for the purpose of human (communal) well-being".{{sfn|Offner|1979|p=198}}
It is often difficult to distinguish Shinto practices from Japanese customs more broadly,{{sfn|Cali|Dougill|2013|p=8}} with Picken observing that the "worldview of Shinto" provided the "principal source of self-understanding within the Japanese way of life".{{sfn|Picken|1994|p=xxxii}} Nelson stated that "Shinto-based orientations and values&nbsp;[...] lie at the core of Japanese culture, society, and character".{{sfn|Nelson|1996|p=3}}

===''Jinja'' shrines===
{{Main|Shinto shrine}}
{{See also|Shinto architecture}}

[[File:Fushimi Inari - Main gate.jpg|thumb|The main gate to [[Fushimi Inari-taisha]] in Kyoto, one of the oldest shrines in Japan]]

Public spaces in which the {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} are worshipped are often known under the generic term {{lang|ja-Latn|[[Shinto shrine|jinja]]}} ("{{lang|ja-Latn|kami}}-place");{{sfnm|1a1=Picken|1y=1994|1p=xviii|2a1=Bocking|2y=1997|2p=72|3a1=Earhart|3y=2004|3p=36|4a1=Cali|4a2=Dougill|4y=2013|4p=7}} this term applies to the location rather than to a specific building.{{sfn|Picken|2011|p=21}} {{lang|ja-Latn|Jinja}} is usually translated as "shrine" in English,{{sfn|Earhart|2004|p=36}} although in earlier literature was sometimes translated as "temple",{{sfn|Picken|1994|p=xviii}} a term now more commonly reserved for Japan's Buddhist structures.{{sfnm|1a1=Earhart|1y=2004|1p=36|2a1=Breen|2a2=Teeuwen|2y=2010|2p=1}} There are around 100,000 public shrines in Japan;{{sfn|Breen|Teeuwen|2010|p=1}} about 80,000 are affiliated with the Association of Shinto Shrines,{{sfnm|1a1=Picken|1y=1994|1p=xxxi|2a1=Picken|2y=2011|2p=29|3a1=Breen|3a2=Teeuwen|3y=2010|3p=5|4a1=Cali|4a2=Dougill|4y=2013|4p=8}} with another 20,000 being unaffiliated.{{sfn|Picken|2011|p=29}} They are found all over the country, from isolated rural areas to dense metropolitan ones.{{sfnm|1a1=Earhart|1y=2004|1p=36|2a1=Cali|2a2=Dougill|2y=2013|2p=7}} More specific terms are sometimes used for certain shrines depending on their function; some of the grand shrines with imperial associations are termed {{lang|ja-Latn|jingū}},{{sfn|Bocking|1997|pp=71, 72}} those devoted to the war dead are termed {{lang|ja-Latn|shokonsha}},{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=182}} and those linked to mountains deemed to be inhabited by {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} are {{lang|ja-Latn|yama-miya}}.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=220}}

Jinja typically consist of complexes of multiple buildings,{{sfn|Littleton|2002|p=68}} with the architectural styles of shrines having largely developed by the [[Heian period]].{{sfn|Nelson|1996|p=93}} The inner sanctuary in which the {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} lives is the {{lang|ja-Latn|[[honden]]}}.{{sfnm|1a1=Nelson|1y=1996|1p=92|2a1=Littleton|2y=2002|2p=72|3a1=Picken|3y=2011|3p=43|4a1=Cali|4a2=Dougill|4y=2013|4p=7}} Inside the {{lang|ja-Latn|honden}} may be stored material belonging to the {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}}; known as {{lang|ja-Latn|shinpo}}, this can include artworks, clothing, weapons, musical instruments, bells, and mirrors.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=170}} Typically, worshippers carry out their acts outside of the {{lang|ja-Latn|honden}}.{{sfn|Cali|Dougill|2013|p=7}} Near the {{lang|ja-Latn|honden}} can sometimes be found a subsidiary shrine, the {{lang|ja-Latn|bekkū}}, to another {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}}; the {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} inhabiting this shrine is not necessarily perceived as being inferior to that in the {{lang|ja-Latn|honden}}.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=9}} At some places, halls of worship have been erected, termed {{lang|ja-Latn|[[Haiden (Shinto)|haiden]]}}.{{sfnm|1a1=Nelson|1y=1996|1p=92|2a1=Bocking|2y=1997|2p=42|3a1=Picken|3y=2011|3p=43|4a1=Cali|4a2=Dougill|4y=2013|4p=7}} On a lower level can be found the hall of offerings, known as a {{lang|ja-Latn|[[Heiden (Shinto)|heiden]]}}.{{sfnm|1a1=Nelson|1y=1996|1p=92|2a1=Bocking|2y=1997|2p=49|3a1=Picken|3y=2011|3p=43}} Together, the building housing the {{lang|ja-Latn|honden}}, {{lang|ja-Latn|haiden}}, and {{lang|ja-Latn|heiden}} is called a {{lang|ja-Latn|hongū}}.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=54}} In some shrines, there is a separate building in which to conduct additional ceremonies, such as weddings, known as a {{lang|ja-Latn|gishikiden}},{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=34}} or a specific building in which the {{lang|ja-Latn|kagura}} dance is performed, known as the {{lang|ja-Latn|kagura-den}}.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=82}} Collectively, the central buildings of a shrine are known as the {{lang|ja-Latn|shaden}},{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=160}} while its precincts are known as the {{lang|ja-Latn|keidaichi}}{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=94}} or {{lang|ja-Latn|shin'en}}.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=166}} This precinct is surrounded by the {{lang|ja-Latn|tamagaki}} fence,{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=197}} with entry via a {{lang|ja-Latn|shinmon}} gate, which can be closed at night.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=169}}

[[File:Plan of Shinto Shrine.jpg|thumb|left|300px|Diagram of a ''jinja'': 1. ''[[torii]]'', 2. stone stairs, 3. ''[[sandō]]'', 4. ''[[chōzuya]]'', 5. ''[[tōrō]]'', 6. ''[[kagura-den]]'', 7. ''shamusho'', 8. ''[[Ema (Shintō)|ema]]'', 9. ''[[Setsumatsusha|Sessha''/''massha'']], 10. ''[[komainu]]'', 11. ''[[haiden (Shinto)|Haiden]]'', 12. ''[[tamagaki]]'', 13. ''[[honden]]'']]

Shrine entrances are marked by a two-post gateway with either one or two crossbeams atop it, known as {{lang|ja-Latn|[[torii]]}}.{{sfnm|1a1=Offner|1y=1979|1p=201|2a1=Bocking|2y=1997|2p=207|3a1=Earhart|3y=2004|3p=36|4a1=Cali|4a2=Dougill|4y=2013|4p=7}} The exact details of these {{lang|ja-Latn|torii}} varies and there are at least twenty different styles.{{sfnm|1a1=Bocking|1y=1997|1p=207|2a1=Picken|2y=2011|2p=43}} These are regarded as demarcating the area where the {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} resides;{{sfn|Cali|Dougill|2013|p=7}} passing under them is often viewed as a form of purification.{{sfn|Offner|1979|p=201}} More broadly, {{lang|ja-Latn|torii}} are internationally recognised symbols of Japan.{{sfn|Cali|Dougill|2013|p=7}} Their architectural form is distinctly Japanese, although the decision to paint most of them in [[vermillion]] reflects a Chinese influence dating from the [[Nara period]].{{sfn|Picken|2011|p=20}} Also set at the entrances to many shrines are {{lang|ja-Latn|[[komainu]]}}, statues of lion or dog like animals perceived to scare off malevolent spirits;{{sfnm|1a1=Offner|1y=1979|1p=201|2a1=Bocking|2y=1997|2p=104}} typically these will come as a pair, one with its mouth open, the other with its mouth closed.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=104}}

Shrines are often set within gardens{{sfn|Cali|Dougill|2013|p=12}} or wooded groves called {{lang|ja-Latn|chinju no mori}} ("forest of the tutelary {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}}),{{sfn|Rots|2015|p=211}} which vary in size from just a few trees to sizeable areas of woodland.{{sfn|Rots|2015|p=219}} Large lanterns, known as {{lang|ja-Latn|[[tōrō]]}}, are often found within these precincts.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=208}} Shrines often have an office, known as a {{lang|ja-Latn|shamusho}},{{sfnm|1a1=Nelson|1y=1996|1p=71|2a1=Bocking|2y=1997|2p=72}} a {{lang|ja-Latn|saikan}} where priests undergo forms of abstinence and purification prior to conducting rituals,{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=148}} and other buildings such as a priests' quarters and a storehouse.{{sfn|Offner|1979|p=201}} Various kiosks often sell amulets to visitors.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|pp=72–73}} Since the late 1940s, shrines have had to be financially self-sufficient, relying on the donations of worshippers and visitors. 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.{{sfn|Nelson|1996|p=77}}

In Shinto, it is seen as important that the places in which {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} are venerated be kept clean and not neglected.{{sfn|Picken|2011|p=23}} Through to the Edo period, it was common for {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} shrines to be demolished and rebuilt at a nearby location in order to remove any pollutants and ensure purity.{{sfn|Nelson|1996|p=92}} 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.{{sfnm|1a1=Nelson|1y=1996|1p=93|2a1=Bocking|2y=1997|2p=163|3a1=Nelson|3y=2000|3p=4|4a1=Hardacre|4y=2017|4pp=79-80}} Separate shrines can also be merged in a process known as {{lang|ja-Latn|jinja gappei}},{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=73}} while the act of transferring the {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} from one building to another is called {{lang|ja-Latn|sengu}}.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=158}} Shrines may have legends about their foundation, which are known as {{lang|ja-Latn|en-gi}}. These sometimes also record miracles associated with the shrine.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=26}} From the Heian period on, the {{lang|ja-Latn|en-gi}} were often retold on picture scrolls known as {{lang|ja-Latn|[[emakimono]]}}.{{sfnm|1a1=Bocking|1y=1997|1p=26|2a1=Picken|2y=2011|2p=44}}

====Priesthood and {{lang|ja-Latn|miko}}====
[[File:Miwa-shrine Yutateshinji A.JPG|thumb|right|{{lang|ja-Latn|Yutateshinji}} ceremony performed by Shinto priests at the [[Ōmiwa jinja|Miwa Shrine]] in [[Sakurai, Nara]]]]
Shrines may be cared for by priests, by local communities, or by families on whose property the shrine is found.{{sfn|Cali|Dougill|2013|p=7}} Shinto priests are known in Japanese as {{lang|ja-Latn|[[kannushi]]}}, meaning "proprietor of {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}}",{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=88}} or alternatively as {{lang|ja-Latn|shinshoku}} or {{lang|ja-Latn|[[Shinkan (official)|shinkan]]}}.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|pp=168, 171}} Many {{lang|ja-Latn|kannushi}} take on the role in a line of hereditary succession traced down specific families.{{sfnm|1a1=Ueda|1y=1979|1p=325|2a1=Nelson|2y=1996|2p=29}} In contemporary Japan, there are two main training universities for those wishing to become {{lang|ja-Latn|kannushi}}, at [[Kokugakuin University]] in Tokyo and at [[Kogakkan University]] in [[Mie Prefecture]].{{sfnm|1a1=Nelson|1y=1996|1p=29|2a1=Bocking|2y=1997|2pp=99, 102}} Priests can rise through the ranks over the course of their careers.{{sfn|Nelson|1996|p=42}} The number of priests at a particular shrine can vary; some shrines can have dozens, and others have none, instead being administered by local lay volunteers.{{sfnm|1a1=Littleton|1y=2002|1p=73|2a1=Picken|2y=2011|2pp=31–32}} Some priests administer to multiple small shrines, sometimes over ten.{{sfn|Picken|2011|p=32}}

Priestly regalia is largely based on the clothes worn at the imperial court during the Heian period.{{sfn|Nelson|2000|p=15}} It includes a tall, rounded hat known as an {{lang|ja-Latn|eboshi}},{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=25}} and black lacquered wooden clogs known as {{lang|ja-Latn|asagutsu}}.{{sfnm|1a1=Bocking|1y=1997|1p=7|2a1=Picken|2y=2011|2p=44}} The outer garment worn by a priest, usually colored black, red, or light blue, is the {{lang|ja-Latn|hō}},{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=53}} or the {{lang|ja-Latn|ikan}}.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=58}} A white silk version of the {{lang|ja-Latn|ikan}}, used for formal occasions, is known as the {{lang|ja-Latn|saifuku}}.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|pp=58, 146}} Another priestly robe is the {{lang|ja-Latn|kariginu}}, which is modelled on Heian-style hunting garments.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|pp=89–90}} Also part of standard priestly attire is a {{lang|ja-Latn|hiōgi}} fan,{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=51}} while during rituals, priests carry a flat piece of wood known as a {{lang|ja-Latn|[[Shaku (ritual baton)|shaku]]}}.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=162}} This regalia is generally more ornate than the sombre garments worn by Japanese Buddhist monks.{{sfn|Nelson|2000|p=15}}

[[File:Kamogawa ceremony 02.jpg|thumb|left|Miko performing a Shinto ceremony near the [[Kamo River]]]]
The chief priest at a shrine is the {{lang|ja-Latn|gūji}}.{{sfnm|1a1=Offner|1y=1979|1p=212|2a1=Nelson|2y=1996|2p=186|3a1=Bocking|3y=1997|3p=39|4a1=Boyd|4a2=Williams|4y=2005|4p=33}} Larger shrines may also have an assistant head priest, the {{lang|ja-Latn|gon-gūji}}.{{sfn|Offner|1979|p=212}} As with teachers, instructors, and Buddhist clergy, Shinto priests are often referred to as {{lang|ja-Latn|[[sensei]]}} by lay practitioners.{{sfn|Nelson|1996|p=179}} Historically, there were female priests although they were largely pushed out of their positions in 1868.{{sfn|Nelson|1996|p=123}} 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.{{sfn|Nelson|1996|p=124}} By the late 1990s, around 90% of priests were male, 10% female,{{sfn|Littleton|2002|p=98}} contributing to accusations that Shinto discriminates against women.{{sfn|Picken|2011|p=84}} Priests are free to marry and have children.{{sfn|Nelson|1996|p=124}} At smaller shrines, priests often have other full-time jobs, and serve only as priests during special occasions.{{sfn|Offner|1979|p=212}}
Before certain major festivals, priests may undergo a period of abstinence from sexual relations.{{sfn|Nelson|1996|p=43}} 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.{{sfn|Nelson|1996|p=141}}

The priests are assisted by {{lang|ja-Latn|jinja miko}}, sometimes referred to as "shrine-maidens" in English.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=121}} These {{lang|ja-Latn|[[miko]]}} are typically unmarried,{{sfnm|1a1=Nelson|1y=1996|1p=47|2a1=Bocking|2y=1997|2p=121}} although not necessarily virgins.{{sfn|Nelson|1996|p=47}} In many cases they are the daughters of a priest or a practitioner.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=121}} They are subordinate to the priests in the shrine hierarchy.{{sfn|Nelson|1996|pp=124–125}} Their most important role is in the {{lang|ja-Latn|[[kagura]]}} dance, known as {{lang|ja-Latn|otome-mai}}.{{sfn|Nelson|1996|p=125}} {{lang|ja-Latn|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.{{sfn|Nelson|1996|p=125}} They generally do not live at the shrines.{{sfn|Nelson|1996|p=125}} Sometimes they fill other roles, such as being secretaries in the shrine offices or clerks at the information desks, or as waitresses at the {{lang|ja-Latn|naorai}} feasts. They also assist {{lang|ja-Latn|kannushi}} in ceremonial rites.{{sfn|Nelson|1996|p=125}}

==== Visits to shrines ====

Visits to the shrine are termed {{lang|ja-Latn|sankei}},{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=152}} or {{lang|ja-Latn|jinja mairi}}.{{sfn|Cali|Dougill|2013|p=11}} Some individuals visit the shrines daily, often on their morning route to work;{{sfn|Cali|Dougill|2013|p=11}} they typically take only a few minutes.{{sfn|Cali|Dougill|2013|p=11}} Usually, a worshipper will approach the honden, placing a monetary offering in a box and then ringing a bell to call the {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}}'s attention.{{sfnm|1a1=Offner|1y=1979|1pp=201–202|2a1=Littleton|2y=2002|2p=72|3a1=Cali|3a2=Dougill|3y=2013|3p=11}} Then, they bow, clap, and stand while silently offering a prayer.{{sfnm|1a1=Offner|1y=1979|1p=204|2a1=Breen|2a2=Teeuwen|2y=2010|2p=3|3a1=Cali|3a2=Dougill|3y=2013|3p=11}} The clapping is known as {{lang|ja-Latn|kashiwade}} or {{lang|ja-Latn|[[Hakushu (Shinto)|hakushu]]}};{{sfn|Bocking|1997|pp=43, 90}} the prayers or supplications as {{lang|ja-Latn|kigan}}.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=96}} This individual worship is known as {{lang|ja-Latn|hairei}}.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=42}} More broadly, ritual prayers to the {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} are called {{lang|ja-Latn|[[norito]]}},{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=135}} while the coins offered are {{lang|ja-Latn|saisen}}.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=149}} At the shrine, individuals offering prayers are not necessarily praying to a specific {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}}.{{sfn|Cali|Dougill|2013|p=11}} A worshipper may not know the name of a {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} residing at the shrine nor how many {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} are believed to dwell there.{{sfnm|1a1=Offner|1y=1979|1p=202|2a1=Cali|2a2=Dougill|2y=2013|2p=11}} Unlike in certain other religions, Shinto shrines do not have weekly services that practitioners are expected to attend.{{sfn|Earhart|2004|p=12}}

[[File:Shinto Priest Blessing a Car at the Hokkaido Shrine.jpg|thumb|left|A [[Toyota Previa|Toyota Estima]] being blessed at the [[Hokkaidō Shrine]] in a ''kotsu anzen harai'' rite]]

Some Shinto practitioners do not offer their prayers to the {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} directly, but rather request that a priest offer them on their behalf; these prayers are known as {{lang|ja-Latn|kitō}}.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=98}} Many individuals approach the {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} asking for pragmatic requests.{{sfn|Nelson|1996|p=116}} Requests for rain, known as {{lang|ja-Latn|amagoi}} ("rain-soliciting") have been found across Japan, with Inari a popular choice for such requests.{{sfnm|1a1=Bocking|1y=1997|1p=3|2a1=Picken|2y=2011|2p=36}}
Other prayers reflect more contemporary concerns. For instance, people may ask that the priest approaches the {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} so as to purify their car in the hope that this will prevent it from being involved in an accident; the {{lang|ja-Latn|kotsu anzen harai}} ("purification for road safety").{{sfnm|1a1=Nelson|1y=1996|1p=116|2a1=Bocking|2y=1997|2p=114|3a1=Picken|3y=2011|3p=88}} Similarly, transport companies often request purification rites for new buses or airplanes which are about to go into service.{{sfnm|1a1=Bocking|1y=1997|1p=108|2a1=Picken|2y=2011|2p=88}} 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 {{lang|ja-Latn|jichinsai}}, or earth sanctification ritual. This purifies the site and asks the {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} to bless it.{{sfnm|1a1=Nelson|1y=1996|1pp=190–196|2a1=Bocking|2y=1997|2p=68|3a1=Picken|3y=2011|3p=88}}

People often ask the {{lang|ja-Latn|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 {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} to offset any ill-fortune associated with being this age.{{sfn|Nelson|1996|p=183}} Certain directions can also be seen as being inauspicious for certain people at certain times and thus people can approach the {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} asking them to offset this problem if they have to travel in one of these unlucky directions.{{sfn|Nelson|1996|p=183}}

[[File:熱田神社.jpg|thumb|Torii of Atsuta Jingū]][[Pilgrimage]] has long been important in Japanese religion,{{sfn|Kitagawa|1987|pp=xvii–xviii}} with pilgrimages to Shinto shrines called {{lang|ja-Latn|[[junrei]]}}.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=80}} 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 {{lang|ja-Latn|junpai}}.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=80}} An individual leading these pilgrims, is sometimes termed a {{lang|ja-Latn|sendatsu}}.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=158}} For many centuries, people have also visited the shrines for primarily cultural and recreational reasons, as opposed to spiritual ones.{{sfn|Cali|Dougill|2013|p=11}} Many of the shrines are recognised as sites of historical importance and some are classified as [[UNESCO]] [[World Heritage Sites]].{{sfn|Cali|Dougill|2013|p=11}} Shrines such as [[Shimogamo Jinja]] and [[Fushimi Inari Taisha]] in Kyoto, [[Meiji Jingū]] in Tokyo, and [[Atsuta Jingū]] in Nagoya are among Japan's most popular tourist sites.{{sfn|Rots|2015|p=221}} Many shrines have a unique rubber-stamp seal which visitors can get printed into their stamp book, demonstrating the different shrines they have visited.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=192}}

==={{lang|ja-Latn|Harae}} and {{lang|ja-Latn|hōbei}}===
{{Main|Harae}}
[[File:ItsukushimaBasin7406.jpg|thumb|Shinto rituals begin with a process of purification, often involving the washing of the hands and mouth at the {{lang|ja-Latn|temizu}} basin; this example is at Itsukushima Jinja.]]
Shinto rituals begin with a process of purification, or {{lang|ja-Latn|harae}}.{{sfnm|1a1=Nelson|1y=1996|1p=39|2a1=Bocking|2y=1997|2p=45}} Using fresh water or salt water, this is known as {{lang|ja-Latn|misogi}}.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=124}} At shrines, this entails sprinkling this water onto the face and hands, a procedure known as {{lang|ja-Latn|temizu}},{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=45}} using a font known as a {{lang|ja-Latn|[[temizuya]]}}.{{sfn|Nelson|1996|p=91}} Another form of purification at the start of a Shinto rite entails waving a white paper streamer or wand known as the {{lang|ja-Latn|haraigushi}}.{{sfnm|1a1=Nelson|1y=1996|1pp=39, 46|2a1=Bocking|2y=1997|2p=45}} When not in use, the {{lang|ja-Latn|haraigushi}} is usually kept in a stand.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=45}} The priest waves the {{lang|ja-Latn|haraigushi}} horizontally over a person or object being purified in a movement known as {{lang|ja-Latn|sa-yu-sa}} ("left-right-left").{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=45}} Sometimes, instead of a {{lang|ja-Latn|haraigushi}}, the purification is carried out with an {{lang|ja-Latn|o-nusa}}, a branch of evergreen to which strips of paper have been attached.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=45}} The waving of the {{lang|ja-Latn|haraigushi}} is often followed by an additional act of purification, the {{lang|ja-Latn|shubatsu}}, in which the priest sprinkles water, salt, or brine over those assembled from a wooden box called the {{lang|ja-Latn|'en-to-oke}} or {{lang|ja-Latn|magemono}}.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=184}}

The acts of purification accomplished, petitions known as {{lang|ja-Latn|norito}} are spoken to the {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}}.{{sfn|Nelson|1996|p=40}} This is followed by an appearance by the {{lang|ja-Latn|miko}}, who commence in a slow circular motion before the main altar.{{sfn|Nelson|1996|p=40}} Offerings are then presented to the {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} by being placed on a table.{{sfn|Nelson|1996|p=40}} This act is known as {{lang|ja-Latn|hōbei}};{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=53}} the offerings themselves as {{lang|ja-Latn|saimotsu}}{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=148}} or {{lang|ja-Latn|sonae-mono}}.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=187}} Historically, the offerings given the {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} included food, cloth, swords, and horses.{{sfn|Cali|Dougill|2013|pp=13–14}} In the contemporary period, lay worshippers usually give gifts of money to the {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} while priests generally offer them food, drink, and sprigs of the sacred {{lang|ja-Latn|[[sakaki]]}} tree.{{sfn|Cali|Dougill|2013|p=14}} [[Animal sacrifice]]s are not considered appropriate offerings, as the shedding of blood is seen as a polluting act that necessitates purification.{{sfn|Nelson|1996|p=64}} 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.{{sfn|Nelson|1996|p=40}} The choice of offerings will often be tailored to the specific {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} and occasion.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=170}}

Offerings of food and drink are specifically termed {{lang|ja-Latn|shinsen}}.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=170}}
[[Sake]], or rice wine, is a very common offering to the {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}}. {{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=150}} After the offerings have been given, people often sip rice wine known as {{lang|ja-Latn|o-miki}}.{{sfn|Nelson|1996|p=40}} Drinking the {{lang|ja-Latn|o-miki}} wine is seen as a form of communion with the {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}}.{{sfn|Nelson|1996|p=53}} On important occasions, a feast is then held, known as {{lang|ja-Latn|naorai}}, inside a banquet hall attached to the shrine complex.{{sfn|Nelson|1996|pp=40, 53}}

The {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} are believed to enjoy music.{{sfn|Nelson|1996|p=49}} One style of music performed at shrines is {{lang|ja-Latn|[[gagaku]]}}.{{sfnm|1a1=Nelson|1y=1996|1p=49|2a1=Bocking|2y=1997|2p=33}} Instruments used include three reeds ({{lang|ja-Latn|fue}}, {{lang|ja-Latn|sho}}, and {{lang|ja-Latn|hichiriki}}), the {{lang|ja-Latn|yamato-koto}}, and the "three drums" ({{lang|ja-Latn|taiko}}, {{lang|ja-Latn|kakko}}, and {{lang|ja-Latn|shōko}}).{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=33}} Other musical styles performed at shrines can have a more limited focus. At shrines such as [[Ōharano Shrine]] in Kyoto, {{lang|ja-Latn|azuma-asobi}} ("eastern entertainment") music is performed on April 8.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=8}} Also in Kyoto, various festivals make use of the {{lang|ja-Latn|[[dengaku]]}} style of music and dance, which originated from rice-planting songs.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=22}} During rituals, people visiting the shrine are expected to sit in the {{lang|ja-Latn|[[seiza]]}} style, with their legs tucked beneath their bottom.{{sfn|Nelson|1996|p=214}} To avoid cramps, individuals who hold this position for a lengthy period of time may periodically move their legs and flex their heels.{{sfn|Nelson|1996|pp=214–215}}

===Home shrines===
[[File:Kamidana.jpg|thumb|A {{lang|ja-Latn|kamidana}} displaying a {{lang|ja-Latn|[[shimenawa]]}} and {{lang|ja-Latn|[[Shide (Shinto)|shide]]}}]]
Having seen their popularity increase in the Meiji era,{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=85}} many Shinto practitioners also have a family shrine, or {{lang|ja-Latn|[[kamidana]]}} ("{{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} shelf"), in their home.{{sfnm|1a1=Offner|1y=1979|1pp=200|2a1=Nelson|2y=1996|2p=184|3a1=Littleton|3y=2002|3p=73|4a1=Earhart|4y=2004|4p=11}} These usually consist of shelves placed at an elevated position in the living room.{{sfn|Offner|1979|pp=200–201}} {{lang|ja-Latn|Kamidana}} can also be found in workplaces, restaurants, shops, and ocean-going ships.{{sfnm|1a1=Bocking|1y=1997|1p=85|2a1=Earhart|2y=2004|2p=11}} Some public shrines sell entire {{lang|ja-Latn|kamidana}}.{{sfn|Picken|2011|p=31}}

Along with the {{lang|ja-Latn|kamidana}}, many Japanese households also have {{lang|ja-Latn|[[butsudan]]}}, Buddhist altars enshrining the ancestors of the family;{{sfnm|1a1=Bocking|1y=1997|1p=13|2a1=Earhart|2y=2004|2p=11}} ancestral reverence remains an important aspect of Japanese religious tradition.{{sfn|Picken|2011|p=39}} In the rare instances where Japanese individuals are given a Shinto funeral rather than a Buddhist one, a {{lang|ja-Latn|tama-ya}}, {{lang|ja-Latn|mitama-ya}}, or {{lang|ja-Latn|sorei-sha}} shrine may be erected in the home in place of a {{lang|ja-Latn|butsudan}}. This will be typically placed below the {{lang|ja-Latn|kamidana}} and include symbols of the resident ancestral spirit, for instance a mirror or a scroll.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=198}}

{{lang|ja-Latn|Kamidana}} often enshrine the {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} of a nearby public shrine as well as a tutelary {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} associated with the house's occupants or their profession.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=85}} They can be decorated with miniature {{lang|ja-Latn|torii}} and {{lang|ja-Latn|shimenawa}} and include amulets obtained from public shrines.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=85}} They often contain a stand on which to place offerings;{{sfn|Offner|1979|p=201}} daily offerings of rice, salt, and water are placed there, with sake and other items also offered on special days.{{sfnm|1a1=Bocking|1y=1997|1p=85|2a1=Littleton|2y=2002|2p=74}} These domestic rituals often take place early in the morning,{{sfn|Littleton|2002|p=81}} and prior to conducting them, practitioners often bathe, rinse their mouth, or wash their hands as a form of purification.{{sfn|Offner|1979|p=203}}

Household Shinto can focus attention on the {{lang|ja-Latn|dōzoku-shin}}, {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} who are perceived to be ancestral to the {{lang|ja-Latn|dōzoku}} or extended kinship group.{{sfnm|1a1=Bocking|1y=1997|1p=24|2a1=Picken|2y=2011|2pp=75-76}} A small shrine for the ancestors of a household are known as {{lang|ja-Latn|soreisha}}.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=187}} Small village shrines containing the tutelary {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} of an extended family are known as {{lang|ja-Latn|iwai-den}}.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=66}} In addition to the {{lang|ja-Latn|jinja}} shrines and the household shrines, Shinto also features small wayside shrines known as {{lang|ja-Latn|[[hokora]]}}.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=54}} Other open spaces used for the worship of {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} are {{lang|ja-Latn|[[iwasaka]]}}, an area surrounded by sacred rocks.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=65}}

==={{lang|ja-Latn|Ema}}, divination, and amulets===
[[File:Ema of Izumo taissha.jpg|thumb|A selection of wooden {{lang|ja-Latn|ema}} hanging up at a Shinto shrine]]
A common feature of Shinto shrines is the provision of {{lang|ja-Latn|[[Ema (Shinto)|ema]]}}, small wooden plaques onto which practitioners will write a wish or desire that they would like to see fulfilled. The practitioner's message is written on one side of the plaque, while on the other is usually a printed picture or pattern related to the shrine itself.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|pp=25–26}} {{lang|ja-Latn|Ema}} are provided both at Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples in Japan;{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=25}} unlike most amulets, which are taken away from the shrine, the {{lang|ja-Latn|ema}} are typically left there as a message for the resident {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}}.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=26}} Those administering the shrine will then often burn all of the collected {{lang|ja-Latn|ema}} at new year.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=26}}

Divination is the focus of many Shinto rituals,{{sfn|Cali|Dougill|2013|p=18}} with various forms of divination used by its practitioners, some introduced from China.{{sfn|Picken|2011|p=73}} Among the ancient forms of divination found in Japan are {{lang|ja-Latn|rokuboku}} and {{lang|ja-Latn|kiboku}}.{{sfn|Cali|Dougill|2013|p=17}} Several forms of divination entailing [[archery]] are also practiced in Shintō, known as {{lang|ja-Latn|[[yabusame]]}}, {{lang|ja-Latn|omato-shinji}}, and {{lang|ja-Latn|mato-i}}.{{sfn|Picken|2011|pp=43, 73}} Kitagawa stated that there could be "no doubt" that various types of "shamanic diviners" played a role in early Japanese religion.{{sfn|Kitagawa|1987|p=39}} A form of divination previously common in Japan was {{lang|ja-Latn|[[bokusen]]}} or {{lang|ja-Latn|uranai}}, which often used tortoise shells; it is still used in some places.{{sfn|Picken|2011|p=50}}

A form of divination that is popular at Shinto shrines are the {{lang|ja-Latn|[[omikuji]]}}.{{sfnm|1a1=Bocking|1y=1997|1p=138|2a1=Picken|2y=2011|2p=74}} These are small slips of paper which are obtained from the shrine (for a donation) and which are then read to reveal a prediction for the future.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|pp=137–138}} Those who receive a bad prediction often then tie the {{lang|ja-Latn|omikuji}} to a nearby tree or frame set up for the purpose. This act is seen as rejecting the prediction, a process called {{lang|ja-Latn|sute-mikuji}}, and thus avoiding the misfortune it predicted.{{sfnm|1a1=Bocking|1y=1997|1p=139|2a1=Picken|2y=2011|2p=74}}

[[File:Hiromine-jinja by CR 38.jpg|thumb|left|A frame at a shrine where omikuji are tied]]
The use of [[amulet]]s are widely sanctioned and popular in Japan.{{sfn|Earhart|2004|p=12}} These may be made of paper, wood, cloth, metal, or plastic.{{sfn|Earhart|2004|p=12}}
{{lang|ja-Latn|[[Ofuda]]}} act as amulets to keep off misfortune and also serve as talismans to bring benefits and good luck.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=135}} They typically comprise a tapering piece of wood onto which the name of the shrine and its enshrined {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} are written or printed. The {{lang|ja-Latn|ofuda}} is then wrapped inside white paper and tied up with a colored thread.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|pp=135–136}} {{lang|ja-Latn|Ofuda}} are provided both at Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=135}} Another type of amulet provided at shrines and temples are the {{lang|ja-Latn|[[omamori]]}}, which are traditionally small, brightly colored drawstring bags with the name of the shrine written on it.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=138}} {{lang|ja-Latn|Omamori}} and {{lang|ja-Latn|ofuda}} are sometimes placed within a charm bag known as a {{lang|ja-Latn|[[kinchaku]]}}, typically worn by small children.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=96}}

At new year, many shrines sell {{lang|ja-Latn|[[Hama Yumi|hamaya]]}} (an "evil-destroying arrows"), which people can purchase and keep in their home over the coming year to bring good luck.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|pp=43–44}}
A {{lang|ja-Latn|[[Daruma doll|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.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{cite book |title= Handy Bilingual Reference For Kami and Jinja |work= Study Group of Shinto Culture |year=2006 |publisher=International Cultural Workshop Inc. |location=Tokyo |pages=39–41}}</ref>
Other protective items include {{lang|ja-Latn|dorei}}, which are earthenware bells that are used to pray for good fortune. These bells are usually in the shapes of the zodiacal animals.<ref name="ReferenceA" /> {{lang|ja-Latn|Inuhariko}} are paper dogs that are used to induce and to bless good births.<ref name="ReferenceA" /> Collectively, these talismans through which home to manipulate events and influence spirits, as well as related mantras and rites for the same purpose, are known as {{lang|ja-Latn|majinai}}.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|pp=114–15}}

===''Kagura''===
[[File:Ymananashi-oka shrine Daidai Kagura A.JPG|thumb|A {{lang|ja-Latn|kagura}} traditional dance performed at the Yamanashi-oka shrine]]
{{lang|ja-Latn|[[Kagura]]}} describes the music and dance performed for the {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}};{{sfnm|1a1=Offner|1y=1979|1p=205|2a1=Bocking|2y=1997|2p=81}} the term may have originally derived from {{lang|ja-Latn|kami no kura}} ("seat of the {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}}").{{sfn|Kobayashi|1981|p=3}} Throughout Japanese history, dance has played an important culture role and in Shinto it is regarded as having the capacity to pacify {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}}.{{sfn|Kitagawa|1987|p=23}} There is a [[mythology|mythological]] tale of how {{lang|ja-Latn|kagura}} dance came into existence. According to the {{Lang|ja-latn|Kojiki}} and the {{Lang|ja-latn|Nihon Shoki}}, [[Ame-no-Uzume]] performed a dance to entice Amaterasu out of the cave in which she had hidden herself.{{sfnm|1a1=Kitagawa|1y=1987|1p=23|2a1=Bocking|2y=1997|2p=81|3a1=Picken|3y=2011|3p=68}}

There are two broad types of kagura.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=81}} One is Imperial kagura, also known as {{lang|ja-Latn|mikagura}}. This style was developed in the imperial court and is still performed on [[Three Palace Sanctuaries|imperial grounds]] every December.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|pp=81–82}} It is also performed at the Imperial harvest festival and at major shrines such as Ise, [[Kamo Shrines|Kamo]], and [[Iwashimizu Shrine|Iwashimizu Hachiman-gū]]. It is performed by singers and musicians using {{lang|ja-Latn|[[shakubyoshi]]}} wooden clappers, a {{lang|ja-Latn|[[hichiriki]]}}, a {{lang|ja-Latn|kagura-bue}} flute, and a six-stringed zither.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=82}} The other main type is {{lang|ja-Latn|sato-kagura}}, descended from {{lang|ja-Latn|mikagura}} and performed at shrines across Japan. Depending on the style, it is performed by {{lang|ja-Latn|miko}} or by actors wearing masks to portray various mythological figures.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|pp=82, 155}} These actors are accompanied by a {{lang|ja-Latn|hayashi}} band using flutes and drums.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=82}} There are also other, regional types of kagura.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=82}}

===Festivals===
[[File:Aoi Matsuri.jpg|thumb|Participants in a procession for Aoi Matsuri in Kyoto]]
Public festivals are commonly termed {{lang|ja-Latn|[[matsuri]]}},{{sfnm|1a1=Littleton|1y=2002|1p=81|2a1=Boyd|2a2=Williams|2y=2005|2p=36|3a1=Picken|3y=2011|3pp=9, 86}} although this term has varied meanings—"festival", "worship", "celebration", "rite", or "prayer"—and no direct translation into English.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=117}} Picken suggested that the festival was "the central act of Shinto worship" because Shinto was a "community- and family-based" religion.{{sfn|Picken|1994|p=xxvi}} Most mark the seasons of the agricultural year and involve offerings being directed to the {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} in thanks.{{sfnm|1a1=Bocking|1y=1997|1pp=117–118|2a1=Picken|2y=2011|2p=86}} According to a traditional [[lunar calendar]], Shinto shrines should hold their festival celebrations on {{lang|ja-Latn|hare-no-hi}} or "clear" days", the days of the new, full, and half moons.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=46}} Other days, known as {{lang|ja-Latn|ke-no-hi}}, were generally avoided for festivities.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=46}} However, since the late 20th century, many shrines 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.{{sfnm|1a1=Nelson|1y=1996|1p=224|2a1=Earhart|2y=2004|2p=222}} Each town or village often has its own festival, centred on a local shrine.{{sfn|Littleton|2002|p=81}} For instance, the [[Aoi Matsuri]] festival, held on 15 May to pray for an abundant grain harvest, takes place at shrines in [[Kyoto]],{{sfnm|1a1=Bocking|1y=1997|1p=6|2a1=Picken|2y=2011|2p=42}} while the [[Chichibu Yo-Matsuri]] takes place on 2–3 December in [[Chichibu, Saitama|Chichibu]].{{sfn|Picken|2011|p=59}}

Spring festivals are called {{lang|ja-Latn|haru-matsuri}} and often incorporate prayers for a good harvest.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=46}} They sometimes involve {{lang|ja-Latn|ta-asobi}} ceremonies, in which rice is ritually planted.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=46}} Summer festivals are termed {{lang|ja-Latn|natsu-matsuri}} and are usually focused on protecting the crops against pests and other threats.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=132}} Autumn festivals are known as {{lang|ja-Latn|aki-matsuri}} and primarily focus on thanking the {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} for the rice or other harvest.{{sfnm|1a1=Bocking|1y=1997|1p=2|2a1=Picken|2y=2011|2p=35}} The {{lang|ja-Latn|[[Niiname-sai]]}}, or festival of new rice, is held across many Shinto shrines on 23 November.{{sfn|Nelson|1996|p=170}} The emperor also conducts a ceremony to mark this festival, at which he presents the first fruits of the harvest to the {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} at midnight.{{sfn|Offner|1979|p=205}} Winter festivals, called {{lang|ja-Latn|fuyu no matsuri}} often feature on welcoming in the spring, expelling evil, and calling in good influences for the future.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=32}} There is little difference between winter festivals and specific new year festivals.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=32}}

[[File:Tomioka hachimangu10.jpg|thumb|left|Procession of the {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} as part of the [[Fukagawa Matsuri]] festival in Tokyo]]
The [[Japanese New Year|season of the new year]] is called {{lang|ja-Latn|shogatsu}}.{{sfnm|1a1=Bocking|1y=1997|1p=182|2a1=Littleton|2y=2002|2p=80}} On the last day of the year (31 December), {{lang|ja-Latn|omisoka}}, practitioners usually clean their household shrines in preparation for New Year's Day (1 January), {{lang|ja-Latn|ganjitsu}}.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=139}} Many people visit public shrines to celebrate new year;{{sfnm|1a1=Offner|1y=1979|1p=205|2a1=Nelson|2y=1996|2p=199|3a1=Littleton|3y=2002|3p=80|4a1=Breen|4a2=Teeuwen|4y=2010|4p=3}} this "first visit" of the year is known as {{lang|ja-Latn|hatsumōde}} or {{lang|ja-Latn|hatsumairi}}.{{sfnm|1a1=Bocking|1y=1997|1p=47|2a1=Breen|2a2=Teeuwen|2y=2010|2p=3}} There, they buy amulets and talismans to bring them good fortune over the coming year.{{sfn|Nelson|1996|p=208}} To celebrate this festival, many Japanese put up rope known as {{lang|ja-Latn|[[shimenawa]]}} on their homes and places of business.{{sfnm|1a1=Nelson|1y=1996|1p=206|2a1=Bocking|2y=1997|2p=163}} Some also put up {{lang|ja-Latn|[[kadomatsu]]}} ("gateway pine"), an arrangement of pine branches, plum tree, and bamboo sticks.{{sfnm|1a1=Nelson|1y=1996|1p=206|2a1=Bocking|2y=1997|2p=81}} Also displayed are {{lang|ja-Latn|kazari}}, which are smaller and more colourful; their purpose is to keep away misfortune and attract good fortune.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=93}} In many places, new year celebrations incorporate {{lang|ja-Latn|[[hadaka matsuri]]}} ("naked festivals") in which men dressed only in a {{lang|ja-Latn|[[fundoshi]]}} loincloth engage in a particular activity, such as fighting over a specific object or immersing themselves in a river.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=41}}

A common feature of festivals are processions or parades known as {{lang|ja-Latn|gyōretsu}}.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|pp=39–40}} These can be raucous, with many participants being drunk;{{sfnm|1a1=Offner|1y=1979|1p=205|2a1=Nelson|2y=1996|2p=133}} Breen and Teeuwen characterised them as having a "carnivalesque atmosphere".{{sfn|Breen|Teeuwen|2010|p=4}} They are often understood as having a regenerative effect on both the participants and the community.{{sfn|Nelson|1996|p=134}} During these processions, the {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} travel in portable shrines known as {{lang|ja-Latn|[[mikoshi]]}}.{{sfnm|1a1=Nelson|1y=1996|1p=140|2a1=Bocking|2y=1997|2p=122|3a1=Littleton|3y=2002|3p=82|4a1=Breen|4a2=Teeuwen|4y=2010|4p=4}} In various cases the {{lang|ja-Latn|mikoshi}} undergo {{lang|ja-Latn|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.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=43}} For instance, in the Okunchi festival held in the southwestern city of [[Nagasaki]], the {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} of the [[Suwa Shrine (Nagasaki)|Suwa Shrine]] are paraded down to Ohato, where they are placed in a shrine there for several days before being paraded back to Suwa.{{sfn|Nelson|1996|pp=152–154}} These sort of celebrations are often organized largely by members of the local community rather than by the priests themselves.{{sfn|Breen|Teeuwen|2010|p=4}}

===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}}

===Spirit mediumship and healing===
[[File:Inako 2006-10-09.jpg|thumb|An {{lang|ja-Latn|itako}} at the autumn Inako Taisai festival at [[Mount Osore]], Aomori Prefecture, Japan]]
Shinto practitioners believe that the {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} can possess a human being and then speak through them, a process known as {{lang|ja-Latn|kami-gakari}}.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|pp=85–86}} Several new religious movements drawing upon Shinto, such as [[Tenrikyo]] and [[Oomoto]], were founded by individuals claiming to be guided by a possessing {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}}.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=86}} The {{lang|ja-Latn|takusen}} is an [[oracle]] that is passed from the {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} via the medium.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=197}}

The {{lang|ja-Latn|[[itako]]}} and {{lang|ja-Latn|ichiko}} are blind women who train to become [[mediumship|spiritual mediums]], traditionally in Japan's northern [[Tohoku]] region.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=63}} {{lang|ja-Latn|Itako}} train under other {{lang|ja-Latn|itako}} from childhood, memorialising sacred texts and prayers, fasting, and undertaking acts of severe asceticism, through which they are believed to cultivate supernatural powers.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=63}} In an initiation ceremony, a {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} is believed to possess the young woman, and the two are then ritually "married". After this, the {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} becomes her tutelary spirit and she will henceforth be able to call upon it, and a range of other spirits, in the future. Through contacting these spirits, she is able to convey their messages to the living.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=63}} {{lang|ja-Latn|Itako}} usually carry out their rituals independent of the shrine system.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|pp=63–64}} Japanese culture also includes spiritual healers known as {{lang|ja-Latn|ogamiya-san}} whose work involves invoking both {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} and Buddhas.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=136}}

==History==
{{Main|History of 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}}

===Nara period===
This period hosted many changes to the country, government, and religion. The capital is moved again to [[Heijō-kyō]] (modern-day [[Nara, Nara|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.<ref name="JapaneseReligion1985">{{cite book |title=Japanese Religion |publisher=Prentice Hall Inc |location=Englewood Cliffs, NJ |first=Robert Ellwood |last=Richard Pilgrim |edition=1st |year=1985|isbn=978-0-13-509282-8 |pages=18–19}}</ref> 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 Code|Taihō]] and are required to account for incomes, priests, and practices due to their national contributions.<ref name="JapaneseReligion1985" />

===Meiji era and the Empire of Japan===
{{Main|State Shinto}}
[[File:Chosen Jingu.JPG|thumb|The [[Chōsen Jingū]] in [[Seoul]], Korea, established during the Japanese occupation of the peninsula]]
Breen and Teeuwen characterise the period between 1868 and 1915, during the Meiji era, as being the "formative years" of modern Shinto.{{sfn|Breen|Teeuwen|2010|p=7}} It is in this period that various scholars have argued that Shinto was essentially "invented".{{sfn|Breen|Teeuwen|2010|p=7}}
Fridell argues that scholars call the period from 1868 to 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."<ref>Wilbur M. Fridell, "A Fresh Look at State Shintō", ''Journal of the American Academy of Religion'' 44.3 (1976), 547–561 [https://www.jstor.org/stable/1462824 in JSTOR] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181107011800/https://www.jstor.org/stable/1462824 |date=7 November 2018 }}; quote p. 548</ref> 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 Josephson Storm|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.<ref>Josephson, Jason Ānanda (2012). ''The Invention of Religion in Japan''. University of Chicago Press. p. 133. {{ISBN|0226412342}}.</ref>

The [[Meiji Restoration]] of 1868 was fuelled by a renewal of Confucian ethics and imperial patriotism among Japan's ruling class.{{sfn|Breen|Teeuwen|2010|p=8}} Among these reformers, Buddhism was seen as a corrupting influence that had undermined what they envisioned as Japan's original purity and greatness.{{sfn|Breen|Teeuwen|2010|p=8}} They wanted to place a renewed emphasis on {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} worship as an indigenous form of ritual, an attitude that was also fuelled by anxieties about Western expansionism and fear that Christianity would take hold in Japan.{{sfn|Breen|Teeuwen|2010|p=8}}

In 1868, all shrine priests were placed under the authority of the new [[Jingikan]], or Council of Kami Affairs.{{sfn|Breen|Teeuwen|2010|pp=7-8}} A project of forcibly separating {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} worship from Buddhism was implemented, with Buddhist monks, deities, buildings, and rituals banned from {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} shrines.{{sfn|Breen|Teeuwen|2010|p=8}} Much Buddhist material was destroyed.{{sfn|Breen|Teeuwen|2010|p=8}} In 1871, a new hierarchy of shrines was introduced, with imperial and national shrines at the top.{{sfnm|1a1=Breen|1a2=Teeuwen|1y=2010|1p=9|2a1=Azegami|2y=2012|2p=71}} Hereditary priesthoods were abolished and a new state-sanctioned system for appointing priests was introduced.{{sfn|Breen|Teeuwen|2010|p=9}}
In 1872, the Jingikan was replaced with the [[Kyobusho]], or Ministry of Edification.{{sfn|Breen|Teeuwen|2010|p=10}} This coordinated [[Great Promulgation Campaign|a campaign]] whereby {{lang|ja-Latn|kyodoshoku}} ("national evangelists") were sent through the country to promote Japan's "Great Teaching", which included respect for the {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} and obedience to the emperor.{{sfn|Breen|Teeuwen|2010|p=10}} This campaign was discontinued in 1884.{{sfn|Breen|Teeuwen|2010|p=10}} In 1906, thousands of village shrines were merged so that most small communities had only a single shrine, where rites in honor of the emperor could be held.{{sfn|Breen|Teeuwen|2010|p=11}} Shinto effectively became the state cult, one promoted with growing zeal in the build-up to the Second World War.{{sfn|Breen|Teeuwen|2010|p=11}}

In 1882, the Meiji government designated 13 religious movements that were neither Buddhist nor Christian to be forms of "[[Sect Shinto]]".{{sfn|Offner|1979|p=215}} The number and name of the sects given this formal designation varied;{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=112}} often they merged ideas with Shinto from Buddhism, Christian, Confucian, Daoist, and [[Western esotericism|Western esoteric]] traditions.{{sfn|Littleton|2002|pp=100-101}} In the Meiji period, many local traditions died out and were replaced by nationally standardised practices encouraged from Tokyo.{{sfn|Breen|Teeuwen|2010|p=12}}

===Post-war===
[[File:Association of Shinto Shrines 2010.jpg|thumb|The headquarters of the [[Association of Shinto Shrines]] in [[Shibuya]], [[Tokyo]]]]
During the U.S. occupation, a [[Constitution of Japan|new Japanese constitution]] was drawn up. This enshrined [[freedom of religion]] and separated religion from the state, a measure designed to eradicate State Shinto.{{sfnm|1a1=Ueda|1y=1979|1p=304|2a1=Kitagawa|2y=1987|2p=171|3a1=Bocking|3y=1997|3p=18|4a1=Earhart|4y=2004|4p=207}} The emperor declared that he was not a {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}};{{sfn|Earhart|2004|p=207}} Shinto rituals performed by the imperial family became their own private affair.{{sfn|Ueda|1979|p=304}} This disestablishment ended government subsidies to shrines and gave them renewed freedom to organise their own affairs.{{sfn|Earhart|2004|p=207}} In 1946 many shrines formed a voluntary organisation, the [[Association of Shinto Shrines]] ({{lang|ja-Latn|Jinja Honchō}}).{{sfnm|1a1=Bocking|1y=1997|1p=75|2a1=Earhart|2y=2004|2pp=207–208}} In 1956 the association issued a creedal statement, the {{lang|ja-Latn|keishin seikatsu no kōryō}} ("general characteristics of a life lived in reverence of the {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}}"), to summarise what they regarded as Shinto's principles.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=94}} By the late 1990s around 80% of Japan's Shinto shrines were part of this association.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=76}}

In the post-war decades, many Japanese blamed Shinto for encouraging the militarism which had led to defeat and occupation.{{sfn|Earhart|2004|p=207}} Others remained nostalgic for State Shinto,{{sfn|Kitagawa|1987|p=172}} and concerns were repeatedly expressed that sectors of Japanese society were conspiring to restore it.{{sfn|Picken|2011|p=18}} Various legal debates revolved around the involvement of public officials in Shinto.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=18}} In 1965, for instance, the city of [[Tsu, Mie|Tsu]], Mie Prefecture, paid four Shinto priests to purify the site where the municipal athletic hall was to be built. Critics brought the case to court, claiming it contravened the constitutional separation of religion and state; in 1971 the high court ruled that the city administration's act had been unconstitutional, although this was overturned by the [[Supreme Court of Japan|Supreme Court]] in 1977.{{sfnm|1a1=Ueda|1y=1979|1p=307|2a1=Breen|2y=2010|2pp=71-72}}

During the post-war period, Shinto themes often blended into Japanese [[new religious movement]]s.{{sfn|Nelson|1996|p=180}} Of the Sect Shinto groups, [[Tenrikyo]] was probably the most successful,{{sfn|Kitagawa|1987|p=172}} although in 1970 it repudiated its Shinto identity.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=113}} Shinto perspectives also influenced popular culture. The film director [[Hayao Miyazaki]] of [[Studio Ghibli]] for instance acknowledged Shinto influences on his films such as ''[[Spirited Away]]''.{{sfn|Boyd|Nishimura|2016|p=3}} Shinto also spread abroad through both emigration and conversion by non-Japanese.{{sfnm|1a1=Picken|1y=2011|1p=xiv|2a1=Suga|2y=2010|2p=48}} The [[Tsubaki Grand Shrine]] in [[Suzuka, Mie|Suzuka]], Mie Prefecture, was the first to establish a branch abroad: the [[Tsubaki Grand Shrine of America]], initially located in California and then moved to [[Granite Falls, Washington]].{{sfn|Picken|2011|p=32}}

During the 20th century, most academic research on Shinto was conducted by Shinto theologians, often priests,{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=176}} bringing accusations that it often blurred theology with historical analysis.{{sfn|Hardacre|2017|p=4}} From the 1980s onward, there was a renewed academic interest in Shinto both in Japan and abroad.{{sfn|Bocking|1997|p=177}}

==Demographics==
[[File:Guji Francesco Brigante.jpg|thumb|A Shinto rite carried out at a jinja in [[San Marino]], Southern Europe]]
Most Japanese participate in several religious traditions,{{sfn|Earhart|2004|pp=4, 214}} with Breen and Teeuwen noting that, "with few exceptions", it is not possible to differentiate between Shintoists and Buddhists in Japan.{{sfn|Breen|Teeuwen|2010|p=2}} The main exceptions are members of minority religious groups, including Christianity, which promote exclusivist worldviews.{{sfn|Earhart|2004|p=215}} 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".{{sfn|Earhart|2004|p=215}} Many Japanese avoid the term "religion", in part because they dislike the connotations of the word which most closely matches it in the Japanese language, {{lang|ja-Latn|shūkyō}}. The latter term derives from {{lang|ja-Latn|shū}} ("sect") and {{lang|ja-Latn|kyō}} ("doctrine").{{sfn|Nelson|1996|p=8}}

Official statistics show Shinto to be Japan's largest religion, with over 80 per cent of its population engaging in Shinto activities.{{sfn|Breen|Teeuwen|2010|p=1}}<ref name=":0">{{cite web|url = http://www.stat.go.jp/data/nenkan/back64/zuhyou/y2322a00.xls|title = 宗教団体数，教師数及び信者数|date = 2015|access-date = August 25, 2015|website = Statistical Yearbook of Japan|publisher = Statistics Japan, [[Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications]]|archive-date = 10 December 2015|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151210220151/http://www.stat.go.jp/data/nenkan/back64/zuhyou/y2322a00.xls|url-status = live}}</ref> Conversely, in questionnaires only a small minority of Japanese describe themselves as "Shintoists."{{sfn|Breen|Teeuwen|2010|p=1}} This indicates that a far larger number of people engage in Shinto activities than cite Shinto as their religious identity.{{sfn|Breen|Teeuwen|2010|p=1}} There are no formal rituals to become a practitioner of "folk Shinto". Thus, "Shinto membership" is often estimated counting only those who do join organized Shinto sects.{{sfn|Williams|Bhar|Marty|2004|pp=4–5}} Shinto has about 81,000 shrines and about 85,000 priests in the country.<ref name=":0" /> According to surveys carried out in 2006<ref name="Dentsu2006">Dentsu Communication Institute, Japan Research Center: ''[http://www2.ttcn.ne.jp/honkawa/9460.html Sixty Countries' Values Databook] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180227112501/http://www2.ttcn.ne.jp/honkawa/9460.html |date=27 February 2018 }}'' (世界60カ国価値観データブック).</ref> and 2008,<ref name="NHK2008">{{cite web|url=http://www.nhk.or.jp/bunken/summary/research/report/2009_05/090505.pdf|title=2008 NHK survey of religion in Japan — 宗教的なもの にひかれる日本人〜ISSP国際比較調査（宗教）から〜|publisher=NHK Culture Research Institute|access-date=19 October 2017|archive-date=12 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190412074304/http://www.nhk.or.jp/bunken/summary/research/report/2009_05/090505.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> less than 40% of the population of Japan identifies with an organised religion: around 35% are [[Buddhism|Buddhists]], 30% to 40% are members of [[Shinto sects and schools#Shintō inspired religions|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 {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} in general.<ref name="NHK2008" />

===Shinto outside Japan ===
{{main|Overseas Shinto}}
[[File:Karafuto Shrine.JPG|thumb|right|The Karafuto Shrine in the Sakhalin Region]]
The end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries were marked by the expansion of the [[Empire of Japan]], which also led to the spread of Shinto in the colonized territories.{{sfn|Hardacre|2017|pp=431—432}} In total, from 1868 to 1945, 1,640 shrines were built in territories under Japanese control.{{sfn|Hardacre|2017|pp=431—432}}{{sfn|Nakajima|2010|p=22}} In addition, starting in 1885, Japanese began to move to American [[Hawaii]], most of whom left Japan for economic reasons; Since 1908, [[Japanese Brazilians|emigration to Brazil]] also began, where the Japanese worked on coffee plantations. The emigrants built shrines to preserve their culture and worship traditional deities.{{sfn|Picken|2011|pp=273—274}}{{sfn|Hardacre|2017|pp=404—406}}

{{lang|ja-Latn|Jinja}} outside Japan are termed {{lang|ja-Latn|kaigai jinja}} ("overseas shrines"), a term coined by {{ill|Ogasawara Shozo|ja|小笠原省三}}.{{sfn|Suga|2010|p=48}} When the Japanese Empire collapsed in the 1940s, there were over 600 {{lang|ja-Latn|jinja}} within its conquered territories, many of which were later disbanded.{{sfn|Suga|2010|p=48}} Japanese migrants have also established {{lang|ja-Latn|jinja}} in countries like Brazil,{{sfn|Suga|2010|pp=59–60}} while Shinto's lack of doctrinal focus has attracted interest from non-Japanese;{{sfn|Picken|2011|p=xiv}} in the United States, for example, [[European Americans]] have played a significant role in introducing Shinto.{{sfn|Picken|2011|p=xiv}}

==See also==
{{Portal|Japan|Religion|Philosophy}}
{{div col|colwidth=17em}}
* [[Azusa yumi]]
* [[Dōsojin]]
* [[Hama yumi]]
* [[Hari-Kuyo]]
* [[Iwakura (Shinto)]]
* [[Kodama (spirit)]]
* [[List of Japanese deities]]
* [[Nyonin Kinsei]]
* [[Raijin]]
* [[Ryukyuan religion]]
* [[Shide (Shinto)]]
* [[Shinto architecture]]
* [[Shinto in popular culture]]
* [[Shinto in Taiwan]]
* [[Shinto music]]
* [[Twenty-Two Shrines]]
* [[Yōsei]]

{{div col end}}

==References==
===Citations===
{{Reflist|20em}}

===Sources===
{{Refbegin|30em|indent=yes}}
* {{cite journal |first=Naoki |last=Azegami |year=2012 |translator=Mark Teeuwen |title=Local Shrines and the Creation of 'State Shinto' |journal=Religion |volume=42 |issue=1 |pages=63–85 |doi=10.1080/0048721X.2012.641806 |s2cid=219597745 }}
* {{cite book |last=Bocking |first=Brian |title=A Popular Dictionary of Shinto |edition=revised |location=Richmond |publisher=Curzon |year=1997 |isbn=978-0-7007-1051-5 }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Boyd |first1=James W. |last2=Williams |first2=Ron G. |title=Japanese Shinto: An Interpretation of a Priestly Perspective |journal=Philosophy East and West |year=2005 |volume=55 |issue=1 |pages=33–63 |doi=10.1353/pew.2004.0039 |s2cid=144550475 }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Boyd |first1=James W. |last2=Nishimura |first2=Tetsuya |year=2016 |title=Shinto Perspectives in Miyazaki's Anime Film ''Spirited Away'' |journal=Journal of Religion and Film |volume=8 |issue=33 |url=https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/jrf/vol8/iss3/4 |pages=1–14 |access-date=1 January 2020 |archive-date=1 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200101165317/https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/jrf/vol8/iss3/4/ |url-status=live }}
* {{cite journal |last=Breen |first=John |year=2010 |title='Conventional Wisdom' and the Politics of Shinto in Postwar Japan |journal= Politics and Religion Journal |volume=4 |issue=1 |pages=68–82|doi=10.54561/prj0401068b|doi-access=free}}
* {{cite book |last1=Breen |first1=John |last2=Teeuwen |first2=Mark |title=A New History of Shinto |location=Chichester |publisher=Wiley-Blackwell |year=2010 |isbn=978-1-4051-5515-1}}
* {{cite book |last1=Cali |first1=Joseph |last2=Dougill |first2=John |title=Shinto Shrines: A Guide to the Sacred Sites of Japan's Ancient Religion |location=Honolulu |publisher=University of Hawai'i Press |year=2013 |isbn=978-0-8248-3713-6 }}
* {{cite journal |last=Doerner |first=David L. |title=Comparative Analysis of Life after Death in Folk Shinto and Christianity |year=1977 |journal=Japanese Journal of Religious Studies |volume=4 |issue=2 |pages=151–182 |doi=10.18874/jjrs.4.2-3.1977.151-182 |doi-access=free }}
* {{cite book |last=Earhart |first=H. Byron |year=2004 |title=Japanese Religion: Unity and Diversity |edition=fourth |location=Belmont, CA |publisher=Wadsworth |isbn=978-0-534-17694-5 }}
* {{cite book |last=Hardacre |first=Helen |title=Shinto: A History |location=Oxford |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2017 |isbn=978-0-19-062171-1 }}
* {{cite journal |jstor=30233666 |title=Shinto Funerals in the Edo Period |journal=Japanese Journal of Religious Studies |volume=27 |issue=3/4 |pages=239–271 |last=Kenney |first=Elizabeth |year=2000 }}
* {{cite book |last=Kitagawa |first=Joseph M. |author-link=Joseph Kitagawa |title=On Understanding Japanese Religion |year=1987 |publisher=Princeton University Press |location=Princeton, New Jersey |isbn=978-0-691-10229-0 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/onunderstandingj0000kita }}
* {{cite journal |last=Kobayashi |first=Kazushige |title=On the Meaning of Masked Dances in Kagura |translator=Peter Knecht |journal=Asian Folklore Studies |volume=40 |issue=1 |year=1981 |pages=1–22 |doi=10.2307/1178138 |jstor=1178138}}
* {{cite journal |title=Shinto in the History of Japanese Religion |last=Kuroda |first=Toshio |translator=James C. Dobbins and Suzanne Gay |journal=Journal of Japanese Studies |volume=7 |number=1 |year=1981 |pages=1–21 |doi=10.2307/132163 |jstor=132163 }}
* {{cite book |last=Inoue |first=Nobutaka |chapter=Introduction: What is Shinto? |title=Shinto: A Short History |year=2003 |editor=Nobutaka Inoue |translator=Mark Teeuwan and John Breen |publisher=Routledge |location=London and New York |pages=1–10 |isbn=978-0-415-31913-3 }}
* {{cite book |title=Shinto: Origins, Rituals, Festivals, Spirits, Sacred Places |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford, NY |first=C. Scott |last=Littleton| author-link=C. Scott Littleton |year=2002 |isbn=978-0-19-521886-2 |oclc=49664424}}
* {{cite journal |last = Nakajima |first = Michio |title = Shinto Deities that Crossed the Sea: Japan's "Overseas Shrines," 1868 to 1945 |year = 2010 |journal = Japanese Journal of Religious Studies |doi = 10.18874/jjrs.37.1.2010.21-46|doi-access = free }}
* {{cite book |last=Nelson |first=John K. |title=A Year in the Life of a Shinto Shrine |url=https://archive.org/details/yearinlifeofs00nels |url-access=registration |location=Seattle and London |publisher=University of Washington Press |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-295-97500-9 }}
* {{cite book |last=Nelson |first=John K. |title=Enduring Identities: The Guise of Shinto in Contemporary Japan |year=2000 |location=Honolulu |publisher=University of Hawai'i Press |isbn=978-0-8248-2259-0 }}
* {{cite book |last=Offner |first=Clark B. |chapter=Shinto |title=The World's Religions |edition=fourth |year=1979 |pages=191–218 |editor=Norman Anderson |location=Leicester |publisher=Inter-Varsity Press }}
* {{cite book |last=Picken |first=Stuart D. B. |author-link=Stuart D. B. Picken |title=Essentials of Shinto: An Analytical Guide to Principal Teachings |year=1994 |publisher=Greenwood |location=Westport and London |isbn=978-0-313-26431-3 }}
* {{cite book |last=Picken |first=Stuart D. B. |author-link=Stuart D. B. Picken |title=Historical Dictionary of Shinto |edition=second |location=Lanham |publisher=Scarecrow Press |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-8108-7172-4 }}
* {{cite journal |last=Rots |first=Aike P. |year=2015 |title=Sacred Forests, Sacred Nation: The Shinto Environmentalist Paradigm and the Rediscovery of Chinju no Mori |journal=Japanese Journal of Religious Studies |volume=42 |issue=2 |pages=205–233 |doi=10.18874/jjrs.42.2.2015.205-233 |doi-access=free }}
* {{cite book |last=Smart |first=Ninian |title=The World's Religions |url=https://archive.org/details/worldsreligions00smar_0 |url-access=registration |edition=second |year=1998 |location=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-63748-0 }}
* {{cite journal |last=Suga |first=Kōji |title=A Concept of "Overseas Shinto Shrines": A Pantheistic Attempt by Ogasawara Shōzō and Its Limitations |journal=Japanese Journal of Religious Studies |volume=37 |issue=1 |year=2010 |pages=47–74 }}
* {{cite journal |first=Mark |last=Teeuwen |title=From Jindō to Shintō. A Concept Takes Shape |journal=Japanese Journal of Religious Studies |year=2002 |volume=29 |issue=3–4 |pages=233–263 }}
* {{cite journal |last=Ueda |first=Kenji |title=Contemporary Social Change and Shinto Tradition |journal=Japanese Journal of Religious Studies |volume=6 |issue=1–2 |year=1979
|pages=303–327 |doi=10.18874/jjrs.6.1-2.1979.303-327 |doi-access=free }}
* {{cite book|last1=Williams|first1=George|last2=Bhar|first2=Ann Marie B.|last3=Marty|first3=Martin E.|author-link3=Martin E. Marty|title=Shinto (Religions of the World)|date=2004|publisher=Chelsea House|isbn=978-0-7910-8097-9|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/shinto0000will}}
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
{{Refbegin|30em|indent=yes}}
* {{cite book |title=The Gods Come Dancing: A Study of the Japanese Ritual Dance of Yamabushi Kagura |publisher=East Asia Program, Cornell University |location=Ithaca, NY |first=Irit |last=Averbuch |year=1995 |isbn=978-1-885445-67-4 |oclc=34612865}}
* {{cite journal |title=Shamanic Dance in Japan: The Choreography of Possession in Kagura Performance |journal=Asian Folklore Studies |first=Irit |last=Averbuch |year=1998 |volume=57 |issue=2 | pages = 293–329 |doi=10.2307/1178756 |jstor=1178756 }}
* Bestor, Victoria, [[Theodore C. Bestor]], & Akiko Yamagata. ''Routledge Handbook of Japanese Culture and Society''. Routledge, 2011. {{ASIN|B004XYN3E4}}, {{ISBN|0415436494}}
* {{cite web |url=http://www.shinto.org/isri/eng/dr.carmen-e.html |title=Shinto and the Sacred Dimension of Nature |work=Shinto.org |first=Carmen |last=Blacker |year=2003 |access-date=2008-01-21 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071222193053/http://www.shinto.org/isri/eng/dr.carmen-e.html <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = 2007-12-22}}
* {{cite book |title=The Cambridge Illustrated History of Religions |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=New York City |first=John W |last=Bowker |author-link=John Bowker (theologian) |year=2002 |isbn=978-0-521-81037-1 |oclc=47297614 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/cambridgeillustr00john }}
* {{cite book |title=Shintō in History: Ways of the Kami |publisher=Hawaii University Press |location=Honolulu |editor=Breen, John |editor2=Mark Teeuwen |year=2000 |isbn= 978-0-8248-2362-7 }}
* {{cite journal |title=On the Dramatic Tradition in Kagura: A Study of the Medieval Kehi Songs as Recorded in the Jotokubon |journal=Asian Folklore Studies |first=Gerhild |last=Endress |year=1979 |volume=38 |issue=1 | pages = 1–23 |doi=10.2307/1177463 |jstor=1177463 }}
* {{cite book|last1=Engler|first1=Steven|author-link1=Steven Engler |last2=Grieve|first2=Gregory P.|title=Historicizing "Tradition" in the Study of Religion|date=2005|publisher=Walter de Gruyter, Inc.|isbn=978-3-11-018875-2|pages=92–108}}
* {{cite book |title=Nanzan Guide to Japanese Religions |chapter=Shinto |first=Norman |last=Havens |editor=Paul L. Swanson |editor2=Clark Chilson |year=2006 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/nanzanguidetojap0000unse/page/14 14–37] |publisher=University of Hawaii Press |location=Honolulu |isbn=978-0-8248-3002-1 |oclc=60743247 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/nanzanguidetojap0000unse/page/14 }}
* {{cite book |title=Shinto The Fountainhead of Japan |publisher=Stein and Day |location=New York |year=1967 |last=Herbert |first=Jean | author-link=Jean Herbert}}
* {{cite book |title= The Invention of Religion in Japan |publisher= University of Chicago Press |location=Chicago|first= Jason Ānanda |last= Josephson |year=2012 |isbn= 978-0-226-41234-4 |oclc= 774867768}}
* {{cite book |title=Myth and Deity in Japan: The Interplay of Kami and Buddhas |publisher=Japan Publishing Industry Foundation for Culture |location=Tokyo|first=Tōji |last=Kamata |year=2017 |isbn=978-4-916055-84-2}}
* {{cite journal |title=On the Meaning of Masked Dances in Kagura |journal=Asian Folklore Studies |first=Kazushige |last=Kobayashi |author2=Knecht, Peter |year=1981 |volume=40 |issue=1 | pages = 1–22 |doi=10.2307/1178138 |jstor=1178138 }}
* Skya, Walter. ''Japan's holy war: the ideology of radical Shintō ultranationalism''. Durham: Duke University Press, 2009.
* {{cite book |title=The Religious Heritage of Japan: Foundations for Cross-Cultural Understanding in a Religiously Plural World |chapter=The Concept of Kami |first=Kenji |last=Ueda |editor=John Ross Carter|year=1999 |pages=65–72 |publisher=Book East |location=Portland, OR|isbn=978-0-9647040-4-6 |oclc=44454607}}
* {{cite book |title=The Essence of Shinto, Japan's Spiritual Heart |publisher=Kodansha International |location=Tokyo; New York; London |first=Motohisa |last=Yamakage |year=2007 |isbn=978-4-7700-3044-3 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/essenceofshintoj0000yama }}
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{sister project links|commons=category:Shintō|d=Q812767|n=no|mw=no|m=no|species=no|voy=no|q=y|b=no|v=no|s=Portal:Religion#Shinto}}
* {{Curlie|Society/Religion_and_Spirituality/Shintoism/}}
* [https://www.britannica.com/topic/Shinto Shinto] at [[Encyclopedia Britannica]]
* [http://www.jinjahoncho.or.jp/en/ Jinja Honcho – English] – The Official Japanese Organization of 80,000 Shinto Shrines
* [http://eos.kokugakuin.ac.jp/modules/xwords/ Kokugakuin University Encyclopedia of Shinto] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090403001809/http://eos.kokugakuin.ac.jp/modules/xwords/ |date=3 April 2009 }} and its Japanese [http://21coe.kokugakuin.ac.jp/db/jinja/ Shinto Jinja Database] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930155615/http://21coe.kokugakuin.ac.jp/db/jinja/ |date=30 September 2007 }}

{{Shinto2|state=expanded}}
{{Religion topics}}
{{Japan topics}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Shinto| ]]
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[[Category:History of religion in Japan]]
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