shinto

Shinto is the indigenous religion of Japan. It centers on kami, the spirits or forces associated with natural phenomena, places, and ancestors. There is no single founder or fixed creed; Shinto consists of diverse regional traditions and shrine-based practices that emphasize harmony with nature and communal rites.

Ritual life centers on offerings, prayers, and purification performed at Shinto shrines (jinja). Common elements include torii gates marking sacred space, purification rites such as misogi and harae, offerings of food and sake, and the use of ema and omikuji. Priests (kannushi) and shrine maidens (miko) oversee ceremonies and shrine maintenance, while communities gather for rites of birth, marriage, and harvest.

Shinto has no single sacred scripture. Core myths appear in early texts such as the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki, but Shinto is best understood as a tradition transmitted through practice and ritual. It has historically interacted with Buddhism, producing syncretic forms until the Meiji era's separation of Shinto and Buddhism, and its subsequent modernization. State Shinto played a role in 19th–20th century Japan, but today Shinto is practiced as ritual and culture rather than a centralized creed.

Across Japan and among diaspora communities, Shinto remains influential in festivals, rites of passage, and everyday etiquette, shaping architecture, art, and landscape through shrine complexes, torii, and sacred groves. It is commonly integrated with other traditions while maintaining a distinct identity as a system of beliefs and practices centered on the reverence of kami and nature.