Shinto (“the way of the gods”) is the original religion of the Japanese, as ancient as Japan itself. This indicates that the fundamental concept of Shinto developed naturally through the unique lifestyle and beliefs of the ancient Japanese. Shinto is still closely related to the Japanese value system, the way of thinking and the actions of the Japanese people.
To distinguish Shinto from indigenous beliefs, the word Shinto was coined, spelled Shen Dao, which literally means “the way of the gods”. Shinto (literally “the way of the gods”) is Japan’s native belief system that predates historical records. Shinto has been widely known as the main religious faith in Japan since ancient times. Shinto was the only religion in Japan for a long time, so the arrival of Buddhism in Japan had a great influence on Shinto.
During the Meiji era (1868-1912), Japanese nationalist leaders removed the Buddhist influence of god worship and established the national Shinto religion, which some historians believe is the origin of Shintoism as an independent religion. Shinto Buddhism was introduced to Japan in the 6th century BC. as part of the sinicization of the entire Japanese culture.
These different belief systems were not necessarily in opposition to each other, and in ancient Japan, Shinto Buddhism and Shintoism found enough space to coexist with each other for many centuries. Among these different belief systems, Shinto is more interested in life and birth, shows more openness to women, and is closer to royalty. In ancient Japan, Shinto and Buddhist beliefs were closely linked, so certain Buddhist figures, bodhisattvas, or enlightened beings became popular deities among Shinto practitioners.
Every temple holds a festival every year where people pay homage to the god and celebrate it with food and drink. Some of the most famous annual festivals include the three-day Shogatsu Matsuri or Japanese New Year’s Festival, the Buddhist Obon Festival, which celebrates the return of the deceased to their ancestral homes, which includes many Shinto rituals, and the annual local festival, when the shrine is in when shipping in the area. The local community cleans it up and ensures its future well-being.
For people of Japanese ancestry, Shinto rituals often provide an opportunity to maintain a relationship with ancestors and connect with their cultural heritage. Shintoism consists of traditional Japanese religious practices and the beliefs and attitudes associated with those practices. While Shinto is often referred to as Japan’s “native” religion, it is not limited to geography, nationality or ethnicity. With reference to some religions in Korea, Manchuria and Siberia, Shinto is basically a form of nature worship in which natural objects such as mountains, rivers, celestial bodies are worshipped and personified (eg, Amatera su-o-mikami, Spirit of the sun).
The word Shinto literally means “the way of the gods” (usually a divine or divine power, especially various deities), and is used to distinguish the indigenous Japanese beliefs from Buddhism, which was introduced to Japan in the 6th century AD .In these early Japanese usages, the term did not apply to a particular religious tradition or anything that was specific to Japan. For example, the 11th-century Konjaku monogatarishui refers to Chinese Shinto women as well as Indian god-worshippers, suggesting that these terms were used to describe religions outside of Japan. The concept of Shinto as Japan’s “native religion” was a product of the rise of modern nationalism from the Edo period to the Meiji period; this view promoted the idea of the prehistoric origins of Shinto, which represented something similar to the “fundamental will of Japanese culture’s things. Historian H. Byron Earhart observes that Shinto ultimately “has originated from the beliefs and practices of prehistoric Japan,” although Kitagawa notes that it is questionable whether Japan’s prehistoric religion can be accurately defined as “ancient Shinto.”
The peoples of ancient Japan have long adhered to animistic beliefs, worshiped divine ancestors and communicated with the spirit world through shamans; some elements of these beliefs were incorporated into the earliest recognized religion practiced in Japan, Shinto, which originated during the Yayoi culture period (c. 300 BC – 300 AD). Worship takes place in one of their country’s many shrines, although many Japanese have altars at home for one or more of the many deities. This word comes from the Chinese word meaning the way of the gods. The main feature of Shintoism is the concept of sacred power in both animate and inanimate objects.
In Shinto, supernatural gods, spirits, forces, and entities are known as kami, and the gods, who govern nature in all its forms, are believed to reside in places of particular natural beauty. As in many other ancient religions, the Gods are important astrological, geographical and meteorological phenomena that are always present and are believed to influence daily life. The purpose of most Shinto rituals is to ward off evil spirits through purification, prayers, and kami offerings.
The gods can be enshrined anywhere, but many people visit shrines, and after entering, they clean their hands and mouth to purify their body and mind. Shinto worship has shaped festivals across Japan, the main purpose of which is to pray for a good harvest at any time of the year. A feast is held in spring for a good harvest, in summer for protection from typhoons or natural disasters, and in autumn for a good harvest over time. Today, Japanese people practice Shinto purification rituals at birth, learn Taoist concepts (like yin and yang), marry in a Christian or Shinto ritual (or both), and then have a Buddhist, which has become common.