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The earliest period of Japanese historiography is the hunter-gatherer Jōmon period, which is thought to have been primarily animistic.In the later centuries (14,000–400 BC) of this period, there was an emergence of distinctive material artifacts such as clay figurines (known to scholars as dogū), intricate ceramics, and masks.
Shinto (神道, Shintō), also kami-no-michi, [a] is the indigenous religion of Japan and of most of the people of Japan. [14] George Williams classifies Shinto as an action-centered religion; [15] it focuses on ritual practices to be carried out diligently in order to establish a connection between present-day Japan and its ancient roots. [16]
Shinto is a religion native to Japan with a centuries'-long history tied to various influences in origin. [1]Although historians debate [citation needed] the point at which it is suitable to begin referring to Shinto as a distinct religion, kami veneration has been traced back to Japan's Yayoi period (300 BC to AD 300).
Two important sources for Japanese myths, as they are recognized today, are the Kojiki and the Nihon Shoki. [4] [5] The Kojiki, or "Record of Ancient Matters," is the oldest surviving account of Japan's myths, legends, and history. [6] Additionally, the Shintōshū describes the origins of Japanese deities from a Buddhist perspective. [7]
A torii gateway to the Yobito Shrine (Yobito-jinja) in Abashiri City, HokkaidoThere is no universally agreed definition of Shinto. [2] According to Joseph Cali and John Dougill, if there was "one single, broad definition of Shinto" that could be put forward, it would be that "Shinto is a belief in kami", the supernatural entities at the centre of the religion. [3]
According to the annual statistical research on religion in 2018 by the Government of Japan's Agency for Culture Affairs, about two million or around 1.5% of Japan's population are Christians. [28] Other religions include Islam (70,000) and Judaism (2,000), which are largely immigrant communities with some ethnic Japanese practitioners.
Confucian Shinto, also known as Juka Shintō (儒家神道) in Japanese, is a syncretic religious tradition that combines elements of Confucianism and Shinto. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] It originated in Japan during the Edo period (1603–1868), and is sometimes referred to as " Neo-Confucian Shinto" [ 3 ]
Kami (Japanese: 神, ) are the deities, divinities, spirits, mythological, spiritual, or natural phenomena that are venerated in the Shinto religion. They can be elements of the landscape, forces of nature, beings and the qualities that these beings express, and/or the spirits of venerated dead people.