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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]
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.
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]
Kami (Japanese: 神, ) are the deities, divinities, spirits, mythological, spiritual, or natural phenomena that are venerated in the traditional Shinto religion of Japan. Kami 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.
Table illustrating the kami that appeared during the creation of Heaven and Earth according to Japanese mythology.. In Japanese mythology, the Japanese Creation Myth (天地開闢, Tenchi-kaibyaku, Literally "Creation of Heaven & Earth") is the story that describes the legendary birth of the celestial and creative world, the birth of the first gods, and the birth of the Japanese archipelago.
This is a list of divinities native to Japanese beliefs and religious traditions. Many of these are from Shinto , while others were imported via Buddhism and were "integrated" into Japanese mythology and folklore .
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 BCE to CE 300).
The Japanese General Social Survey placed the figure at less than 20% of the population in 2017. The 2013 Japanese National Character Survey showed that roughly 70% of the population do not adhere to any religious beliefs. [2] Another survey indicates that about 60% of Japanese families have a butsudan (Buddhist shrine) in their homes. [150]