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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]
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 blend of indigenous Japanese folk practices, beliefs, court manners, and spirit-worship which dates back to at least 600 CE. [7]: 99 These beliefs were unified as "Shinto" during the Meiji era (1868–1912), [6]: 4 [12] though the Chronicles of Japan (日本書紀, Nihon Shoki) first referenced the term in the eighth century.
Shinto today applies to the public shrines suited to various purposes such as war memorials, harvest festivals, romance, and historical monuments, as well as various sectarian organizations. Shinto is the largest religion in Japan, practiced by nearly 80% of the population, yet only a small percentage of these identify themselves as "Shintoists ...
Among them were Tenrikyo, Kurozumikyo, and Oomoto, sometimes called Nihon Sandai Shinkōshūkyō (' Japan's three large new religions ') or "old new religions", which were directly influenced by Shinto (the state religion) and shamanism. [1] The social tension continued to grow during the Meiji period, affecting religious practices and ...
Buddhist doctrines were gradually applied to indigenous Shinto rituals and gave a more sophisticated understanding of native concepts, such as the kami, through a Buddhist lens. Although Buddhism and Shinto were gradually intermixed, there remained some Shinto shrines such as Izumo-taisha which had kept the two separate since early times. [19]
Foxes sacred to Shinto kami Inari, a torii, a Buddhist stone pagoda, and Buddhist figures together at Jōgyō-ji, Kamakura.. Shinbutsu-shūgō (神仏習合, "syncretism of kami and buddhas"), also called Shinbutsu-konkō (神仏混淆, "jumbling up" or "contamination of kami and buddhas"), is the syncretism of Shinto and Buddhism that was Japan's main organized religion up until the Meiji period.
Shrine Shinto is a form of the Shinto religion. [1] It has two main varieties: State Shinto, a pre-World War II variant, and another centered on Shinto shrines after World War II, in which ritual rites are the center of belief, conducted by an organization of clergy. [2] [1] Today, the term Shinto usually refers to Shrine Shinto.