Shinto
Japan's indigenous religion
Shinto is the indigenous religion of Japan, centered on the worship of kami—spirits inhabiting natural features, ancestors, and sacred objects.
Practiced at shrines throughout Japan, it emphasizes ritual purity, harmony with nature, and veneration of ancestors.
Unlike religions with central texts, Shinto traditions are transmitted through practice and ceremony: a Shinto shrine, Shinto rituals for the new year. (Also appears lowercase as shinto.)
Sacred devotional place
- toriiShinto shrine entrance
- purificationRemoval of contaminants
- ritualCeremonial set of actions
- offeringSomething presented or given
Shinto place of worship
Kami's physical dwelling place
- sacred groveWoodland deemed divine
- waterfallDescending river over precipice
- sunriseMorning light's arrival
- sakuraJapanese flowering tree
Shinto sacred spirits
- purityUncontaminated quality
- natureInherent quality or disposition
- ancestorsThose from whom one descends
- harmonyAgreement or musical blend
spirits · animism · sacred · impurity · reverence · divinity · mythology · polytheism
Shinto sun deity
Removal of contaminants
- cleansingRemoving dirt or toxins
- ablutionRitualized washing of body
- sanctityQuality of being inviolable
- ritual bathingReligious purification by water
Body of traditional tales
- creation mythOrigin narrative of existence
- cosmogonyStudy of universal origins
shrine
Sacred devotional place
- toriiShinto shrine entrance
- purificationRemoval of contaminants
- ritualCeremonial set of actions
jinja
Shinto place of worship
shintai
Kami's physical dwelling place
- sacred groveWoodland deemed divine
- waterfallDescending river over precipice
- sunriseMorning light's arrival
kami
Shinto sacred spirits
- purityUncontaminated quality
- natureInherent quality or disposition
- ancestorsThose from whom one descends
harmony · spirits · animism · sacred · impurity · reverence · divinity · mythology · polytheism · syncretism
kagura
Japanese sacred shrine dance
Amaterasu
Shinto sun deity
purification
Removal of contaminants
mythology
Body of traditional tales
- creation mythOrigin narrative of existence
- cosmogonyStudy of universal origins
- Japanese ReligionsZen Buddhism, Aum Shinrikyo
- Japanese thoughtbushido, Zen Buddhism, wabi-sabi, ikigai, mu
- Shinto ritualskagura, purification rites, purification rituals, water purification, shrine visit
- East AsiaChina, Japan, South Korea, North Korea, Korea
- FaithsChristians, Catholics, Buddhists, Hindus, Jews
- JapanTokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Mount Fuji, Hokkaido
ShintoBuddhism
Enlightenment-seeking Eastern religion
Christianity · Islam · Confucianism · Taoism · Hinduism
Shintomonotheism
Belief in one god
Christianity · Islam · Judaism · Catholicism · atheism
ShintoBuddhism
Enlightenment-seeking Eastern religion
asceticism · Gnosticism · monasticism · nihilism · Puritanism
- Shinto shrineJapanese spirit worship site
- Shinto priestJapanese shrine clergy