A little guide to Shinto

When I embarked on this journey of trying to write a little post about Shintō (pronunciation is Shintou, but it is often written as Shinto as well and I’m not consistent about it lol), I had a pretty good idea of what it was, or so I thought. Living in Japan, of course I had been to matsuri, had been educated on various Shintō celebrations by my friends and school and seen my fair share of shrines. But oh boy was I wrong. It was one of these things you think you know until you start actually researching them and then you realise you never knew anything at all. Like nothing.

Definition

The first hurdle I encountered while researching Shintō was its definition. Yep. They are even fighting about the definition. Which is a bit of an issue. What is Shintō? Depending on who you ask the answer to the question might differ greatly. The association of Shrines (jinja honcho) writes:

This definition is probably somehow correct, I think the jinja honcho will know best, after all they are the ones caring for the over 80.000 shrines in Japan, which are (for those of you who don’t know) the holy places of Shintō. But while this definition gives us a sense of Gods within Shintō, it doesn’t really give a sufficient explanation as to what Shintō is at its core. Is it a religion? A sort of cult (not in a cult way, but in an ancient way) or something else entirely? Or is it really just the vibe people felt from the world around them? This sort of mysterious power.

The term Shintō is used to refer to a variety of religious practices and belief systems, be it native deities, imperial ritual, or folk practices. The difficulty lies in figuring out the features these different things share. Which apparently is “often overlain with a traditionalist, nativist, or even nationalist ideology.” (Kitagawa)

Etymology of Shinto

The name Shinto itself means “way of the kami” (more on kami later). This name however is by far not as old as one would expect from the “indigenous religion” of Japan. It is a term that was introduced after Buddhism first came to Japan in the 7th and 8th centuries, in a way to differentiate between the indigenous cults and beliefs of Japan and the newly implemented religion of Buddhism, which was introduced through China and Korea. Some people even argue there is no such things as a continued, independent Shinto tradition at all and that the study of Shinto is actually separate from the study of “kami worship”, the name shinto has been given in Japanese writing jingi sūhai.

Teuwen and Scheid write: Clearly, using Shinto to refer to a kami-based, indigenous religion with an unbroken history in Japan is neither historically accurate nor historiographically helpful.

And they go as far as saying that “the history of Shinto is […] a history of attempts at controlling kami worship by theological and discursive means.”

Kitagawa asks: “Is [Shinto] a relic of ancient nature worship, surviving by some miracle into the modern age? An amorphous repository for Japan’s meta-historical cultural subconscious, impenetrable for foreigners? Or is it an outdated invented tradition, cynically created by the Meiji government to aid the building of the Japanese nation state?”

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I won’t answer these questions, because for that I’d probably need a Phd or something. I’m putting these quotes in to give you a sense of just how complicated all of this is, and sadly it won’t necessarily get easier any time soon, because the history of shinto is also a history of Japan, of politics and of power.

There will be fancy words like Taoism or Confucianism and so much more and I have to be honest, I’m by no means an expert on them. There are probably way better people to ask and reference. For the sake of completeness though, here is a definition of Taoism as found in the Oxford dictionary:

Taoism: A philosophy and religion which emphasizes the importance of living in harmony with the Tao (tao n. 1a), the origin of all things in the universe. The most important text of Taoism is the Tao Te Ching, attributed to the ancient Chinese philosopher Laozi. Philosophical Taoism emphasizes inner contemplation and mystical union with nature; wisdom, learning, and purposive action should be abandoned in favour of simplicity and wu-wei (wu-wei n. 1). The religious aspect of Taoism developed later, in the 3rd cent., incorporating certain Buddhist features and developing a monastic system.

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And a definition of Confucianism: A philosophy and religion originating in ancient China based on the teachings of Confucius (c551–479 B.C.) and his followers, which emphasizes human goodness and the importance of ethical relationships, humanistic values, and hierarchy for the maintenance of social harmony.

Power, Ancestors and Emperors

It is difficult to know about the belief systems in the early days of Japan, when there was no written records. But one thing is seen as pretty established. The most important thing in ancient Japan was matsuri, which seems to come from the term matsurau, which means “to be with,” “to attend to the needs of,” “to entertain,” or “to serve”. This can be done for kami, ancestors or simply someone of high status. It is assumed this also meant a certain attitude of respect and reverence.

For example: “on the occasion of tama-matsuri (matsuri of the soul) when the ancestral spirits were believed to visit the homes of their living descendants, the head of each household offered meals and drinks to the visiting spirits and entertained them as if they were alive.” (Kitagwa)

Nowadays the term (o-)matsuri usually refers to festivities, which can be religious, but don’t have to be.

Shinto is also seen as encompassing “ all communal and cultural features of early Japan […]”, as Kitagawa writes.

Naofusa Hirai of Kokugakuin University also states:

“Shinto has existed in Japan without any founder since the time the ancestors of the Japanese people began living in this land. According to this view, therefore, the core of Shinto belief is the communal religious experience accumulated in the actual lives of the Japanese for many centuries Shinto phenomena are indeed expressions of this religious experience, but the medium of these expressions was always the past history, culture, and society of Japan.”

The first Kings

The other two important terms of early Shintō are uji and kami. For now, let’s just say that kami are Shintō Gods. Uji, on the other hand, refers to something “designated the primary social unit of early Japan(…), the precursor of a territorially based cluster of lineage groups, sharing the same tutelary kami.”¹ Or, simply put, clans. These clans had leaders, whose authority came from “cultic prerogatives given him by the kami of the uji (uji-kami or uji-gami).” (Kitagawa), meaning each clan had a specific kami related to it, that was also payed tribute to.

It is believed that sometime along the fourth century one clan began to gain power and established what would later be known as the Yamato kingdom.

To be kings however, they needed the acknowledgement of the big power player of the region (and the world for that matter): China. So, like any little kingdom, they payed tribute and also officially became one: The kingdom where the sun comes from 日本 (Nihon). There are various theories that the Yamatos were actually also mostly descendants of people from the main land (but don’t tell that to Japanese ethnologists, they don’t like that).

The ruler of this new kingdom, later turned emperor, had both a religious and a political duty, worshipping the sun goddess Amaterasu, some other kami and his ancestors. This reflects the concept of saisei-itchi 祭政一致, the unity of religion and state. To this day the constitutional separation of religion and state in Japan is sometimes seen as wrong, due to this very concept.

The legitimisation of power

How do you justify power? Very simple. At some point, the emperor not only worshipped his ancestors and Amaterasu, but the two were united: The emperor was now a descendant of Amaterasu. This way of legitimisation possibly came from China and was further undermined by the establishment of the so-called Ritsuryō system, a criminal, administrative and civil code. The Ritsuryō system was by no means Japanese, it was heavily influenced by the organisation of the Chinese state, Chinese history of thought, Taoism and Confucianism, and finally Buddhism. It established the emperor not only as the head of state and absolute ruler of all of Japan (btw not modern-day Japan, at this point Japan doesn’t exist), but also as a living kami and highest Shintō priest. This introduction replaced the previous horizontal structure between emperor and uji, changing it into a hierarchical relationship in this newly centralised imperial state. (Side note: It wasn’t only the emperor who gained power through religion, other families did too, like the Nakatomi family, one of the hereditary families of priests which would later become the main branch of the Fujiwara oligarchy).

“Shintō accepted the Ritsuryo principles of the mutual dependence of Obo (“the sovereign’s law,” based on a fusion of indigenous Japanese and Confucian ideas) and Buppō (“the Buddha’s Law”); the institutional syncretism between Shintō and Buddhism (Shin-Butsu Shugo); and the belief that Japanese deities were manifestations of buddhas and bodhisattvas in India”
Kitagawa

To further underline this power two important texts were written: The Kojiki and Nihon Shoki. These compilations of stories feature both (supposed) historical and mythological events and are in that way the one text of Shintō.

A little melting pot of ideas

This is where we encounter another issue. As mentioned above Shintō is a term that came about due to Buddhism, more as a way to differentiate than to actually self-define. The fact that one of the important aspects of the history of Shinto is related to the emperor and therefore to the state doesn’t make the situation any easier. Some scholars actually go as far as saying that Shintō simply doesn’t exist without emperor worship.

Shin-Butsu Shūgō 神仏習合

As polytheistic religions both Shintō and Buddhism didn’t have that much trouble existing next to, or even with, each other. A buddha could be another kami, as much as a kami could be another buddha. This is what is referred to as Shin-Butsu Shūgō 神仏習合. Shin-Butsu Shūgō too makes it incredibly hard to determine when Shinto actually became a religion and how much Buddhism played a role in it.

Buddhist rituals were included in Shinto practices and shrines were included in shrine-temple complexes (temples meaning Buddhist). There are a lot of questions to be asked here: “Why and how did shrines and shrine priests survive, even when subsumed for centuries in shrine-temple complexes run by Buddhist monks? Were there certain limitations to the amalgamation of kami cults and Buddhism, both institutionally and ritually, that allowed kami cults to be disentangled from amalgamated institutions and ritual systems in due course? Who was it that did the disentangling, and why, and what determined the success of such attempts? To what degree did kami worship constitute a separate ritual category in classical and medieval times, and how did this category relate to the later Shinto?”²

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Kitagawa points out that “Shinto reflects the impact of Sino-Korean civilization and Buddhism, both of which heavily influenced Japan after the fifth and sixth centuries.“ He also states that “Shinto freely appropriated insights from the Yin-Yang and Taoist cosmological systems, from Confucian ethics, and from Buddhist metaphysics.”

I got the power, the power power (iykyk)

The question of religion was also deeply connected to power. As mentioned above, Shintō, as much as Buddhism was used to first legitimise and then centralise power in old Japan. Before we get deeper into this, just a little explanation. Japan had an emperor and a civil code for some time, as I mentioned above. However, at some point, due to circumstances that we will mostly ignore, a military dictatorship was established, lead by the shogun. The emperor was still there, but he was just kind of chilling in Kyoto and too poor to do anything important. The one role he had during this time was to appoint the shogun, this will change again later, but for now, this is the time we are talking about.

Buddhism

Buddhism was a tool of unification and centralisation, more suited than the varied, regional Shintō belief systems. For example the idea of the Buddhist Dharma (the buddhist law) was used as “the framework of the ‘external’ meaning of political administration.” (Kitagawa)

By the thirteenth century, new religious movements and broader sociopolitical shifts began to challenge the emperor-bureaucracy of it all. New movements of Buddhism and Confucianism were introduced, like Pure Land Buddhism, emphasising faith and salvation accessible to all, and Zen Buddhism.

Buddhist temples, too, had a lot of influence, both in helping and challenging the state. During the military rule of the first shogunate, Buddhism, especially Zen Buddhism, was used to promote the ideals of samurai values and maintain social hierarchy, helping promote discipline, simplicity, and a warrior-centered worldview. (Zen Buddhism is the one were you meditate, btw ;))

The decline of the Ritsuryō system was also partially due to external pressures like the Mongol invasions and a resurgence of indigenous Japanese “functionism”, as Kitagawa calls it. This meant a return to simplicity, naturalness, and directness, characteristic of the samurai ethos, and it gradually eroded the rigid structures that had defined political authority in Japan before.

Shinto and Confucianism

During the Edo Period this began to change again. For the sake of simplicity, I won’t get too deeply into it, but basically, before the rulers of the Edo period, the Tokugawas, came to power, there had been a time of great unrest, so anything that might cause instability was viewed with suspicion. They really didn’t appreciate anyone being meddlesome or challenging authority. One such thing was Buddhism, because some Buddhist sects had been meddlesome before, and there were those scary warrior monks that had been a bit of an issue before.

Instead, Confucianism was elevated as a framework to enforce social hierarchy. It was used to reinforce “native” identity by integrating it with Shintō. Shintō was, after all, Japan’s only truly indigenous religious tradition and Buddhism was foreign. (And yes, Confucianism is also foreign, but who says we’re logical here?). This whole deal about indigenousness and Japanese-ness will also come back later.

Shintō was infused with Confucian philosophical ideas, providing a system that underlined the Tokugawa regime’s authority. The resulting Confucian Shinto (or Juka Shintō) was a tradition emphasizing practical ethics, loyalty to the state, and reverence for the emperor.

Meiji Period: Institutionalization and Central Control

So, here comes the Meiji revolution. What is the Meiji Revolution, you might ask. Well, basically, the people (the samurai, who cares about people) had enough of all the stagnation that happened due to all of the stability during the Edo Period and they remembered that they had an emperor. So, back to the basics it was. Or not at all. The emperor and his advisors succeeded in establishing a new order and heavily industrialised Japan, changing it into an important player in the region during the process. Yay.

Once again, they needed a framework to justify it all. The perfect candidate? Shintō. Even though it had been melted and formed into something new, infused with Buddhism, esoteric ideas, Chinese philosophy and so much more, maybe it would be possible to somehow go back to the roots.

State Shinto

The idea: create “State Shinto”. From 1882 all the way to 1945 Shinto became an emperor cult, focused on ancestor worship, which was supposedly not religious, and a “patriotic national morality to which every Japanese, regardless of his or her religious beliefs and affiliations, was expected to pay homage”. (Kitagawa)

The newly developed Kokugaku (meaning study of the country) “affirmed the pantheism of the Kojiki(…)and rejected the influence on Shinto of Buddhist metaphysics and Confucian rationalism.”

So, no annoying foreign concepts anymore. Just nice, simple Shinto. (Obviously a bit difficult if Shinto literally exists because of Buddhism but whatever). In 1868 the Department of Kami Affairs, which was originally set up by the Ritsuryo regime in 701 BCE was reestablished. Paradoxically, “the Meiji regime also issued in 1868 an edict separating Shinto and Buddhism (Shin-Butsu Bunri-rei), thus reversing the second cardinal principle of the Ritsuryo system and one that the Tokugawa had supported.” Once again, we see that religion is used as a way to separate oneself from what had been done before. As a modernised state, some very limited religious freedom was guaranteed by the Constitution of 1889.

Imperial Cult

Once again, the emperor was the head of state and the chief ritualist. Shinto rites were now considered public, national acts and Shinto itself was framed as a patriotic system. The emperor’s divine descent from Amaterasu was even taught in schools. Some scholars outside Japan considered State Shinto as a form of religious nationalism. By saying it wasn’t a religion it could demand participation of everyone in Japan, even people of other faiths.

Separation of Religion and State

After the second world war State Shinto was abolished and the 1947 Constitution enshrined the separation of religion and state and the emperor renounced his divine status in the so-called Humanity Declaration of 1946, though Shinto ritual at the imperial court continued. Legally, Shinto and State are separated and Shinto organisations are recognised as private, but shrines still play a role in local communities. Politicians also visit Yasukuni Shrine a lot, which is controversial to say the least. (There’s a whole Wikipedia page about it, but it has mainly to do with the fact that politicians visiting to pay tribute to the people of Japan, who died in the various wars, including convicted war criminals, which countries subjected to said war crimes don’t exactly appreciate.)

To make this whole post a bit shorter, I actually put it into two parts. In the second one, I’m going to focus on the foundations of Shintō, some important Gods and the ways of worship.

Sources

Teeuwen, Mark, and Bernhard Scheid. “Tracing Shinto in the History of Kami Worship: Editors’ Introduction.” Japanese Journal of Religious Studies, vol. 29, no. 3/4, 2002, pp. 195–207. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/30233721. Accessed 7 July 2025.

Iwasaka, Michiko, and Barre Toelken. “Death Customs in Contemporary Japan.” Ghosts And The Japanese: Cultural Experience in Japanese Death Legends, University Press of Colorado, 1994, pp. 13–42. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt46nrwv.6. Accessed 25 July 2025.

Kitagawa, Joseph M. “Some Remarks on Shintō.” History of Religions, vol. 27, no. 3, 1988, pp. 227–45. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/1062277. Accessed 7 July 2025.

Teeuwen, Mark, and Bernhard Scheid. “Tracing Shinto in the History of Kami Worship: Editors’ Introduction.” Japanese Journal of Religious Studies, vol. 29, no. 3/4, 2002, pp. 195–207. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/30233721. Accessed 7 July 2025.

Toshio, Kuroda, and Fabio Rambelli. “The Discourse on the ‘Land of Kami’ (Shinkoku) in Medieval Japan: National Consciousness and International Awareness.” Japanese Journal of Religious Studies, vol. 23, no. 3/4, 1996, pp. 353–85. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/30233578. Accessed 21 July 2025.

“Shinto Symbols.” Contemporary Religions in Japan, vol. 7, no. 1, 1966, pp. 3–39. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/30232983. Accessed 7 July 2025.

https://www.jinjahoncho.or.jp/shinto/jinja

https://www.nippon.com/en/japan-topics/b09802

https://www.nippon.com/en/in-depth/a02902/?pnum=2

https://www.oed.com/dictionary/confucianism_n?tab=meaning_and_use#1370964920

https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_iOEpAAAAYAAJ/page/n23/mode/2up

Images

Unidentified. [Amaterasu and Attendants on Horse and Deer]. color woodcut, 1750 – 1850. Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco; San Francisco, California, USA; Collection of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco; 1964.141.518; http://www.thinker.org/, JSTOR, https://jstor.org/stable/community.15050010. Accessed 21 July 2025.

engraver: Andō Hiroshige (Japanese, b. 1797, Edo (now Tokyo), Japan-d. 1858, Edo (now Tokyo), Japan), et al. 100 Views of Edo. Woodblock prints (facsimile album), 1856-58. Davis Museum at Wellesley College; Gift of Marguerite L. Bourdon in memory of Helen Goodwin (Class of 1911), JSTOR, https://jstor.org/stable/community.10562195. Accessed 21 July 2025.

Onseiken., and Satō, Shirōemon. Edo Zu Seihōkan. 1693. University of British Columbia Library – Rare Books and Special Collections, JSTOR, https://jstor.org/stable/community.12728681. Accessed 21 July 2025.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A_man_confronted_with_an_apparition_of_the_Fox_goddess.jpg

Kôshun, Japanese, 1315-1328. The Shinto Deity Hachiman in the Guise of a Buddhist Monk. Japanese cypress (Chamaecyparis obtusa) with polychrome and inlaid crystal; joined woodblock construction, dated 1328. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Artstor, JSTOR, https://jstor.org/stable/community.16010261. Accessed 21 July 2025.