The word "Shinto", comes from the Chinese words "Shin Tao". It means "Way of the Gods", or in Japanese, "Kami no Michi".
There are between three and five million believer of Shinto world-wide. But, most of them are in Japan where 40-percent of the people are Shinto adherents. It is also Japan's state religion.
Shinto is made up of the religious ideas and cults indigenous to Japan. Kami, or gods, are considered divine forces of nature that are worshipped. These gods may reside in rivers, trees, rocks, mountains, certain animals, and particularly in the sun and moon. The worship of ancestors, heroes, and deceased emperors was incorporated later. However, unlike the gods and saints of other religions, kami are not perfect or infallible. And they can be calm and gentle or destructive and violent just like the forces of nature.
In Shinto, the most important kami is the sun goddess Amaterasu. Shinto tradition maintains that she was born from her father Izanagi’s left eye as he washed to purify himself after visiting the underworld. After he saw her intense light and her warmth, he sent her to rule “Takamagahara,” the high celestial plain. Then, with help from her brothers and sisters, she created Japan by painting it into existence. Finally, Shinto followers believe that she sent her grandson to Earth and through him the royal family can claim kinship to the sun goddess.
Ise Jingu is located in the city of Ise in Mie prefecture. It is the most sacred Shinto shrine in Japan and it is dedicated to the Amaterasu. The Ise Jingu complex is made of about 120 shrines and buildings. Though the site was founded in the fifth century, the shrines in Ise Jingu are no more than 20 years old because every twenty years, a new but identical shrine is built next to the old one. When the new construction is complete, the old shrine is torn down and on its site are placed large, white pebbles and a tall wooden post in the center of the plot. Finally and a protective box is built around all of that to keep the land sacred for the next 20 years. Then, the processes is repeated again.
One of the principle tenets of Shinto is the concept of the purity and the cleanliness of the body, mind and spirit. This concept is observable in everyday Japanese life. It is the reason the Japanese remove their shoes indoors, frequently bathe, and frequently refuse organ donations from the dead. Also, in Shinto, tsumi (sin) including not only spiritual sin but also pollution of the body from contact with actual dirt, the sick, or death. As a result, Shinto has a number of purification rituals to cleanse the body and spirit.The most common of these is “temizu,” the washing of the hands and face to achieve purification before entering a Shinto shrine.
Shinto has priests whose functions include performing ceremonies and keep up the shrines. But, because there is only one priest for every four shrines, most priests only work part-time at individual shrines. A Shinto priest can quit anytime he wants. The priests are often assisted by young girls called "miko", who are usually either high school girls working part-time or relatives of the priest.
Every Shinto shrine has at least one stall at which visitors can purchase omikuji, omamori,and ema. Omikuji are fortunes drawn at random. Sometimes they’re good; sometimes they are bad. These message are believed to come from kami and are considered sacred. Once it is read, the omikuji is traditionally tied to a tree near the shrine. This is supposed to either make the good fortune come true or to wish the bad fortune away. Omamori are amulets or charms to draw the good graces of the kami. The omamori can grant protection, ease or cure illness, or create good luck. Ema are wooden boards on which prayers and wishes are written and then hung up at the shrine for the kami to see.
Because there are no funeral rites in Shinto, many people when they die are buried using Buddhist funeral rites.
The most important holiday in Shinto is New Year’s Day. It is celebrated on January 1st. First, the house or apartment is thoroughly cleaned to get rid of the previous year’s dirt and then it is decorated for the holiday. Then, for the first three days of each new year, people gather to celebrate the new year by eating and drinking. Also, one of the most important things to be done during the three days is to visit a shrine. Nearly 98 million people across Japan visit the shrines during the new year's celebrations.
Shinto is also a sect religion consisting of 13 recognized groups or sects. The most important among them is Tenrikyo in Tenri City (aka: Nara), in which healing by faith plays a central role. The sacred texts of Shinto are the Kojiki (Record of Ancient Matters) and the Nihonai or the Nihon-shoki (Chronicles of Japan).
It is difficult to date the origins of Shinto, but it predated Buddhism, which was introduced to Japan in the sixth century from Korea. Shintoism gradually adopted many Buddhist beliefs and ceremonies into its own traditions, resulting in a syncretistic religion, a Twofold Shinto. Buddhist deities came to be regarded as manifestations of Japanese deities and Buddhist priests took over most of the Shinto shrines.
The centers of worship are the shrines and temples in which the deities are believed to dwell, and believers approach them through torii(gateways). Most important among the shrines is the imperial shrine of the sun goddess at Ise, where state ceremonies were once held in June and December. The Yasukuni shrine of the war dead in Tokyo is also well known.
Acts of worship consist of prayers, clapping of hands, acts of purification, and offerings. On feast days processions and performances of music and dancing take place and priests read prayers before the gods in the shrines. In Japanese homes there is a god-shelf, a small wooden shrine that contains the tablets bearing the names of ancestors. Offerings are made and candles lit before it.