What is Shinto?

Shinto (神道) is a faith of Japanese origin, often said to be Japan's native religion. It celebrates life and the gifts of nature through the worship of Kami (神).

On paper, Shinto is often called an animistic and polytheistic religion, but it doesn't exactly fit into the definitions of a religion. Athough it has ritualistic and spiritual practices, it mostly manifests through daily life itself. It has no founders, no doctrine and no commandments, and the sole aim is to understand your interconnectedness with existence, and live.

Shinto doesn't exclude other deities and gods from its cosmology, and that allowed it to blend with other faiths, such as Buddhism. The blending of Shinto and Buddhism is called Shinbutsu Shuugou (神仏習合).