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Shinto (神道, Shintō) is the natural spirituality of Japan and the Japanese people. It is also considered one of the basic forms of human spirituality. The word Shinto ("Way of the Gods") was adopted from the written Chinese (神道),[1] combining two kanji: "shin" (神), meaning gods or spirits (originally from the Chinese word shen); and "tō" (道), or "do" meaning a philosophical path or study (originally from the Chinese word tao). The yamato-kotoba (ja:大和言葉) terms Kami no michi and kannagara are similar in meaning and usage.[1]
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Shinto incorporates spiritual practices derived from many local and regional prehistoric traditions, but did not emerge as a formal centralized religious institution until the arrival of Buddhism, Confucianism, and Daoism, beginning in the 6th century. Buddhism adapted in Japan to the native spiruality, including, for example, counting kami from the Shinto belief among the bodhisattvas (bosatsu). (See article on "syncretism".) Shinto practices were first recorded and codified in the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki in the 7th and 8th century as a response to the influx of dogmatic religions from the mainland. Still, these earliest Japanese writings do not refer to a unified "Shinto religion" but rather a set of practices associated with harvests and other annual clan events, along with a uniquely Japanese cosmogony and mythology, combining the traditions of the ascendant clans of early Japan, mainly the Yamato and Izumo cultures.
Shinto is characterized by polytheism and animism, a strong focus on ritual purity, and involves honoring and celebrating the existence of Kami (神). Shinto is a religion in where practice(actions) and ritual are the core rather than words. Kami are defined in English as "spirit", "essence" or "deities", that are associated with many understood formats; in some cases being more human or anthropomorphic, some anamistic, others associated with more abstract "natural" forces in the world (mountains, rivers, lightning, wind, waves, trees, rocks); also natural principles. Kami and people are not separate, they exist within the same world and share its complexity. Modern Shinto does have a central theological authority but no singular Theocracy. Shinto today is an inclusive association of local, regional, and national shrines of various rank and historical significance, expressing their various beliefs through similar language and practice, all adopting a similar style in dress, architecture, and ritual, dating from around the time of the Nara and Heian Periods.[2]
Shinto currently has about 119 million known adherents in Japan,[3] although a person who practices any manner of Shinto rituals may be so counted. It is generally accepted that the vast majority of Japanese people practice Shinto, while most would also consider themselves Buddhists. However, unlike many monotheistic religious practices, Shinto and Buddhism typically do not require professing faith to be a believer or a pratitioner, and as such it is difficult to query for exact figures based on self-identification of belief within Japan. Most "life" events are handled by Shinto and "death" or "afterlife" events are handled by Buddhism although this is not exclusive. For example, it is typical in Japan to register or celebrate a birth at a Shinto shrine, while funeral arrangements are generally dictated by Buddhist tradition.
Shinto has shrines in many other countries, including the United States, Brazil, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and the Netherlands among others and is considered to be expanding to a global religion especially with the advent of international branches of Shinto shrines.