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Tradition
Shinto
Reverence for the kami, purity, gratitude and harmony with nature and community.
Introduction
Shinto — 'the way of the kami' — is the indigenous religious tradition of Japan. It centres on kami: sacred presences found in mountains, rivers, trees, ancestors, exemplary people and the forces of life itself. Practice revolves around shrines, festivals (matsuri), purification and gratitude rather than creed.
Shinto has no single canonical scripture and no founder. Its foundational texts are the Kojiki (Record of Ancient Matters, 712 CE) and the Nihon Shoki (Chronicles of Japan, 720 CE), which record myths of creation, the kami and early rulers, together with the norito prayers preserved in the tenth-century Engishiki. Shinto has long coexisted with Buddhism and Confucian thought in Japan.
Because Shinto teaches mainly through practice, the Guide is careful to say when a theme is expressed in ritual and story rather than in doctrinal text, and links to translations and to the Kokugakuin University Encyclopedia of Shinto.
Primary scriptures
Record of Ancient Matters — the oldest chronicle of Japan's creation myths, kami and early emperors.
Chronicles of Japan — a parallel and more extensive mythic-historical record.
Ritual prayers, including the Great Purification (Ōharae no kotoba).
Major concepts
Kami
Sacred presences or spirits — 'eight million kami' — in nature, ancestors and place.
Harae (purification)
Ritual cleansing of tsumi (offence) and kegare (pollution) to restore harmony.
Makoto
Sincerity or true-heartedness, the central Shinto virtue.
Matsuri
Festivals that renew the bond between community and kami.
Musubi
The generative, connecting power of life.
Relevant passages
Passages the Guide cites for the questions in the library, each linked to a public reference edition.
Forgiveness
Cleansing after contact with death and pollution.
Liturgy for removing offences and impurity.
Death & the afterlife
The underworld and Izanagi's purification.
Spirit or soul; the spirits of the dead.
Ancestral spirits honoured by their descendants.
Suffering
Light withdraws after violence; the kami restore it together.
Pollution, the opposite of purity.
Purification that removes defilement.
Purpose of life
Life as the generative work of the kami.
Sincerity, a heart free of falsehood.
The generative power of birth and becoming.
Meaning of life
The generation of the world and the kami.
Festival as participation in the life of the kami.
The generative power of life.
God & ultimate reality
The first kami and the creation of the land.
Parallel account of the age of the kami.
Definitions of kami, including Motoori Norinaga's.
Enemies & conflict
'Harmony is to be valued.'
Purification as the restoration of harmony.
Love
'The spirit of birth and becoming... the creating and harmonizing powers.'
The two deities greet each other as lovely and beloved and join to create.
Right & wrong
Sincerity, 'a heart free of falsehood', one of Shinto's cardinal virtues.
Pollution, the opposite of purity; distinguished from tsumi (transgression).
Purification of mind and body from accumulated sins and defilements.
Peace & stillness
Purifying mind and body of accumulated sins and defilements.
Ablutions that remove tsumi and kegare; origin in Izanagi's purification.
Izanagi purifies himself after leaving the 'polluted land' of the dead.
Grief & loss
Pollution, including that of death and mourning, removed by purification.
Spirits of the dead receive memorial rites and become ancestral spirits.
Izanagi purifies himself after returning from the land of the dead.
Frequently asked questions
Does Shinto have a bible?
No. The Kojiki and Nihon Shoki are mythic-historical chronicles rather than scripture in the doctrinal sense, and norito are prayers. Shinto is transmitted mainly through practice at shrines.
Is Shinto polytheistic?
Shinto reveres innumerable kami. Whether 'polytheism' fits is debated; kami are better understood as sacred presences than as gods in the Western sense.
Can someone practise Shinto and Buddhism?
Yes. For most of Japanese history the two have been intertwined, and many people take part in both.
Ask the Guide about Shinto
Answers are AI-assisted, drawn from nine traditions and linked to original sources. No account needed.
The Scripture Guide uses artificial intelligence to help organize and explain religious texts and traditions. AI-generated responses may contain errors or omissions. When accuracy is important, consult the original scripture and authoritative sources.