What is Shinto?
Shinto is the living heart of Japanese culture.
Born of the relationship between the people of the Japanese islands and their natural environment,
Shinto shapes the cycle of each year now as it has done throughout the past.
Shinto is a spirit of respect and gratitude toward the kami found in all things and all places,
kami that bring the blessings and harshness of nature.
The Heart of Shinto
Shinto has no founder, no dogma, and no doctrine. It is a way of life, shaped by pure reverence for the myriad kami and honest gratitude for the blessings we have received.
Shinto is both the wellspring of Japanese culture, and an eternally renewed expression of that same culture.
About Kami and Jinja
The varied kami include ancestors and spirits of nature. Jinja are sacred spaces, found in their tens of thousands across the archipelago, where people gather to venerate the kami and renew bonds of community.
About Matsuri
When people gather to honour the kami, it is called a “matsuri”. Some are solemn events held entirely within the sanctuaries of a jinja, but many spill out into lively festivities in the surrounding community.
Japanese Myths
Japan has many myths concerning the kami. The oldest surviving stories were recorded over 1300 years ago, and concern some of the most important kami of Shinto, but many kami who do not appear in those myths are venerated across Japan.
See more
