Shinto and Japanese Religion

Shinto, 'the way of the kami', is the indigenous religious tradition of Japan, centred on the worship of kami — gods, spirits and sacred powers present in nature, ancestors and places — at shrines across the country. This section covers the myths of the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki, the sun goddess Amaterasu and the imperial line, shrine worship, purification and festivals, the long fusion of Shinto and Buddhism, the esoteric Buddhism of Shingon and Tendai, the mountain asceticism of Shugendo, the yin-yang divination of Onmyodo, and Japan's folklore of yokai and spirits.