A Shinto "gateway of the gods," marking the passage between the earthly and the ethereal.
|
A Shinto "gateway of the gods," marking the passage between the earthly and the ethereal. |
Shinto, which claims 51% of the Japanese population 13, is native to Japan. It is a mix of native religious practices which, for a long time, were localized and unique to the various regions of the country. Over time, the different practices came together and became more organized, mostly in response to competition from Buddhism. 14
The most important text in Shinto is the Kojiki, or the "Records of Ancient Matters," which gives the legends of the Japanese gods. Included in the book is a lineage of the divine family; this "family tree" shows the divine ancestry of the royal family. 15