is a native religion of Japan and was once its state religion. It is a form of animism. It involves the worship of kami (神), gods. Some kami are local and can be regarded as the spiritual being/spirit or genius (mythology) of a particular place, but others represent major natural objects and processes, for example, Amaterasu, the Sun goddess. The word Shinto was created by combining two kanji: "神" (shin), meaning gods or spirits (the character can also be read as "kami" in Japanese), and "道" (tō), meaning way or path in a philosophical sense (the same character is used for the Chinese word Dao). As such, Shinto is commonly translated as "the Way of the Gods".

After World War II, Shinto lost its status of state religion; some Shinto practices and teachings, once given a great deal of prominence during the war, are no longer taught nor practiced today, and others remain largely as everyday activities, like omikuji (a form of drawing lots) and Japanese New Year, that few identify with religious connotations.

History

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Early history

More on [ Shinto ]

The Japan Times: News & Business

Pioneers who pushed cinema into politics
Fri, 22 Aug 2008 15:10:00 -0500
MADRAS, India — When Indian Telugu film star K. Chiranjeevi entered politics recently in the south Indian state of Andhra, it merely affirmed a widely held belief that cinema and public affairs are firmly linked to each other. Chiranjeevi, who has acted in 138 movies, said it was the former state chief minister and highly popular Telugu actor, the late N.T. Rama Rao, who had inspired him to look beyond the glitzy world of make-believe. Rama Rao was extraordinarily charismatic. On the screen, he invariably played Hindu gods, destroying evil and helping the innocent and righteous. When he was not a god, he was a Good Samaritan fighting for the poor and downtrodden masses. However, it was... Read the full story
Peddling influence with Fiji
Fri, 22 Aug 2008 15:11:00 -0500
SYDNEY — From dazzling the world at the Beijing Olympic Games, China now appears to be turning its attention to the South Pacific. Its chosen beachhead to begin island- hopping is Fiji. In Suva, the hot, sultry capital city, Fiji is set to welcome a new patron to champion its somewhat tarnished reputation among the scattered island nations of Oceania. Of the many problems facing these tiny states, few have such a ready-made case for a Big Brother intervention as Fiji. Read the full story
North Korea backtracks
Fri, 22 Aug 2008 15:12:00 -0500
North Korea has said it stopped disabling its 5,000 kilowatt graphite-moderated reactor and two other nuclear facilities in Yongbyon on Aug. 14 and will consider restoring the facilities for plutonium production. The North justifies the move as a response to Washington's decision to put off removing it from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism. North Korea should realize the selfishness of its act, which will further deepen its isolation. In an October 2007 session of the six-party talks on North Korea's denuclearization, the North agreed to disable the Yongbyon nuclear complex by Dec. 31, 2007, and to "provide a complete and correct declaration of all its nuclear programs" by... Read the full story
India's nuclear access
Fri, 22 Aug 2008 15:13:00 -0500
The Nuclear Suppliers Group ended last week's meeting inconclusively over the question of whether to grant India access to nuclear fuel and technologies for civilian use. The NSG, an international body composed of 45 member nations, including Japan, controls the trade in nuclear technologies and related equipment and materials with a view toward reducing nuclear proliferation. The NSG is expected to hold another session in early September. A unanimous vote is necessary to revise NSG guidelines. India is not a signatory to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, and one of the NPT's principles is not to assist non-NPT members in nuclear development even if it is for peaceful purposes. An NSG... Read the full story
G8 legislative leaders to gather in Hiroshima
Fri, 22 Aug 2008 15:14:00 -0500
OSAKA — Lower house speakers from the Group of Eight nations are gathering in Hiroshima next week, where the original plan was to discuss long-term peace and disarmament issues and the role of legislatures in strengthening nuclear nonproliferation. But more recent, and urgent, peace and disarmament issues, including Russia's recognition of two breakaway regions from Georgia, the political crisis in Pakistan, a controversial bilateral nuclear deal between the U.S. and India, and North Korea's announcement that it will stop disabling its nuclear reactor in retaliation for America's refusal to delist it as a state sponsor of terrorism could end up dominating the talks. Read the full story
Jero wows Pittsburgh audience
Fri, 22 Aug 2008 15:15:00 -0500
PITTSBURGH (Kyodo) Popular black American "enka" singer Jero wowed an audience of about 500 who packed an auditorium Wednesday at the University of Pittsburgh, his alma mater, impressing them with his soulful tunes sung in perfect Japanese. Jero belted out his hugely successful debut single, "Umiyuki" ("Ocean Snow"), along with classic enka (ballad) megahits such as "Hisame" ("Icy Rain") and "Yurakucho de Aimasho" ("Let's Meet at Yurakucho"). Read the full story

Japan Today: Japan News and Discussion

National › Taiwan airline rules out maintenance error over accident in Okinawa
Fri, 29 Aug 2008 15:32:00 +0100
Taiwan's China Airlines has ruled out a maintenance error leading to an explosion involving its Boeing 737-800 plane at Okinawa's Naha airport August last year,…
Politics › Ota reveals detailed expenses to clear his name over alleged misuse
Fri, 29 Aug 2008 15:28:00 +0100
Farm minister Seiichi Ota disclosed the breakdown of expenditures logged by one of his political groups Friday in a bid to vindicate himself over the…
Commentary › It’s time to get rid of a few Olympic 'sports'
Fri, 29 Aug 2008 15:16:00 +0100
Another Olympics is in the books, and once again I find myself asking the same question: how did it come to this? As usual, some…
National › 1 dead, 3 missing after heavy rain hits central, eastern Japan
Fri, 29 Aug 2008 14:57:00 +0100
Torrential rain from Thursday through Friday left one woman dead and three people missing in Okazaki, Aichi Prefecture, while a man fell unconscious in Ichinomiya…
Business › Nissan says it's raising some prices of cars in Japan
Fri, 29 Aug 2008 14:36:00 +0100
Hit by soaring steel and other material costs, Nissan announced price hikes in Japan Friday for some commercial vehicle models but held back from increases…
World › Obama tells crowd of 84,000 that he'll fix Washington
Fri, 29 Aug 2008 11:33:00 +0100
Surrounded by an enormous, adoring crowd, Barack Obama promised a clean break from the "broken politics in Washington and the failed policies of George W…

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