Shintoism: Japan's Nature-Based Religion

The term Shinto is derived from two Japanese terms, shin (meaning divine being) and do (meaning way).  Thus, Shin do, is the name used to distinguish the indigenous Japanese way of addressing and interacting with divine beings.  The oldest known belief system in Japan, this “tradition” is so innately engrained in the Japanese worldview that until Buddhism was introduced to Japan in the sixth century CE, it needed no name.  Now one of several religions practiced in Japan, Shinto can best be understood as the label applied to the Japanese ways of honoring the spirits of nature.  Read more . . .