Shinto (神道, Shintō) or kami-no-michi is the natural spirituality of Japan and the Japanese people. The word Shinto ("Way of the Gods") was adopted from the written Chinese (神道), combining two kanji: "shin" (神), meaning gods or spirits (originally from the Chinese word shen); and "tō" (道), or "do" meaning a philosophical path or study (originally from the Chinese word tao).
Shinto incorporates spiritual practices derived from many local and regio...
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Shinto (神道, Shintō) or kami-no-michi is the natural spirituality of Japan and the Japanese people. The word Shinto ("Way of the Gods") was adopted from the written Chinese (神道), combining two kanji: "shin" (神), meaning gods or spirits (originally from the Chinese word shen); and "tō" (道), or "do" meaning a philosophical path or study (originally from the Chinese word tao).
Shinto incorporates spiritual practices derived from many local and regional prehistoric traditions, but did not emerge as a formal centralized religious institution until the arrival of Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism, beginning in the 6th century. Buddhism gradually adapted in Japan to the native spirituality. (See article on "syncretism".)
Shinto practices were first recorded and codified in the written historical records of the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki in the 7th and 8th century. Still, these earliest Japanese writings do not refer to a unified "Shinto religion", but practices associated with harvests and...
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