The word Shinto was adopted from the written Chinese (神道, pinyin: shén dào), combining two words: "shin" (神?), meaning "spirit"”gods” or kami; and "tō" (道?), meaning a philosophical path or study This is about “ the study of Kami”, what is KAMI? Kami are defined in English as "spirits", "essences" or "deities", there are many ways to understanding this; in some cases being human-like, can be animals, and more abstract nature power in the world (mountains, rivers, lightning, wind, waves, trees, rocks). Shinto believers consider Kami and people are not separate; they exist within the same world and share its interrelated space.
According to a history biography, one fact need to be emphasized, that is among all the things, not only the good, kind positive ones are the kami”, those what are evil, strange, or extremely horrible things are also referred to as GODS.
History
During 5 to 8 century AD, after absorbing Chinese Confucian and buddhist doctrine, Shinto had became a fairly complete system, After Meiji Restoration, the shinto continue to respect as a state religion, and it also became a government tool to teach people to be loyalty to the emperor.
After Japan's defeat in World War II in 1946, Emperor Hirohito issued a statement to deny his godhead status, which means he admitted that he is not a god, but just a human being, the Allied commander also called for the abolition of State Shinto in Japan, Shinto started to became a folk religion, not a state religion anymore. However, Shinto is still important to the religious people of Japan, accounted for more than 80% of the population are believe in it.
Worship and Culture life about Shinto
The principal worship of kami is done at public shrines or worship at small home shrines called kamidana (神棚, lit. "god-shelf"). The public shrine is a building or place that functions as a conduit for kami. A fewer number of shrines are also natural places called mori. The most common of the mori are