Shinto Influence On Japan

One of the most crucial things in the understanding of a country or civilization is to learn about their religion. Religion is not just another concept, it is the way of life for an entire race of people. This is especially true with countries whose religions originated in their country and had been around for many centuries. A great example of this is Shinto in Japan, which has been around for an extremely long time. Shinto formed the country of Japan, explaining how the country formed and how it came to be today. Shinto is an exceedingly significant thing to pay attention to when learning about any other events or concepts in Japan. Seeing as Shinto is the largest religion, there are multiple varieties of Shinto: Sect Shinto, Shrine Shinto, Imperial Household Shinto, and Folk Shinto. Sect Shinto “is comprised of thirteen groups formed during the nineteenth century” (“Shinto”). These thirteen
Shinto was created as a religion for the Japanese to go against traditional religions and ways of thinking; such as Taoism, Confucianism, or Buddhism. Shinto began in the late 6th century AD the name Shinto was created for the native religion to distinguish it from Buddhism and Confucianism, which had been introduced from China. Shinto was rapidly overshadowed by Buddhism, and the native gods were generally regarded as manifestations of Buddha in a previous state of existence. (“Shintoism” 1)
Shinto continued to thrive, but then Buddhism became more and more popularized, leading to Shinto almost dying out entirely. However, in the “18th century, Shinto was revived as an important national religion through the writings and teachings of a succession of notable scholars, including Mabuchi, Motoori Norinaga, and Hirata Atsutane.” (“Shintoism” 1) From then on, Shintos began to explain certain events through their religion. For