Nowadays, some modern scholars believe that Shinto was not a true religion at all or did not exist as a separate religion until the creation of the State Shinto in the Meiji period. However, in my opinion, Shinto had already become a religion before the Meiji period. In the Oxford Dictionary, the term “religion” is defined as “the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially of one or more personal Gods” (Oxford Dictionary.com). The Shinto of early Japan conformed to some extent to this definition of religion. The reason why some scholars thought that Shinto was not a true religion in the early period is that Shinto was not completely the same as Western religion. But there are some scholars who argue that this type of debate is due to the fact that the Japanese conception of religion is not the same as the Western conception of religion. Woodard pointed out that Westerners view Christianity as what a religion should be. This conception could not include Japanese religions because the nature of Japanese religion is different from Christianity. He thought Shinto itself was different and so was Buddhism; if religion is to be defined exclusively in terms of traditional Western concepts, then neither Buddhism nor Shinto can be defined as religions (86). People cannot say that Shinto was not really a religion in ancient Japan, but just a religion that has some characteristics different from other folk religions. The reason why Shinto is different from other popular religions is that it is based on Japan's unique culture and political system and is centered on the imperial institution. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Many scholars such as Hirai Naofusa believed that Shinto was the indigenous religion of Japan and continued uninterruptedly from prehistoric times to modern times. present (Breeen and Teeuwen 4). Another scholar, Joseph Kitagawa, has a similar opinion about Hirai. It provides subdivisions of Shinto which are "shrine Shinto", "folk Shinto", and "sect Shinto". Kitagawa thought that Shinto, as an indigenous religion of Japan, had “no founder, no official sacred scriptures, no fixed system of ethics or doctrine, Shinto can be regarded as a Japanese type of religious beliefs, feelings and approaches, which have been shaped and conditioned by the historical experience of the Japanese people from the prehistoric period to the present” (139). Another scholar Teeuwen defined Shinto as consisting of “polytheism, animism, shamanism, divination, syncretism, and ancestor worship” (373). Shrine Shinto can be seen as the origin of the Shinto religion. During the Jomon and Yayoi periods, in addition to hunting and fishing for communal life, people also acquired spiritual life because earthquakes, typhoons, and other natural calamities were common occurrences. The Japanese want some protection from the spiritual world. Meanwhile, during this period, various cultural and religious customs were brought from the Asian continent to the Japanese island. The Japanese built shrines and worshiped kami to show respect and gratitude to the world. A shrine is a place to worship kami (meaning gods in Japanese). The Japanese go to the shrine and perform rituals so they can show their worship to the kami. The worship of the kami by the Japanese occurred long before the formal establishment of theShinto. In other words, Japanese kami worship at the shrine began since ancient times, but the formal name of Shinto, written in Chinese characters is 神道, appeared until the 6th century AD (Kitagawa 139). For example, the most important shrine in Shinto is the Ise Grand Shrine. Ise Shrine was founded around 300 AD, when the sun god Amaterasu was moved to this place (Yusa 25). According to Hirai's vision of the Shinto Shrine, he considered thatThe Shinto shrine has existed since the beginning of Japanese history (4). Kami is a significant term in Shinto, kami is the first character “神”. Shinto has defined that there are 8,000,000 kami in this religion. Kami can refer to nature spirits – mountains, rivers, trees, rocks and oceans – all designed to be alive and sacred. Andreeva believed that kami were worshiped as supernatural forces that controlled the natural elements, or as hereditary deities and ancestors of powerful clans. In Shinto the Kami are largely invisible but physically reside in Japan (679). The Japanese believed that different kami had different meanings and could give them different deities. The Japanese practice religious rituals at kami shrines. Some sanctuaries were official, some were unofficial, some were in outer space and some in inner space. In Shinto, kami can be both good and evil powers. This is different from other folk religions, the gods in Shinto are not necessarily good. Since the Nara period, another religion has taken an important position in Japan, and that is Buddhism. During this period, Shinto and Buddhism interacted. The understanding of Shinto was influenced by the introduction of Buddhism. During the Nara period, Shinto kami deities were considered protectors of Buddhist doctrines (Yusa 60). In a later period, Buddhists created the Honji Suijiaku idea of ​​associating with the kami in Shinto of Buddhist deities. And some views, beliefs and rituals of Buddhism began to be part of Shinto. In other words, through the influence of Buddhism's organization and ritual manner, Buddhism helps Shinto build an organized structure. Similar to other popular religions such as Hinduism in India, Confucianism and Daoism in China. Shinto also used by the ruler of the Japanese government to rule the people before the Meiji period. Emperor Tenmu (673-686) ordered the compilation of the first Japanese writings that gave birth to the Kojiki. In Kojiki, the imperial family considered themselves to be the descendants of Amaterasu. The Emperor began to offer imperial protection to some important shrines. The Emperor and Empress were described as living kami so that they could govern the local population very well and force them to obey or worship the imperial family. Due to the important role of Shinto in the folk area of ​​Japan or Kitagawa's term "Shinto folk", the imperial family's attitude towards Shinto not only helped them successfully govern the local population, but also consolidated the position of the imperial family in Japanese history. This may be a reason why the imperial family can exist for such a long period, from the beginning of Japan to the present. Under the influence of the imperial family, the religious situation of Shinto in Japan changed a lot. The Shinto priesthood appeared and developed rapidly (Kitagawa 151). Men were chosen so that the religious became possessed by the kami and some shamanic diviners spoke on behalf of the kami. As for the imperial court, many Shinto families and Shinto priestly families appeared on the scene of history.