Shintoism
The most important part of Shintoism is the interaction with the Kami, the invisible spiritual beings that are contained within natural objects and they possess such vital powers. Kami cannot and must not be labelled as gods, they are rather a spiritual being contained within natural constructs and they are concerned with the existence of the human race. Their main goal is to see the Shinto followers in happiness. When treated with respect they can and will alter our lives for the better. This can occur in many areas such as person health, business matters and rewarding hard working students in the form of educational means. The place of worship is a Shrine for Shinto followers. Followers of Shintoism are far more concerned and interested with their place of worship rather than the validity or well being of the entirety of the religion. Smaller Shrines can and are generally also contained within people homes. Shinto is generally not labelled as a religion because it is solely focused on rituals and ceremonies and the local community of their followers rather than the beliefs and theology structure compared to other religions’ structures. This non-religious title has made it easy for each Buddhism and Shintoism be able to exist side by side and Buddhism being the religion and Shintoism being the philosophy or aspect of life. The term Shinto is derived from Shen and Tao, two Chinese characters, Shen meaning ‘Divine being’ and Tao meaning the word ‘way’. Shrine visiting is when people come from across the country to visit special or local shrines and this generally occurs during a ceremonial importance or festive occasion. New Year is the most popular time for Shrine visiting. Shintoism is mainly concerned with Japan and is very rarely practiced outside the country of Japan. Shintoism views the majority of human beings as good and to have no wrong doings compared to other religions where a prophet was sent to save humanity. Shinto is focused on this world and all of the Spiritual aspects are contained within this earth and does not have any components of another existing world. No holy texts or scriptures are contained or used in Shintoism. No commandments are practiced but it does have an ethical wrongs and rights aspect. Shintoism has no founder or god and has no rules stating that you must only follow it and nothing else therefore many follow both Buddhism and Shintoism and they have succeed in working in harmony and have been able to co-exist throughout Japan.