WORLD RELIGIONS

Detailed explanation-1: -Shinto does not have a founder nor does it have sacred scriptures like the sutras or the Bible. Propaganda and preaching are not common either, because Shinto is deeply rooted in the Japanese people and traditions. “Shinto gods” are called kami.

Detailed explanation-2: -Shinto beliefs about death and the afterlife are often considered dark and negative. The old traditions describe death as a dark, underground realm with a river separating the living from the dead. The images are very similar to Greek mythology and the concept of hades.

Detailed explanation-3: -Shintoisms were the only religions in Japan until the arrival of Buddhism in the 6th century CE. From then on Shinto faiths and traditions took on Buddhist elements, and later, Confucian ones.

Detailed explanation-4: -During the Japanese immigration to the U.S., most of the Japanese practiced both religions to some degree. Thus birth and marriage rites were Shinto rituals and end of life beliefs and funerals were often Buddhist, yielding the saying that a Japanese is born Shinto but dies Buddhist.