WORLD RELIGIONS

Detailed explanation-1: -The notion of Shinto as Japan’s “indigenous religion” stemmed from the growth of modern nationalism between the Edo and Meiji periods; this view promoted the idea that Shinto’s origins were prehistoric and that it represented something like the “underlying will of Japanese culture".

Detailed explanation-2: -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-3: -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.

Detailed explanation-4: -Shinto ("the way of the gods") is the indigenous faith of the Japanese people and as old as Japan itself.