Shinto-Buddhism in Japan

Japan's main religious tradition is a combination of the conventional Shinto beliefs integrated with the imported Buddhist practices. Long been considered the land of several million gods, Japanese base their traditional Shinto beliefs on this pantheon. But the introduction of Buddhism in the mid 500's A.D. forced an amalgamation of the two belief systems. Over time these two very different religious traditions blended together into a unique system practiced throughout Japan.

Shinto, also known as the "way of the deities," arose during Japan's earliest period and focused on what the early Japanese believed as gods, or kami, which inhabited the natural world. Kami were usually some extraordinary aspect of nature and could be anything including trees, rocks, mountains, rivers and even people. The introduction of agriculture began the association of Shinto rituals with the agricultural cycle and festivals and other religious events often coincided with times of...
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