Shinto

Shinto is the natural indigenous religion of Japan. Shinto gods, or Kami, are worshipped at shrines (jinja ). All natural objects and phenomena used to be considered as having kami, so the gods of Shinto were uncountably numerous. Gradually Shinto practice extended to the worship of ancestors. Accordingly, then, there were no specific leaders in Shinto religion, nor any books of scripture.

    That the number of Shinto gods was extremely great can be seen from the existence in Japanese mythology of the phrase yaoyorozo no kami, meaning "eight million kami." Later, influenced by Buddhism and Confucianism,  Shinto became ideologized. From the nineteenth century it came to be regarded as the national religion of Japan, and the Emperor became deified.  However, after World War Two the practice of religion was separated from the functions of state, and worship became limited to the shrines in each locality.