Shintoism

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religion,
not a state one. However, even when the tribes were organized into coherent
states, they still retained their Shinto beliefs. Second, all Shinto cults
believe in Kami (“the divine”) Individual clans worshipped a single Kami which
was regarded as the principal ancestor of the clan. As the clan spread, it
still worshipped it's Kami, but when one clan conquered another clan-the
defeated clan had to worship the Kami of the victorious clan. What the Kami
consist of is hard to define. Kami refers to the gods of Heaven, Earth, and the
Underworld. But Kami also are all those things that have divinity in them to
some degree. Third, all Shinto involve some sort of shrine worship, the most
important was the Izumo Shrine on the coast of the Japan Sea. Originally, these
shrines were himorogi (unpolluted land surrounded by trees) or iwasaka
(unpolluted land surrounded by stones). Shinto shrines are usually single rooms
raised off the ground, with religious objects placed inside, ...

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