Shinto emerges from the mists of Japan’s prehistoric past, rooted in animistic reverence for kami dwelling in natural phenomena, ancestors, and the land itself. Archaeological and textual memories alike point to early practices of purification, seasonal rites, and clan-based veneration of tutelary deities, gradually coalescing into a loose but pervasive worldview rather than a codified religion. With the rise of powerful clans and the Yamato court, certain kami—especially the sun kami Amaterasu—were elevated to national prominence, and shrine worship became intertwined with emerging political authority. In this early phase, Shinto is less a system of doctrines than a lived sensitivity to the sacred character of place, lineage, and the rhythms of nature.

A decisive transformation occurs with the arrival of Buddhism and Chinese thought, which prompts a more self-conscious articulation of the indigenous way of the kami. The term “Shinto,” the “Way of the Gods,” is adopted to distinguish these native practices from the imported Buddhist path, even as the two traditions begin to interweave. Court-sponsored chronicles such as the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki record mythic narratives of the kami and present the imperial house as descended from Amaterasu, thereby giving religious form to political order. Over time, elaborate theories like honji suijaku interpret the kami as local manifestations of universal Buddhist deities, and shrine–temple complexes become the norm, with priests often serving both ritual spheres. For many centuries, what is now called Shinto lives and breathes within this syncretic environment rather than standing apart from it.

Later intellectual and devotional movements seek to draw clearer lines around the way of the kami and to elevate it above foreign influences. Shrine lineages and theologians develop systematic Shinto teachings, and nativist scholars of kokugaku turn to ancient texts in an effort to recover a “pure” Japanese way prior to Buddhist and Confucian overlays. They emphasize the special character of the Japanese land and people, the immediacy of sincere feeling, and the divine origin of the emperor, thereby deepening the sense that Shinto is not merely a set of local rites but a distinctive spiritual heritage. These currents prepare the ground for a modern reconfiguration in which Shinto is recast as the spiritual backbone of the nation.

With the political upheavals of the Meiji period, Shinto is reshaped into a state-centered ideology, formally separated from Buddhism and pressed into the service of imperial authority and national unity. Shrines are reorganized as instruments of the state, the emperor’s divine lineage is emphasized, and a distinction is drawn between state-linked Shrine Shinto and various Shinto-derived sects with more explicit doctrines and proselytizing aims. After the collapse of this state project, Shinto is disestablished and reconstituted as a network of independent shrines under a regime of religious freedom. In this contemporary configuration, Shinto largely returns to its older character as a ritual and festival tradition—marking life passages, purifying space and time, and sustaining local communities—while also continuing to inform broader cultural identity and inspiring new religious movements that trace their lineage to the ancient reverence for kami.