Within Shinto, death is approached less as a moral turning point and more as a shift in spiritual condition, especially in terms of purity and impurity. Death is regarded as a primary source of kegare, a form of ritual pollution that affects both the dead and those who come into contact with them. This understanding has given rise to purification rites, such as misogi and other forms of harae, which restore harmony with the kami and the living community. Rather than centering on fear of judgment or hope for reward, Shinto sensibilities emphasize maintaining purity, balance, and right relationship in this present world.

Classical myth, as preserved in early chronicles, speaks of Yomi no Kuni, an underworld or land of the dead. Yomi is depicted as a dark, unclean realm, cut off from the brightness of the living world and the pure presence of the kami. It is not portrayed as a place of graded moral judgment, with distinct heavens and hells, but as a shadowy domain that underscores the separation between life and death. Because of this, Shinto thought does not elaborate a detailed doctrine of postmortem reward and punishment, and the afterlife remains relatively indistinct compared with other religious systems.

Yet this sense of impurity does not sever the bond between the living and the dead. The deceased, especially ancestors, are honored as continuing spiritual presences who can influence and protect their descendants. Over time, ancestral spirits (sorei) may be revered in ways that draw them closer to the status of kami, and in some cases, particularly notable or virtuous individuals are explicitly enshrined as kami. In this way, death marks both a break—signaled by impurity and separation—and a transformation, in which the dead may become objects of veneration and sources of blessing.

In everyday religious life, this outlook yields a strong focus on living well rather than speculating about the unseen. Harmony with nature, proper ritual observance, and respectful remembrance of ancestors are given priority over constructing a systematic map of the afterlife. Detailed images of rebirth, heavens, and hells are more characteristic of Buddhist teachings, which have long been intertwined with Shinto practice, especially in matters of funerals and memorial rites. Shinto, by contrast, tends to concentrate on life-affirming ceremonies and the ongoing relationship between human communities, the natural world, and the kami, while allowing the realm of the dead to remain largely veiled and undefined.