Shintoism

Part I of Essay
The Shinto religion was started in the Tokugawa period (1600-1868) of Japanese history. The Tokugawa “Enlightenment” inspired a group of people who studied kokugaku, which roughly translated means “nativism,” “Japanese Studies,” or “Native Studies.” Kokugaku's intent was ....

Part II of Essay
.... The word for this in Japanese is kannagara : "the way of the kami ." Many things can be said about Shinto. First, it was a tribal 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 ....