Shintoism was introduced into Japan about 1,200 years before Buddhism; it is called by the Japanese, Kami-No-Michi, or “The Way of the Gods.” A well known writer on the subject states that the characteristics of Shintoism are absence of a doctrinal code, of idol-worship, of priestcraft, and of any teachings concerning the future, and the state of beatification, of heroes, emperors and great men, together with the worship of certain forces and objects in nature. It is said that the Kami, or gods, number 14,000, of whom 3,700 are known to have shrines; but practically the number is infinite. Each hamlet has its special god, as well as its shrine; and each child is taken to the shrine of the district in which it is born, a month after birth, and the god of that shrine becomes his patron. Each god has its annual festival, while many have particular days of each month on which people visit their shrines. There are good gods, who are worshiped in order that there may be an increase of good gifts, and there are bad gods to be appeased. There is the sun-god, and the moon-god; there are gods of storms, winds, rain, thunder, fertility, mountains, fields and streams.
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From General Nelson A. Miles
Thrilling Stories of The Russian-Japanese War, 1904
