Shinto is Japan’s native religion. It is a religion which is tightly linked to the agricultural cycle and emphasizes fertility, growth, and purity while de-emphasizing any sense of guilt or permanent sin. Shinto was developed partly in response to the well-defined beliefs of Buddhism. It was also, however, designed to assert the power of the Imperial family by subordinating the many local religious traditions of gods to the god of the empresses and emperors. This mixture gave Shinto an eclectic and non-exclusive attitude which made it easy for Buddhism to enter the country and for most Japanese profess to believe in both religions
