33% Protestant, 22% Catholic, 22% no affiliated religion and 11% nondenominational Christian; sitting in that remaining 12% of the United States population lie several other minority religions, from Jewish to Islam to Mormon. Among an even smaller portion practicing Eastern religions is Jasmine Tolbert (10), who follows Shinto.

Shinto is a belief system centered on the belief in “kami,” which are supernatural earth spirits that inhabit everything, including forces of nature and certain prominent locations. It is a polytheistic, animistic nature-based religion. 

“[Kami] are similar to gods that are around you … they’re kind of mundane, but you know they’re part of a different world,” Tolbert said. 

Tolbert was born in Japan and moved to the United States when she was three years old. She and her father are the only members of her immediate family who practice Shinto; the others practice Christianity. 

“My father and my grandfather — they all practiced [Shinto], and it was a family ritual that I was included in as I grew up,” Tolbert said. “So, praying to the shrine and visiting the shrines — it’s a part of my life that I don’t want to forget.”

Shinto does not have a centralized authority figure that regulates its religious canon like Western religions such as Catholicism with figures like the Pope. Overall, Shinto tends to have considerable diversity from region to region, lacking a monotheistic centralized figure that everyone worships.

“I wouldn’t say there’s different ‘sects,’ but different areas primarily focus on one god to pray to,” Tolbert said. “So you’ll have ones that specifically pray to Amaterasu, the goddess of the sun, or Inari, the god of good luck and foxes, and then we have seven other gods and goddesses of luck, so each one might have [prayers] that focus on a certain god.”

Due to its general regional and individual variance, Shinto does not have a definite afterlife belief system. One major belief is that, after death, the spirit survives and continues to assist the living; then, after 33 years, it becomes part of the family’s kami. Another belief is that the spirit reincarnates and that the circumstances of one’s current life are based on their actions and way of living in their past life, similar to afterlife beliefs of Hinduism and Buddhism. 

“I think there are different versions of what each person believes, but I personally believe what happens in this life is because of the past life,” Tolbert said. “I’ve heard people sometimes say they’ll be a goat in their next life because of how they’ve behaved in this life or something they did. Or, I’ve had people say they’re going to be a king in their next life because they’ve done so many good things. I personally believe we’ll stay as humans.”

Shinto, from its polytheism to its worship practices, is different from most Western religions. Living in the United States and in communities that are predominantly Christian, Tolbert has noticed several of these differences, such as with the number of people engaged in worship. 

“I’ve noticed — as everybody else in my family is Christian — they go to church every Sunday, sometimes twice a week, and they get in these groups to do group prayers,” Tolbert said. “Shinto is [more] like a ‘self-study’ religion; you can go to the shrines. Sure, there will be other people there, but [you] aren’t praying together. You’re praying for your own struggles, and you can go at any time of day.”

In practice, Shinto involves various rituals, from prayers before eating to the more spiritual rituals during shrine worship. While Christian prayers often involve a freeform approach, Shinto prayers are usually more structured. 

“There’s this whole procedure that goes into Shinto practices and praying,” Tolbert said. “You bow twice at 90 degrees — to show your respect — and then you clasp your hands together and you clap twice. Then, you say your prayer — it’s like showing your devotion — and then you bow once again. It’s this whole procedure that everybody knows about [and] everybody does to show your devotion. Bowing at 90 degrees standing is the highest form of respect.”

The concept of “religious affiliation” is quite foreign to Japan; rather than “belonging” to certain religions as most Westerners do, many Japanese people practice and engage with a fluid fusion of Shinto and Buddhism to some extent without necessarily “identifying” as a member of those religions. Nevertheless, Shinto practice in some form composes a major part of Japanese life. 

“Not everybody practices Shinto; it’s not like you’re required to do it or that most people do it, but Shinto and prayer is something that happens everywhere,” Tolbert said. “So, although most people might not identify with Shinto, they still do have the Shinto aspects of their life, like the prayers before eating and after eating.”

Given its low frequency of practice in the United States coupled with its differences compared to Christianity and other Western religions, many people have misconceptions concerning certain aspects of Shinto. 

“You don’t have to be Japanese,” Tolbert said. “So, I’m mostly white, but it’s not a universalizing religion, so you can’t wait on other people to tell you when to pray or how to pray; you do it on your own, and you don’t traditionally have to have a priest bless your house. It’s just something that I felt more comfortable with.”

Some of Shinto’s core values are harmony with the world, purity, respect for nature, subordination of the individual to the group and the fundamental goodness of humanity. As with most religions, the values considered most significant vary from believer to believer. 

“To me, the most important thing is self-sacrifice,” Tolbert said. “If I know that I can give something or take myself out of an equation and it’ll be better for the community, then I’m going to do that. The ultimate goal is for mankind as a people to prosper — not me, but everybody else around me.”

Though no longer living in Japan, Tolbert still finds ways to incorporate Shinto and its values into her life. Practicing it and respecting its values holds significance for her. 

“Carrying my religion with me is carrying the past with me and knowing where I’m from and honoring where I’m from,” Tolbert said.