But many young hindus I know, only pray for something. They don’t pray in general. My father recites a formalised prayer in the morning and evening and then just prays for the well-being of his family. That was how he was taught to pray. But these days people only pray around exam time or they fast every monday for 16 mondays and do a ritualised prayer because they want a husband. You don’t see well educated people praying every morning before heading out to work. It’s not relevant to them on a daily basis. The temples are kept up though because whenever a child is born,a wedding takes place, there is a birthday, new job etc etc – a huge donation is given in the form of food, money and jewellery. And generous patrons get a small plaque of recognition on the wall – and when temple matters come up and voting is required, those generous people are given a say.

But, your observation that most Japanese know absolutely nothing about Shinto (or Buddhism for that matter) is spot on. Fewer than 10% of Japanese that I speak to on a daily basis know anything about the story of Michizane, for example. Only one other person that I’ve met so far could accurately recall the history of the figure in any detail whatsoever, despite that his name (at least) is fairly well known. Most high-school students recognize him only as the deity to pray to in order to pass the college entrance exam. However, Michizane – the historical scholar – is inexorably connected not only historically and politically to the Heian polity, but also spiritually to a variety of Shinto legends and myths about Goryou, Raiden, and the Thunder God. The figure also has many connections to practices in the religiously-based Noh theater, it’s comedic variant Kyogen, and the theatrical evolution from the Edo period Kabuki.

This post is but one portion of the surface of Japan’s rich religious history. Unfortunately, many young people could care less about history. And that doesn’t just include Japan. It is – at least to me – an unfortunate side-effect of modernization and globalization. Rich cultural history seems to be destined to fade into the annals of time itself.

It would be a shame if they were discarded in the process of “modernization” but I really don’t think they will be.

A sprit force separate from the material aids or punishes humans. We ask the sprit and try to please the sprit. The sprit does whatever and has its own reasons we cannot really divine.

Primitive maybe, worship of nature is as old as human perception, Shinto at least keeps nature central. Other ‘religions’ place a sprit embodiment over nature. What gets us into trouble is these sprit embodiments.

In the end we all pay a heavy price for magical sprit beings who may or may not be very interested in us at all. We may be their entertainment and what a laugh they must have.