ABSTRACT
Where did Shinto come from? Must we look for the origins of Shinto in the Jo¯mon period (c.12,000-400 BCE), or did its traditions arise in the subsequent Yayoi period (c.400 BCE-300 CE)? Opinions on this question are still divided. The least we can say is that excavations of ritual sites from the Yayoi period leave little doubt that during this period, people believed in, and worshipped, spiritual powers that controlled the weather and the crops. These sites bespeak the existence at this early date of what we may call kami worship.
