ABSTRACT
Like the religion of ancient Greece, that of ancient Rome, or that of Israel, Shintō is indigenous to its own soil, and it is in its origin a mental production of the Japanese people as a whole, so it thus had no particular founder, as had Buddhism, Christianity, or Islam. Shintō is as old as the Japanese nation herself and will have its existence as long as the nation endures. The religion of ancient Greece died out, as the Greek nation perished, the religion of ancient Rome is no more, the Roman people having ceased to be. The case is the same with the ancient religions of Egypt, Babylonia, Assyria, etc. The Japanese nation, however, has never ceased, so her own religion maintains itself. Wherever the nation is, there also is her own religion. In short, Shintō is the national religion of the Japanese people and had no individual founder, as was the case with any other national religion.
