Shinto in English

Is Shinto an open religion? Can I practice Shintō as a white person/non-Japanese person etc.?

The answer is a resounding yes. That said, this does not mean Shintō can be used for whatever ends or decontextualized from Japanese culture. It being open is no excuse to give out misinformation, bastardize it etc. Open religions deserve respect too.

I am interested in Shintō but I do not want to be disrespectful to the culture. How can I avoid being disrespectful?

Listen to Japanese and Japanese-Americans when they correct you. Do not seek a token Japanese person to okay your fringe action when everyone else tells you something is not okay. Become aware of Orientalism, learn about our culture (not just anime, manga and games), and remember that our culture is more than what you see in pop culture. For this last purpose, I highly recommend Unseen Japan. Different Shintō faiths, and even individual shrines, do things differently, so keep in mind that what one priest say may differ from another (especially when comparing Sect Shintō to non-sect Shintō). Be open to criticism and open-minded; Shintō is a religion like any other, having been used for violence in the past like many others.

I want to become a priest/priestess. How do I do that?

You must be ordained to be a priest/priestess. Unlike with paganism, you cannot simply claim to be a priest/priestess with no training. You have to be fluent in Japanese to be ordained, unless you are Konkō. There is also a lot of fetishization of shrine maidens 巫女 (miko). This too requires training, and is not equal to being a priestess. It is often a temporary job, and is considered lower in rank than priest/priestesses (due to a myriad of factors including misogyny and history). I have seen many Westerners who enter Shintō with the desire to be a miko like in anime without even knowing a kamisama personally. Do not do this.

Is Shintō pagan? Isn’t Shintō polytheistic?

Many people erroneously describe Shintō as polytheist or Japanese culture as “polytheistic” when this is not true.This is why it is deeply disrespectful to combine Shinto practice with pagan ones. First of all, kami are not synonyms for gods, and secondly, many people only worship one kamisama. There are plenty of people who concentrate on one faith and one faith only, such as Inari Faith or Izumo Faith. I’ve also seen a deeply troubling trend of pagans with fascist sympathies rebranding themselves as “polytheists” and that is just another reason why Shintō should not, is not, and cannot be labelled as such.

How do I know which kamisama to worship?

Kamisama do not have to “reach out” to you. Follow your heart, read up on shrines that enshrine the kamisama you are interested in. Head shrines are particularly useful as they tend to attract many tourists and therefore are more likely to have English pages or sites. Most people who live in Japan center their worship around the kamisama they live closest to, but living outside of Japan does not mean you are obligated to worship at one of the few shrines in the US.

I live abroad, how do I get an ofuda?

This depends on the shrine, but some will send items overseas. If they have an email, write a formal and polite request, with the understanding that they may say no. Otherwise, you can obtain them from a US shrine, or make a yorishiro.