Shinto has returned to its roots as a community and individual practice. Although many Japanese are unaware of deeper meanings of Shinto, they continue to participate in observances. People from all facets of society attend to ask for favors of the kami or to give thanks. Students attend before their high school entrance exams. Families bring their cars to be protected from accidents through elaborate rituals used in earlier ages to bless horses.
Company presidents bring their employees to ask for the assistance of the gods.
The community turns to the shrines, too, for the major festivals. During the local festivals, the Shinto believers are united in the same purpose. Festivals honor the seasons, ask blessings for crops or ask for prosperity in the town. Shamanism is still a feature of Shinto practices in Aomori Prefecture, where the elderly priestess-mediums called itako deliver messages from the spirit world. Shinto and Buddhism today are inextricable, and in the spirit of Japanese eclecticism, continue to borrow from new ideas.