The birth and marriage ceremonies of most Japanese are Shinto, while funerals are Buddhist. The same person will pay his respects to a Shinto shrine at the beginning of the year, visit a Buddhist temple during the Festival of the Souls in summer,and celebrate Christmas at the end of the year. The sum of these figures is nearly twice Japan's population, a situation without parallel in other countries. The Japanese constitution guarantees religious freedom, and this guarantee is strictly maintained. Therefore, there is no State religion, and no connection between national and religious functions.
Religious instruction is forbidden at public schools.
Shinto is the natural indigenous religion of Japan. All natural objects and phenomena used to be considered as having kami, so the gods of Shinto were uncountably numerous. Gradually Shinto practice extended to the worship of ancestors. Accordingly, then, there were no specific leaders in Shinto religion, nor any books of scripture. That the number of Shinto gods was extremely great can be seen from the existence in Japanese mythology of the phrase yaoyorozu no kami, meaning geight million kami.