Shinto in History Ways of the Kami This is the only book to date offering a critical overview of Shinto from early times to the modern era, and evaluating Shinto's place in Japanese religious culture. None of the several books on medieval Shinto that have appeared in recent years has attempted to depict the broader picture, to examine critically Shinto's original and its subseque... more »nt development through the medieval, pre-modern and modern periods. The essays in this book address such key topics as Shinto and Taoism in early Japan, Shinto and the natural environment, Shinto and state ritual in early Japan, Shinto and Buddhism in medieval Japan, and Shinto and the state in the modern period. All of the essays highlight the dynamic nature of Shinto and shrine history by focusing on the three-way relationship, often fraught, between local shrine cults, Shinto agendas and Buddhism.« less