Japan: Where Gods Aren’t Gods and Worshipers Aren’t Religious (Shinto Explained)

Have you ever wondered about all the gates (torii) you see around Japan? They are entrances to the sacred ground of Shinto shrines (jinja). While some might see Japan’s traditional practices of Shinto as a religion, and their various kami as gods, it’s not quite as simple as that. Special thanks to David Chart for explaining the ins and outs of Shinto. Find out more about Shinto on his blog at and support his writing on Patreon at See our second video together where we talk about Shinto in Everyday Japanese Life Also a big thanks to Yushima Tenjin and Shirahata-san for letting us film on their sacred grounds. As mentioned in the video, tourists snapshots at jinja are fine, but you should get permission to film within the sacred space if you’ll be using for the commercial or YouTube purposes. Lastly, thanks to my Patre