Shinto is an indigenous, national, socio-religious institution, which highly values the traditions and history of Japan. The word Shinto is derived from the Chinese word shen-tao, and means way of the gods (kami-no-michi in Japanese). The basis of Shinto is worship of the kami. Kami is roughly translated as deity, but it applies to deities and noble people from history, including the ancestors of the Japanese people and the Japanese imperial dynasties. Shrines are the center of Shinto, with each shrine being dedicated to a specific kami. To enter a shrine, one passes through a torii, a gateway that is the demarcation between the finite (profane) world and the infinite (sacred) world of the gods. Most homes have an altar (kami-dana, shelf of
