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Every home has a Kamidana, Kami Goddess God shelf, which is the focus of daily offerings and reverence. Ancient Shinto folk beliefs and rituals were deeply rooted in a distant past. Shintoism, The Way of the Kami, harmoniously coexists with both Confucianism and Buddhism. These three traditions have been woven together into the tapestry of Japanese ethics, customs, culture, attitudes, and overall outlook on life. Worship of the Kami usually takes places in shrines located in the beauty of nature, but they may be revered anywhere. Local shrines where festivals take place are the focal point of the community. Shinto perceives the sacred in nature and the presence of deities in trees, rivers, thunder, stones, waterfalls, mountains, and valleys. The numinous Kami are worshiped, as well as, the ancestral and guardian spirits, and the spirits of national heroes.
The customs of Shinto
practiced by the common people gradually grew into a complex form of festivals
and rites that sometimes included elements of Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism
called Minzoku Shinto or Folk Shinto.
Originally one with Shrine Shinto, the traditional forms of Shinto became Folk Shinto when Buddhism was the state religion in the time of Emperor Temmu (673-686), and the government established specific Japanese festivals and rituals. Folk Shinto rites are life passages rites and year round observances rites which are all closely related to rites and festivals performed at the Shinto Shrine. For example, it is the custom in agricultural communities to perform rituals without a priest. A member of the community, usually a young boy is nominated as Toya. Under a one year rotation system, he then performs the rites to worship the deity of the locality.
Shintoism Passage Rites include Hatsumiya-Mode when the
whole family dresses up and goes with a new born baby for its first visit to a
local tutelary shrine where he is recognized by the Kami as a member of the
community...Continue on
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Shintoism
Shinto Shrine Kami Way 
