A country in isolation - Everyday Life in Traditional Japan - page 3

(4) The crater of Mt Aso. This volcano, in Kyushu, is still active.
The native Japanese religion, now called shintō , “the way of the gods,” has some ele-
ments that may derive from the shamanism of northern Asia, but it also includes simple
animistic cults, in which trees and rocks, sometimes whole mountains or islands, are wor-
shipped ( 7 ) .It had as its culmination a set ofcreation-legends, which include an account of
the divine origins of the Imperial family.
(5) Flooded rice-fields, with terracing on the left. The wide, straight roads are, of course,
modern.