Adherents.com

Group

Where

Number
of
Adherents

% of
total
pop.

Number
of
congreg./
churches/
units

Number
of
countries

Year

Source

Quote/
Notes

Shinto

Japan

117,670,000

1996

1997 Britannica Book of the Year; pg. 781-783.

Table; "Many Japanese practice both Shintoism and Buddhism, " so many people are double-counted

Shinto

Japan

1996

Bocking, Brian. A Popular Dictionary of Shinto. Surrey, England: Curzon (1996); pg. 173-174.

"Shinto: A Sino-Japanese term meaning simply 'gods' or 'spirits'... There is little consensus on the meaning of Shinto by Western or Japanese scholars and in fact the term 'Shinto' has taken on a rather misleading aura of solidity and concreteness in Western writings that it has not enjoyed in Japan... Some scholars suggest we talk about type of Shinto such as popular Shinto, folk Shinto, domestic Shinto, sectarian Shinto, imperial household Shinto, shrine Shinto, state Shinto, new Shinto religions, etc. rather than regard Shinto as a single entity. This approach can be helpful but begs the question of what is meant by 'Shinto' in each case, particularly since each category incorporates... Buddhist, Confucian, Taoist, folk religious and other elements. "

Shinto

Japan

112,000,000

93.33%

1996

Halverson, Dean C. (ed.) The Compact Guide to World Religions; Colorado Springs, Colorado: International Students Inc. (1996). [Publisher is an Evangelical missionary organization.]; pg. 206.

"Only about 1.5 million of the 120 million Japanese declare themselves Christians. But 112 million adhere to Shinto. Many Japanese see themselves as followers of several religions, for 93 million are also Buddhists! "

Shinto

Japan

100,000
units

1996

Occhiogrosso, Peter. The Joy of Sects: A Spirited Guide to the World's Religious Traditions. New York: Doubleday (1996); pg. 135.

"Government-approved [Shinto] shrines alone number about 100,000, divided into 12 categories. "

Shinto

Japan

1996

Occhiogrosso, Peter. The Joy of Sects: A Spirited Guide to the World's Religious Traditions. New York: Doubleday (1996); pg. 135-136.

"The principal configurations of Shinto in modern times are Koshitsu, or State Shinto; Jinja, or Shrine Shinto; Kyoba, or Sect Shinto; and Minkan, or Popular Shinto. "

Shinto

Japan

105,615,544

84.00%

1997

*LINK* CIA World Factbook web site (viewed Aug. 1998)

observe both Shinto and Buddhist 84%, other 16% (including Christian 0.7%); Total population: 125,732,794.

Shinto

Japan

80.00%

1998

*LINK* Nazarene web site: Nazarene World Mission Society; (major source: Johnstone's Operation World)

Table "Religions "; "There is considerable overlapping " between Shinto and Buddhism.

Shinto

Japan

1998

Rutherford, Scott (ed.) East Asia. London: Apa Publications (1998); pg. 281.

"Polls asking Japanese in which religion they believe consistently yield results that total well over 100 percent -- most say they are followers of both Shinto and Budhism. Ask a Japanese how many gods there are, and the answer may be one or one thousand. Ask about the nature of the kamisama, or deities, that are worshipped, and a confused silence may result. There is no Japanese equivalent of the Bible or Koran, unless one counts the Kojiki (Record of Ancient Matters), which describes the mythological origins of the Japanese; even the most ardent ultranationalist does not accept the eighth-century chronicles as divine writ, however. "

Shinto

Japan

1998

Rutherford, Scott (ed.) East Asia. London: Apa Publications (1998); pg. 281.

"A basic understanding of the Japanese religious sensibility must begin with Shinto -- not a 'national religion' in any current official sense (although it was once zealously nationalistic), but rather one that influences virtually ever aspect of Japanese culture and society. It is hard to give a simple definition of Shinto.. since it is not a systematized set of beliefs... The term shinto was not even invented until after the introduction of Buddhism, a date traditionally given as AD 552, and then only as a way of contrasting the native beliefs and the imported faith. In general, it can be said that Shinto shares with many other animistic beliefs the truth that all natural objects and phenomena possess a spiritual side. It is this animism, mixed with ancestor worship... that characterizes Shinto, then. "

Shinto

Japan

100,000,000

1998

*LINK* web page: "The International Shinto Foundation Statement of Purpose " (viewed 1 March 1999).

"Nearly 100 million Japanese identify with Shinto and its philosophy and culture have an immense influence on the nation's eonomic and sociological behavior. "

Shinto

Japan

94.00%

1998

*LINK* web site: "Basic Facts Christianity in Japan at a Glance " (1998). 1996, 1997, 1998 Paul Tsuchido Shew

Table: "Statistical Variences of Religion Affiliation in Japan: Official Membership Statistics vs. Independent Survey Results " Official org. reporting, Shinto 94.%; survey of religious preference: 2-3%.

Shinto

Japan

3.00%

1998

*LINK* web site: "Basic Facts Christianity in Japan at a Glance " (1998). 1996, 1997, 1998 Paul Tsuchido Shew

Shinto

Japan

1999

*LINK* Japan Information Network website; "Religion and Customs " page. (Viewed 6 Oct. 1999)

"Shinto no longer receives any official encouragement or privileges, though it still plays an important ceremonial role in many aspects of Japanese life. Shinto exists side by side with and sometimes overlaps in the popular mind with Buddhism. Many Japanese today go through Shinto rites when they marry and Buddhist funeral rites when they die. "

Shinto

Japan

2001

Zuckerman, Phil. "Atheism: Contemporary Rates and Patterns ", chapter in The Cambridge Companion to Atheism, ed. by Michael Martin, Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, UK (2005)

"According to Demerath (2001:138), 64% do not believe in God and 55% do not believe in Buddha, however a very strong majority have engaged in some form or Shinto, Buddhist, or Japanese folk/cultural ritual, such as visiting a shrine or temple on the previous New Year's Day. "

Shinto

Korea

1935

Belke, Thomas J. Juche: A Christian Study of North Korea's State Religion. Bartlesville, OK: Living Sacrifice Books Co. (1999); pg. 139.

"Meanwhile, the Japanese were looking for a way to break the power of the Korean churches--and they found it. Since the beginning of Japan's occupation, the Japanese had required Koreans to bow before their Shinto shrines as a political statement of allegiance to Japan's emperor. However, this also had a spiritual significance. These Shinto shrines commemorated the spiritual union between the Japanese sun goddess, Amaterasu Omikami, and the Japanese emperor-god. This meaning clearly marked both the goddess and emperor as pagan deities and the associated shrines as religious idols. Thus, any Korean who bowed before a Shinto shrine was engaging in an act of worship. "

Shinto

Korea

1937

Belke, Thomas J. Juche: A Christian Study of North Korea's State Religion. Bartlesville, OK: Living Sacrifice Books Co. (1999); pg. 140.

"Although the Japanese had made Shinto worship a high priority in Korea, in 1937 they began to systematically enforce mandatory Shinto idolatry for all Koreans. For example, all students at Christian schools were orderred to worship at Shinto shrines. The Roman Catholic, Methodist, and Holiness denominations submitted to the Japanese directive in the face of Japan'ss brutal enforcement measures. They rationalized their acquiescence to Shintoism by calling the blatant idolatry a 'cultural ritte.' The Presbyterians were an exception. Rather than submitting, their denomination's leaders opted to close all of their Christian schools. "

Shinto

Korea

1941

Belke, Thomas J. Juche: A Christian Study of North Korea's State Religion. Bartlesville, OK: Living Sacrifice Books Co. (1999); pg. 141.

"The Japanese further increased their persecution of Korean Christians by pressing the people to participate in other Shinto rituals. Korean Christians were induced to renounce faith in Jesus Christ and receive Shinto baptism. As the situation continued to decline, most foreign missionaries left the country. By late 1941, the Japanese were quite convinced that the power of their sun goddess was far greater than this Christian God. Thus, from a spiritual viewpoint, the Japanese initiation of war against the United States was motivated--at least in part--by the belief that they were invincible because of their Shinto gods. "

Shinto

Latin America

1,000

0.00%

1995

The World Almanac and Book of Facts 1997 (K-111 Reference Corp.: Mahwah, NJ), [Source: 1996 Encyc. Britannica Book of the Year]; pg. 646.

Table: "Adherents of All Religions by Six Continental Areas, Mid-1995 "

Shinto

Latin America

1,000

0.00%

1996

The World Almanac & Book of Facts 1998 (K-111 Reference Corp.: Mahwah, NJ), [Source: 1997 Encyc. Britannica Book of the Year]; pg. 654.

Table: "Adherents of All Religions by Six Continental Areas, Mid-1996 "

Shinto

Latin America

500

0.00%

1996

*LINK* web site: "The Geography of Religion Website " (assembled by the students of Morehead State University, under Prof. Timothy C. Pitts); web page: "The Geography of Shintoism " (viewed 2 March 1999); [Orig. source: Markham, Ian S., (Editor), A World Religions Reader. Cambridge, MA: Blackwell Publishers (1996), pp. 356-357.]

table with 3 columns: "Area "; "Adherents "; "Population Percentage "

Shinto

Latin America

7,000

0.00%

1998

World Almanac and Book of Facts 2000. Mahwah, NJ: PRIMEDIA Reference Inc. (1999). [Source: 1999 Encyc. Britannica Book of the Year]; pg. 695.

Table: "Adherents of All Religions by Six Continental Areas, Mid-1998 "

Shinto

Micronesia, Federated States of: Yap

1968

Pinney, Roy. Vanishing Tribes. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Co. (1968); pg. 234-238.

"...population of Yap... about 5,800 (1961)... "; Pg. 237: "Roman Catholc missionaries, active since the days of the Spanish, have succeeded in converting about half the inhabitants. Most of the other half have retained their ancient beliefs, though a few have espoused the Shintoism or Buddhism advocated by the Japanese. "

Shinto

North America

0.00%

1900

*LINK* web site: "Monday Morning Reality Check "; web page: "North America: Decline & Fall of World Religions " (viewed 25 Feb. 1999), written by Justin D. Long.

Table: "North America: Decline & Fall of World Religions, 1900-2025 "; "North America, defined by the U.N. to include Bermuda, Canada, Greenland, St. Pierre & Miquelon & U.S. "; listed in table as: "Shintoists "

Shinto

North America

0.00%

1925

*LINK* web site: "Monday Morning Reality Check "; web page: "North America: Decline & Fall of World Religions " (viewed 25 Feb. 1999), written by Justin D. Long.

Shinto

North America

0.00%

1950

*LINK* web site: "Monday Morning Reality Check "; web page: "North America: Decline & Fall of World Religions " (viewed 25 Feb. 1999), written by Justin D. Long.

Shinto

North America

0.00%

1975

*LINK* web site: "Monday Morning Reality Check "; web page: "North America: Decline & Fall of World Religions " (viewed 25 Feb. 1999), written by Justin D. Long.

Shinto

North America

60,000

1981

Popenoe, David. Sociology (5th Ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc. (1983). [Source: 1981 Britannica Book of the Year]; pg. 433.

Table: Membership in the Major Religions of the World "; North America in this table "includes Central America and West Indies. "

Shinto

North America

60,000

0.02%

1982

Robertson, Ian. Sociology (2nd ed.); New York, NY: Worth Publishers (1981 2nd edition; updated since 1977 1st ed.). [Orig. source: Encyclopaedia Britannica Book of the Year, 1982]; pg. 405.

Table: "Estimated membership of the principal religions of the world "

Shinto

North America

1,000

0.00%

1995

The World Almanac and Book of Facts 1997 (K-111 Reference Corp.: Mahwah, NJ), [Source: 1996 Encyc. Britannica Book of the Year]; pg. 646.

Table: "Adherents of All Religions by Six Continental Areas, Mid-1995 "

Shinto

North America

1,500

0.00%

1996

The World Almanac & Book of Facts 1998 (K-111 Reference Corp.: Mahwah, NJ), [Source: 1997 Encyc. Britannica Book of the Year]; pg. 654.

Table: "Adherents of All Religions by Six Continental Areas, Mid-1996 "

Shinto

North America

1,000

0.00%

1996

table with 3 columns: "Area "; "Adherents "; "Population Percentage "

Shinto

North America

55,000

0.02%

1998

World Almanac and Book of Facts 2000. Mahwah, NJ: PRIMEDIA Reference Inc. (1999). [Source: 1999 Encyc. Britannica Book of the Year]; pg. 695.

Table: "Adherents of All Religions by Six Continental Areas, Mid-1998 "

Shinto

North America

1,000

1998

*LINK* web site: Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance

"One source estimates 1000 followers of Shinto in North America. "

Shinto

North America

0.00%

2000

*LINK* web site: "Monday Morning Reality Check "; web page: "North America: Decline & Fall of World Religions " (viewed 25 Feb. 1999), written by Justin D. Long.

Shinto

North America

0.00%

2025

*LINK* web site: "Monday Morning Reality Check "; web page: "North America: Decline & Fall of World Religions " (viewed 25 Feb. 1999), written by Justin D. Long.

Shinto

Oceania

0.00%

1981

Popenoe, David. Sociology (5th Ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc. (1983). [Source: 1981 Britannica Book of the Year]; pg. 433.

Table: Membership in the Major Religions of the World "; Oceania: "Includes Australia, New Zealand, and South Pacific Islands "

Shinto

Oceania

1,000

0.00%

1995

The World Almanac and Book of Facts 1997 (K-111 Reference Corp.: Mahwah, NJ), [Source: 1996 Encyc. Britannica Book of the Year]; pg. 646.

Table: "Adherents of All Religions by Six Continental Areas, Mid-1995 "

Shinto

Oceania

1,000

0.00%

1996

The World Almanac & Book of Facts 1998 (K-111 Reference Corp.: Mahwah, NJ), [Source: 1997 Encyc. Britannica Book of the Year]; pg. 654.

Table: "Adherents of All Religions by Six Continental Areas, Mid-1996 "

Shinto

Oceania

500

0.00%

1996

table with 3 columns: "Area "; "Adherents "; "Population Percentage "

Shinto

Oceania

0.00%

1998

World Almanac and Book of Facts 2000. Mahwah, NJ: PRIMEDIA Reference Inc. (1999). [Source: 1999 Encyc. Britannica Book of the Year]; pg. 695.

Table: "Adherents of All Religions by Six Continental Areas, Mid-1998 "

Shinto

South America

90,000

1981

Popenoe, David. Sociology (5th Ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc. (1983). [Source: 1981 Britannica Book of the Year]; pg. 433.

Table: Membership in the Major Religions of the World "

Shinto

South America

90,000

0.04%

1982

Robertson, Ian. Sociology (2nd ed.); New York, NY: Worth Publishers (1981 2nd edition; updated since 1977 1st ed.). [Orig. source: Encyclopaedia Britannica Book of the Year, 1982]; pg. 405.

Table: "Estimated membership of the principal religions of the world "

Shinto

USA

6,000

1990

Kosmin, B. & S. Lachman. One Nation Under God: Religion in Contemporary American Society; Harmony Books: New York (1993); pg. 15-17.

Table 1-2: Self-Described Adherence of U.S. Adult Population 1990. Phone survey w/ 113,000 people; by Graduate School of City U. of New York.

Shinto

USA

3
units

1994

*LINK* "Is Buddha Awakening U.S.? " in Hinduism Today International (July 1994)

"But today, there are 3 Shinto shrines in America. " [NOTE: It is probably not completely accurate to equate "3 Shinto shrines " with 3 "congregations. " There are probably other, neo-Shinto groups which meet in the U.S., but which do not have "shrines "]

Shinto

USA

1,000

1998

*LINK* web site: Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance (viewed circa Nov. 1998); "last updated October 1998 "

Table: "'Other Than Christian' Organizations "; "Some of the following data were estimated from North American figures: "

Shinto

world

65,000,000

1975

Wallechinsky, David & Irving Wallace; The People's Almanac; Garden City, NY: Doubleday (1975); pg. 1268.

List of "Major World Religions ": "Today there are about 65 million followers of Shintoism, many of whom are also practicing Buddhists. "

Shinto

world

57,154,200

1981

Popenoe, David. Sociology (5th Ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc. (1983). [Source: 1981 Britannica Book of the Year]; pg. 433.

Table: Membership in the Major Religions of the World "

Shinto

world

58,154,200

1.29%

1982

Robertson, Ian. Sociology (2nd ed.); New York, NY: Worth Publishers (1981 2nd edition; updated since 1977 1st ed.). [Orig. source: Encyclopaedia Britannica Book of the Year, 1982]; pg. 405.

Table: "Estimated membership of the principal religions of the world "

Shinto

world

57,154,200

1.24%

1982

*LINK* Web site: "Urantia Book Fellowship Archives "; web page: "An Introduction to Shinto " [subtitle: "The Religion of Nature Worship, Emperor Worship, and Purity "] (viewed 11 April 1999). Written by Meredith Sprunger.

"In Japan a person may in good conscience be a Buddhist, a Confucian, and a member of a Shinto sect at the same time. Today (1982) Shintoism reports 57,154,200 members. " [Approx. 1982 world pop.: 4.6 billion.]

Shinto

world

1983

Oxtoby, Willard G. The Meaning of Other Faiths. Philadelphia: The Westminster Press (1983); pg. 39.

"The remaining candidates [for a list of world religions, after Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Sikhism, Taoism, Confucianism] are Shinto, the indigenous non-Buddhist heritage of Japan; Jainism...; and Zoroastrianism... "

Shinto

world

60,000,000

1987

Bishop, Peter & Michael Darton (editors). The Encyclopedia of World Faiths: An Illustrated Survey of the World's Living Faiths. New York: Facts on File Publications (1987); pg. 293.

"The number of believers in Shinto is thought to be about 60 million. "

Shinto

world

84,000,000

1990

Carlisle, Richard (editor), The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Mankind vol. 19, Marshall Cavendish: Freeport, NY (1990); pg. 2494.

Shinto

world

5,000,000

1990

Naisbitt, John & Patricia Aburdene. Megatrends 2000: Ten New Directions for the 1990's. New York: William Morrow and Co. (1990); pg. 270.

"At the dawn of the third millennium there are unmistakable signs of a worldwide multidenominational religious revival... Shinto neighborhood festivals have been revived in Japan, along with life cycle rituals and returning to the local pagoda. A Shinto priest known as 'the miracle of Japan' has won 5 million followers in Japan, the United States, and Brazil, where 80 percent of converts are non-Japanese. "

Shinto

world

3,336,000

1993

*LINK* web site: "Wholesome Words: Worldwide Missions " by Stephen Ross, "First Edition, 1998 "; [original sources: The World Factbook 1997 (CIA, 1998)]

Table: "Major religions of the world (1993 est.) "

Shinto

world

2,844,000

0.05%

1995

The World Almanac and Book of Facts 1997 (K-111 Reference Corp.: Mahwah, NJ), [Source: 1996 Encyc. Britannica Book of the Year]; pg. 646.

Table: "Adherents of All Religions by Six Continental Areas, Mid-1995 "

Shinto

world

2,897,500

0.05%

1996

The World Almanac & Book of Facts 1998 (K-111 Reference Corp.: Mahwah, NJ), [Source: 1997 Encyc. Britannica Book of the Year]; pg. 654.

Table: "Adherents of All Religions by Six Continental Areas, Mid-1996 "

Shinto

world

3,222,800

0.10%

1996

table with 3 columns: "Area "; "Adherents "; "Population Percentage "

Shinto

world

2,844,000

1997

Ash, Russell. The Top 10 of Everything, DK Publishing, Inc.: New York (1997); pg. 160-161.

List: "Top 10 Organized Religions in the World "; (Rank: 10)

Shinto

world

2,800,000

1998

*LINK* "Top 10 Organized Religions in the World " in Christian Science Monitor, Aug. 4, 1998, page B2.

Table, with 2 columns: Religion, Members: "Christianity, 1.9 billion; Islam 1.1 billion; Hinduism, 781 mil.; Buddhism, 324 mil.; Sikhism, 19 mil.; Judaism, 14 mil.; Baha'ism, 6.1 mil.; Confucianism, 5.3 mil.; Jainism, 4.9 mil.; Shintoism, 2.8 mil. "

Shinto

world

2,789,000

0.05%

1998

World Almanac and Book of Facts 2000. Mahwah, NJ: PRIMEDIA Reference Inc. (1999). [Source: 1999 Encyc. Britannica Book of the Year]; pg. 695.

Table: "Adherents of All Religions by Six Continental Areas, Mid-1998 "

Shinto

world

30,000,000

1998

*LINK* web site: "All Faiths Press "; web page: "Shinto " (viewed 27 Feb. 1999)

"Estimated at 30 million, mostly in Japan. Most are also Buddhists. "

Shinto

world

3,222,800

1998

*LINK* web site: "Mike Croghan's Religion Page "; web page: "Shinto " (viewed 27 Feb. 1999; viewed & URL updated 1 July 1999)

Table: "Table of Faiths "

Shinto

world

3,200,000

1998

*LINK* web site: Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance

Estimates of the number of adherents are hopelessly unreliable. Some sources give numbers in the range of 2.8 to 3.2 million. One states that 40% of Japanese adults follow Shinto; that would account for about 50 million adherents.

Shinto

world

50,000,000

1998

*LINK* web site: Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance

50 million. Estimates of the number of adherents are hopelessly unreliable. Some sources give numbers in the range of 2.8 to 3.2 million.

Shinto

world

107,000,000

1998

*LINK* web site: Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance

Estimates of the number of adherents are hopelessly unreliable. Some sources give numbers in the range of 2.8 to 3.2 million. Others state that about 86% of Japanese adults follow a combination of Shinto and Buddhism, [i.e.] 107 million.

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