/jp/ - Otaku Culture

I may be getting too old for /jp/.

>Our second point is that Shinto emphasizes closeness to nature. As we have already pointed out, natural objects can be kami. It is important to bear in mind that the object itself is a kami; the kami is not a spirit lurking invisibly in the tree or mountain. When pilgrims reach the summit of Mt. Fuji they will find the torii(h) gate marking off the sacred presence. There is no shrine, no building, not even a sign. The pilgrim knows that the mountain itself is a kami. And it is a kami not for what historically happened there (as would be the case for Mt. Sinai, Mecca, or Jerusalem, for example), but just because Mt. Fuji itself commands our respect and awe.