Q 01/05

In Shinto, the creative principle that permeates all life is known by what name?

A) Makoto

B) Kannagara

C) Tsumi

D) Musubi

Answer · why

D) Musubi

It has its own associated kami; makoto, by contrast, is the virtue of sincerity.

Q 02/05

The term Shinto is usually translated into English as what?

A) The way of the kami

B) The path of purity

C) The teaching of the sun

D) The land of the gods

Answer · why

A) The way of the kami

Some scholars object to the English form "Shintoism" because the tradition has no codified doctrine.

Q 03/05

How many kami are there said to be in Japanese, a figure that connotes an infinite number?

A) One thousand

B) One hundred thousand

C) Eight million

D) Eighty-eight

Answer · why

C) Eight million

Kami are believed to be everywhere but are not regarded as omnipotent, omniscient or necessarily immortal.

Q 04/05

Roughly how many public Shinto shrines are there in Japan?

A) About 5,000

B) About 25,000

C) About 500,000

D) About 100,000

Answer · why

D) About 100,000

Around 80,000 belong to the Association of Shinto Shrines, with the other 20,000 unaffiliated.

Q 05/05

Kami veneration has been traced back to which era of Japanese prehistory, from about 300 BCE to 250 CE?

A) Jōmon

B) Kofun

C) Yayoi

D) Asuka

Answer · why

C) Yayoi

During that era the kami were deemed formless and invisible; human-like depictions came later under Buddhist influence.