>>214178636 (OP)
Honestly, Shinto nowadays is just political and all about money. OG Japanese spirituality back in the Jomon era was pure animism—respecting nature, spirits in everything, that kinda thing. But then the Yamato court came in, hijacked it, fused it with Buddhism, and later the Meiji government rewrote the whole thing for nation-building propaganda. It's been twisted and rebranded so many times it’s basically a state tool now.