If you pray for love in Izumo, there's a good chance you'll be heard. Every year, eight million gods gather in this seaside ...

While Spain's headline trail now attracts up to half a million pilgrims a year, its twin is often uncrowded and offers a peaceful route through forests and mountain scenery ...

Shinto is often described as the “soul ... down the gravel pathway (the crunching alerts the gods or kami to your presence) to the shrine, as it is November 15 and Shichi-go-san, a festival ...

Followers of Shintoism, Japan’s indigenous religion, worship Kami – gods believed to inhabit ... and witnessing a wedding ceremony at a Shinto shrine. Perhaps the most endearing moment came ...

Read more: Tokyo on two wheels – why you should experience Japan’s busiest city by bike Followers of Shintoism, Japan’s indigenous religion, worship Kami – gods believed to inhabit the ...

Tucking into our tofu hotpot at the end of our first day’s hike, our host started to play music. His three-stringed instrument, the sanshin, resembles a banjo, except that its body is covered in ...

Following his example, I walk up the shrine ... Shinto religion, parts of nature – the ocean, trees, rocks, rivers, mountains, animals, and waterfalls – are believed to be kami (deities ...