It was founded by a group of people who were anti-Buddhist during early 3BC-2BC. Look here: http://www.unexplainable.net/artman/publish/article_3210.shtml

Lao Chu Phah

There is no official founder. 1) "The earliest origins of Shinto are lost to history, but it seems to have been established by the late Jomon period. Most likely, after the arrival of the earliest ancestors of today's Japanese, each tribe and area had its own collection of gods and rituals with no formal relationship between each of the areas. Following the ascendency of the ancestors of today's Imperial family to a position of power among the other groups, their ancestral deities were given prominence over the deities of other groups, though different systems continued to coexist. The introductions of writing in the 5th century and Buddhism in the 6th century had a profound impact on the development of a unified system of Shinto beliefs. In a brief period of time, the Kojiki (The Record of Ancient Things, 712) and the Nihonshoki (The Chronicles of Japan, 720) were written by compiling existing myths and legends into a unified account (see: Japanese mythology)." Source and further information: http://www.jref.com/glossary/shinto_traditions.shtml 2) "Early origins of the religion Shinto is vague but the religion seems to have come into existence towards the end of the Jomon period. In the ancient days each tribe and place had its own unique deities and various rituals that had no documented relation to the gods being worshiped by another tribe. When the imperial family who are the ancestors of the present royal family rose to power the deities worshiped by them were given importance while the others continued to exist as well. When writing was first introduced in the 5th century this along with the new religion Buddhism helped in consolidating the Shinto beliefs and rituals. At the time of the Meiji Restoration Shinto was given prominence by being made the official religion of Japan." "Shinto is different from various other religions in the fact that it does not have any real founder, no written documents and no scriptures stating laws except the hierarchy of priesthood. Shinto is the belief in Kami and is basically a polytheist religion with many gods represented in various forms. These gods are believed to protect and bless the followers. These deities were related to nature and creatures, Kami the guardian was relevant to certain clans along with outstanding ancient emperors. Belief is not the focus of Shinto; the focus was on performing the ritual rather than the belief in the ritual itself. The four major concepts of Shinto's are Family and Tradition, love of nature, physical cleanliness and the worship of Kami. The most revered of the Kami is the sun goddess Amaterasu though all forms and forces of creation are considered sacred in this religion. Shinto is a polytheistic religion and there is no real documented origin of Shinto. Shinto has just a mythology book that was complied in the eighth century which records the role of Kami in the creation of Japan." Source and further information: http://www.helium.com/items/1121685-origins-of-shinto 3) "Shinto does not have an official founder however there are two very important figures. Izanagi and Izanami were given the honorable task of creating our world." Source and further information: http://www.authorstream.com/Presentation/Perrin-55757-Shinto-07-Origin-Key-Founders-Figures-Gods-Symbols-Score-as-Education-ppt-powerpoint/ Further information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinto

It was me.

moi

James "BobbyRay" Shinto.