Hello -

I have recently begun to seriously start studying and practicing Shinto. I am not Japanese and don't live in Japan, which I know is a problem for many people. Regardless, here I am. I had a brief moment some time ago where I had "encountered" Shinto, but it amounted to little more than an academic interest. Lately though, for whatever reason, I have had massively renewed and very serious interest in Shinto. My knowledge is limited and really just growing, so please forgive me if I get something wrong or misunderstand something.

I find Shinto is great because of its approach towards living purposefully and mindfully through action. I like the idea of kami, what they represent and how they do so, as mediums through which to view, respect, and appreciate the world, even if only anthropomorphically. I find the practices and rituals to be very sensible for their purposes - they just seem to make sense for the goals they are meant to accomplish. I like the virtues Shinto promotes. I like that it is not so structured and scripted as so many other faiths are - is action centered and has a lot of room for individual meaning and practice. I like that, as far as I can tell, there seems to be no "authority", aside from the organization which certifies clergy. I am very appreciative of the immense long-term impact Shinto has had on Japanese culture over thousands of years, and given its age, I feel it must still be active and vibrant for very good reasons. I feel that Shinto offers a way of living, thinking, and acting that I could really use in my life. I kind of view it as a 'blueprint', a framework, for how to put together the various 'raw material' pieces of my life and beliefs which I already have, and as far as I can tell, my 'raw material' will fit the 'blueprint' rather well. Currently I am reading the Kojiki, the Nihon Shoki, and Shinto: the Kami way. I'm not sure how good the translations of the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki I have are, so I am also learning Japanese (I've wanted to for a long time anyway). I feel that if something is worth doing, it is worth doing thoroughly and well.

I know that Shinto is in inseparable part of Japanese culture and what it means to be Japanese. The mythology and rituals are steeped in thousands of years of practice and belief and are purely Japanese in their origin and meanings. It is hard for me to imagine Shinto even having meaning outside Japan. That's why I am here. Can Shintoism be practiced in any meaningful manner outside Japan? Is it acceptable to view Japan as the birthplace and proper home of Shinto, allowing for practice, adoption and adaptation elsewhere? I know there are some shrines in the US, pretty much Hawaii, where even George Washington is worshiped as kami (not really sure what I think about that). If this is possible however, then would it be acceptable for me to 'import' Shinto to where I live (Colorado), so that for myself, I could practice? There are no shrines nearby. What, if anything, would I need to change or do differently? Being so far from it's home, I am so unsure how to go about conducting a Shinto practice. I do not have ready access to supplies, mush less any sites or services, so I feel like I need to define and provide my own, taking local personally favored natural places as personal sacred sites (Colorado has more than a fair share) and utilizing local materials in place of traditional ones. I feel/agree that Japan really is the land of the kami, in the sense that that only Japan can have all of them, but there are some kami that would be important in Colorado given our geography. I feel relevant kami would be Amaterasu (of course; also Colorado has so many sunny days), Ōhoyamatsumi (rocky mountains), Suijin (Colorado has so little water, and what we do have is really important), and Fujin (we have a fair bit of wind). There may be others as well, as there are many, I just don't know.

Any help anyone can give me would be great. Thank you so much!