Are there many Shinto practitioners in Japan nowadays?

Well yes, almost all Japanese also follow Shintoism (in addition to Buddhism) - but the term practitioners is probably somewhat misleading. Because there is not much to actually "practition" for a private person in Shinto. read more

Because there is not much to actually "practition" for a private person in Shinto. It's important to understand that Shinto is a rather unique case, in that it is not a centrally organized or even just homogenous religion. read more

Shinto is inherently Japanese, and its just another one of those things that you can really only get the full experience and understand while in Japan. Instead of sacred texts, Shinto bases most of its beliefs on four ancient books. read more

There are no formal rituals to become a practitioner of "folk Shinto". Thus, "Shinto membership" is often estimated counting only those who do join organised Shinto sects. Shinto has 81,000 shrines and 85,000 priests in the country. read more