Japanese prime minister, party leaders seek policies that revive Shinto religion

(The Christian Science Monitor) Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe’s deep adoration for the Ise Grand Shrine, the most sacred Shinto site in Japan, is no secret. He visits each January for the New Year and plans to host the 2016 summit of the Group of Seven industrialized nations in the nearby resort city of Shima.

“I believe it has something to do with his Shinto beliefs,” said Satoru Otowa, a spokesman for the shrine, recalling a visit from the prime minister. “Everyone saw how passionately he prayed.”

Ise, about 200 miles southwest of Tokyo near the Pacific coast, enshrines the sun goddess Amaterasu, who is believed to be an ancestral god of the imperial family.