Someone in another group wondered about what it would require to create and maintain a shintô shrine in their area.

The first thing is, why do you want a shintô shrine? If it's mainly for yourself, you're better off sticking to a kamidana in your home. If on the other hand it's for the benefit of your extended family, a community, or a social organization, a shrine may be the way to go.

Shrines are expensive to create and maintain, both in terms of time and money. Unless you're independently wealthy, that expense is best born by a group, and the larger the group the better.

Speaking of that group, you're asking the group to invest a great deal of their social capital in the shrine. Are you willing to spend the time required to help keep the shrine running for the group. Can you commit to the group and to a purpose that, in theory, will run the rest of your life.

You'll need a location that is publically accessible. You should own the location; renting may be a short-term solution, but rarely works in the long run. People tend to become attached to the institutions that are an ongoing part of their neighborhood.

Now somethings to think about having that fall in the exciting options category — nice to have, but not absolutely required.

The first of which is a shintô priest. No priest? Heresy you say? Not in shintô. Many shrines are run and maintained by local communities without the benefit a formally trained shintô priest. The local practitioners can be lead by someone periodically appointed from within the community, or by a local family that are experienced laymen.

Next is the Japanese language — both written and spoken. This is mainly for communication with other shintô practitioners. Although it is changing, much of the information about shintô is still only available in Japanese. It's nice, but not necessary for shintô rituals. Unless you choose to deal with the Japan specific kami in which case we do recommend you speak Japanese, most the kami will be local, and are quite capable of understanding the local language.

Finally, there's window dressing, props, clothing, and ritual items. If you can afford to get them Japan, go for it. However, feel free to substitute locally obtained or crafted items. It some ways these can be more meaningful as they are tied to a specific location.

So there you have what's needed:

• An interest in shintô
• A reason/purpose for the shrine
• A group/community
• A willingness to serve
• A location