Neo‑Shintoism designates the philosophical and intellectual rearticulation of Shinto that arose as thinkers sought to move beyond a loosely connected body of local rites, myths, and taboos and present Shinto as a coherent worldview. Rather than treating Shinto solely as a set of folk practices, these currents emphasized it as a sophisticated system of thought, developing explicit teachings about the cosmos, human nature, ethics, and the kami. In this process, Shinto cosmology and creation myths were read as bearing philosophical truth, and the presence of the divine in nature was given a more systematic metaphysical interpretation. Traditional emphases on purity, sincerity, and harmony with the natural order were reframed as components of a comprehensive ethical and existential vision, not merely ritual obligations.

A hallmark of Neo‑Shintoism is its effort to organize and clarify the idea of kami, treating these divine forces as the key to understanding reality and the human place within it. The world came to be seen as a living, kami‑filled field in which everyday life, work, and community are potential sites of encounter with the sacred. This re‑interpretation often highlighted reverence for nature as the dwelling place of the kami and underscored ancestral veneration as a link to a divine lineage. In some strands, particular attention was given to the imperial line as a sacred bridge between heaven and earth, thereby situating national history within a larger spiritual drama.

At the same time, Neo‑Shintoism drew on and responded to other intellectual currents, engaging with Confucian, Buddhist, and Western philosophical ideas in order to articulate Shinto in terms that could stand alongside other religious and philosophical systems. Some thinkers stressed the distinctiveness of Japanese spirituality, while still using these external frameworks as tools for clarification and comparison. Concepts such as intuitive wisdom and sensitivity to the impermanent, ever‑changing character of the world were woven into a vision of life lived in attunement with the kami and with the rhythms of nature. Through these developments, Shinto was transformed from a primarily practice‑oriented tradition into a consciously formulated religious philosophy that could speak to questions of meaning, identity, and the structure of reality.