I have written several books about Shinto that are currently available in print. Most of them are based on the essays I have written for my Patreon. Note that the links are all affiliate links, so if you buy through these links I get my affiliate percentage as well as my author’s share.
An Introduction to Shinto
In-depth “insider” information written in an easy to read and understand manner for a western audience. Buy it.
This is the book I would recommend starting with, particularly if you know nothing about Shinto. It covers contemporary Shinto, describing matsuri, the ceremonies performed to honour the kami, and jinja, the sacred spaces in which most of those ceremonies are performed. It also includes a brief account of some Shinto myths, the history of Shinto, and the current organisational structure, such as it is, of Shinto as a whole. Finally, there are more detailed descriptions of three specific jinja: Jingū, at Isë, arguably the most important jinja in Japan, Yasukuni Jinja in Tokyo, clearly the most controversial, and Shirahata Hachiman Daijin in Kawasaki, an example of a “typical” jinja.
As an introduction, it is aimed at people who want to know more about Shinto and its place in Japanese culture and contemporary society. It is not particularly for people who want to practise Shinto, but it would be hard to do so without learning the material covered here from somewhere.
This book is also available in a full-colour hardback edition.
Shinto Practice for Non-Japanese
This is a practical guide to practising Shinto if you are not Japanese, and not in Japan. Most of the issues are practical, in that the overwhelming majority of Shinto priests are happy, even keen, for non-Japanese to practise Shinto. Indeed, helping them to do so is the main part of my job at Jinja Honchō. I would not recommend reading just this book, because it is very short and focused entirely on the practical issues, but in combination with An Introduction to Shinto I think you would have everything you needed to practise Shinto, and a good foundation for learning more.
If you live in Japan and speak Japanese, there are no significant problems with practising Shinto. If you live in Japan, you can visit your local jinja, pay your respects, and communicate with gestures. If you speak Japanese, you can contact jinja in Japan and try to work something out. If neither is true, things are more difficult, and this book offers things that you can do right away. I am working on making it easier to practise Shinto outside Japan, through discussions with Jinja Honchō and individual jinja, but that will take time.
Shinto in Person: Tokyo
As the title suggests, this is a guide to support a personal experience of Shinto while visiting Tokyo, through visits to six jinja in the centre of the city. This is not a simple guide to what you can see at each jinja. Instead, it uses the things that you can see as a starting point to discuss important and interesting features of Shinto. This includes both history and current practice, as well as an introduction to the structures found at most jinja. The introduction includes guidance on ways in which you can practice Shinto at these jinja, including asking for a formal prayer, with information on which jinja can handle enquiries in English that was correct at the time of publication.
The book does not include maps, because you almost certainly have an app that can do a better job, or photographs, because getting permission to use photographs of jinja in a commercial publication is difficult, and in my position I cannot just hope that no-one notices. (The cover photographs of the torii were taken from outside the jinja, and that is clearly permissible.) Even so, I think it would be interesting even if you could not actually visit the jinja in person. Naturally, I think it would be even more interesting if you took it round the jinja with you.
Tamao
Akiko Tanahata liked her normal life in Japan, with a clerical job and a serious boyfriend. Shinto shrines were just places to visit at New Year. But that all changed when she sought shelter from a sudden downpour, and found herself in an impossible space, confronted by a great serpent. Now the serpent will not leave her alone, and she can see the pollution that is slowly corrupting Kawasaki. As her normal life is taken apart by forces beyond her control, Akiko must learn about the kami, and take control of her own future if she is to save her city.
Tamao is an urban fantasy novel set in Japan, with very strong Shinto themes.
It is set in Kawasaki, and specifically in the area where I live. All the descriptions of Shinto activities are as accurate as I can manage, and the supernatural aspects are all based on Shinto myths and beliefs. However, all the individuals, jinja, kami, and matsuri are fictional. The non-supernatural parts certainly could exist, without being odd, but they do not. It is also worth noting that the novel is set in 2009, when I wrote it, and a lot has happened since then. Shinto, however, has not changed much.
This one is not based on my Patreon essays.