Editing Religion in Japan (section)

====Shinto sects and new religions====
{{multiple image
| align             = right
| width             = 150
| image1            = Shinrikyo02.jpg
| caption1          = Main shrine of {{nihongo|Shinriism|神理教|Shinrikyō}} in [[Kitakyushu]], [[Fukuoka Prefecture]]
| image2            = Sukyo Mahikari Headquarter 02.jpg
| caption2          = Headquarters of [[Sukyo Mahikari]] in [[Takayama, Gifu|Takayama]], [[Gifu Prefecture]]
| image3            = 円応教本部 五法閣.jpg
| caption3          = Headquarters of {{nihongo|[[Ennokyo]]|円応教|En'nōkyō}} in [[Tamba, Hyōgo|Tamba]], [[Hyōgo Prefecture]]
}}
{{Main|Shinto sects and schools}}
{{Further|Japanese new religions}}
Profound changes occurred in Japanese society in the 20th century (especially after [[World War II]]), including rapid industrialisation and urbanisation.<ref name="Earhart, 2013. pp. 286-287">Earhart, 2013. pp. 286-287</ref> Traditional religions, challenged by the transformation, underwent a reshaping themselves,<ref name="Earhart, 2013. pp. 286-287"/> and principles of religious freedom articulated by the 1947 [[Constitution of Japan|constitution]]<ref>Bestor, Yamagata. 2011. pp. 64-65.</ref> provided space for the proliferation of new religious movements.<ref name="Bestor, Yamagata. 2011. p. 65">Bestor, Yamagata. 2011. p. 65</ref>

New sects of Shinto, as well as movements claiming a thoroughly independent status, and also new forms of [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] lay societies, provided ways of aggregation for people uprooted from traditional families and village institutions.<ref>Earhart, 2013. pp. 289-290</ref> While traditional Shinto has a residential and hereditary basis, and a person participates in the worship activities devoted to the local tutelary deity or ancestor – occasionally asking for specific healing or blessing services or participating in pilgrimages – in the new religions individuals formed groups without regard to kinship or territorial origins, and such groups required a voluntary decision to join.<ref name="Earhart, 2013. p. 290">Earhart, 2013. p. 290</ref> These new religions also provided cohesion through a unified doctrine and practice shared by the nationwide community.<ref name="Earhart, 2013. p. 290"/>

The officially recognized new religions number in the hundreds, and total membership reportedly numbers in the tens of millions.<ref>{{cite book |last=Shimazono |first=Susumu |year=2004 |title=From Salvation to Spirituality: Popular Religious Movements in Modern Japan |publisher=Pacific Press}}</ref>{{rp|234–235}} The largest new religion, [[Soka Gakkai]], a Buddhist sect founded in 1930, gathers around 4 million members. Scholars in Japan have estimated that between 10% and 20% of the population belongs to the new religions,<ref name="Bestor, Yamagata. 2011. p. 65"/> although more realistic estimates put the number at well below the 10% mark.<ref name="Bestor, Yamagata. 2011. p. 65"/> {{As of|2007}} there are 223,831 priests and leaders of the new religions in Japan, three times the number of traditional Shinto priests.<ref name="Bestor, Yamagata. 2011. p. 65"/>

Many of these new religions derive from Shinto, retain the fundamental characters of Shinto, and often identify themselves as forms of Shinto. These include [[Tenrikyo]], [[Konkokyo]], [[Omotokyo]], Shinrikyo, [[Shinreikyo]], [[Sekai Shindokyo]], [[Zenrinkyo]] and others. Others are independent new religions, including [[Aum Shinrikyo]], [[Mahikari]] movements, the [[PL Kyodan|Church of Perfect Liberty]], [[Seicho-No-Ie]], the [[Church of World Messianity]], and others.