International Shinto Foundation

The International Shinto Foundation (ISF) has been active since 1994 in promoting the academic study and deeper understanding of Shinto. The ISF believes that without such study and understanding Japanese culture and the Japanese will remain largely unfathomable. To this end the ISF encourages debate through regular workshops, conferences and the annual Shinto Essay Competitions.

At the ISF's 6th International Symposium held in November 2000 in Tokyo, 25 renowned scholars from 12 countries working on the study of Shinto in Japanese culture met with 40 Japanese colleagues and deliberated possible ways of globalizing Shinto studies. All present agreed to propose to the ISF's Board of Trustees the establishment of a "Shinto Global Network Research Fund". The Fund would sponsor a number of the activities proposed in the course of debates at this symposium. In response to this proposal the ISF's Board of Trustees decided to establish a fund called the "Shinto Global Fund."

Lectures and cultural events related to Shinto are posted on their website.