NARRATOR: Ancient
astronaut theorists
suggest evidence of alien
contact on these islands
dates back thousands
of years and can
be found within the
teachings of Shintoism.
Shintoism is the primary
religion of Japan,
with over 107 million followers,
and is designed around a set
of ritual practices that
connect present-day Japan
to its ancient mystical past.
At its center are
celestial beings
that, according to
the Japanese people,
still roam their
islands to this day.
The term "Shinto" translates
as "the way of the kami,"
or "the way of the gods."
It's a tradition that has
a millennia-long history
in Japan.
There are over
eight million kamis,
according to the
Shinto tradition.
And each one of them has its own
particular personality traits,
if you will.
So in that sense, they are
quite different from the notion
of monotheistic god that we
have in traditions that are
most widespread in the West.
The kami are these
celestial beings
that are able to
inhabit basically
anything, from a human
being, to an animal,
and even inanimate objects.
So on the one hand, there are
these multidimensional beings.
But then, they
also describe them
as having come down from
their celestial palace
in the sky, which is
called Takamagahara.
The celestial kami will come
into the terrestrial world,
our world.
And they need a home.
So they have these major shrines
for these kami, when they come
into the world, so
they can feel at home
in the terrestrial world.
The Japanese
archipelago is dotted
with over 81,000 shrines that
are devoted to the kami gods.
And it's believed
that these are houses,
or places where these
extraterrestrial beings come
to live when they're on Earth.
The Japanese people will
visit the shrines of the kami
with the belief that
they are actually
praying to an
extraterrestrial being who
can fulfill their blessings.
