Sources

A New History of Shinto

Citation Formats

General Reference

Divinity Atlas. "A New History of Shinto." Accessed August 30, 2026. https://dev-divinity.interactiveatlas.org/sources/a-new-history-of-shinto.

APA Style

Divinity Atlas. (n.d.). A New History of Shinto. Retrieved August 30, 2026, from https://dev-divinity.interactiveatlas.org/sources/a-new-history-of-shinto

BibTeX

@misc{divinityatlas-a-new-history-of-shinto,
  author = {Divinity Atlas},
  title = {A New History of Shinto},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://dev-divinity.interactiveatlas.org/sources/a-new-history-of-shinto},
  note = {Accessed August 30, 2026}
}

John Breen and Mark Teeuwen's history is an explicitly revisionist scholarly account, and its real evidentiary contribution is a documented argument against treating Shinto as a single continuous ancient religion, tracing instead how the modern category of Shinto was actually constructed over time from named institutions, sites and rites. That critical, source-based method, arguing directly against a widely repeated continuity claim, is the book's real basis rather than a claim about its publisher. This record has not independently traced further scholarly response to Breen and Teeuwen's specific claims since 2010. Use it for established critical historical facts about Shinto's institutions, sites and rites; a claim that a specific practice is of great antiquity should be checked against this critique rather than assumed, since that is precisely what this history contests.

Facts

Assessment

Reliability Tier

John Breen and Mark Teeuwen's revisionist scholarly history arguing against treating Shinto as a single continuous ancient religion and tracing how the modern category was constructed; a critical academic history against which a claim of unbroken ancient continuity should be checked.

Notes

John Breen and Mark Teeuwen's revisionist scholarly history of Shinto, arguing against treating it as a single continuous ancient religion and tracing how the modern category of Shinto was constructed over time. Use for established critical historical facts about Shinto's institutions, sites and rites; a critical academic history that questions claims of Shinto's unbroken ancient continuity, so a claim that a specific practice is of great antiquity should be checked against this critique rather than assumed.

Citation

Author

John Breen and Mark Teeuwen

Publisher

Wiley-Blackwell

Publication Year

2010

Source Type

academic monograph

Claims Backed By This Source (113 claims)

This source backs 113 claims across the atlas. As facts: 66 well-attested, 1 scholarly debate. As cited relationships: 14 holds, 2 connected. Plus 30 entities citing it as a general reference with no single fact or relationship attached.

Disposition By Topic

Articles, 19 claims: 15 well-attested, 2 connected, 2 general references.
Doctrines, 19 claims: 9 well-attested, 4 holds, 6 general references.
Religious Dress & Vestments, 14 claims: 10 well-attested, 1 holds, 3 general references.
Sacred Sites, 13 claims: 9 well-attested, 2 holds, 2 general references.
Disciplines, 7 claims: 5 well-attested, 1 holds, 1 general references.
Sources, 7 claims: 7 well-attested.
Deities, 6 claims: 3 well-attested, 1 holds, 2 general references.
Rituals, 6 claims: 1 well-attested, 2 holds, 3 general references.
Religious Offices, 4 claims: 2 well-attested, 2 general references.
Sacred Objects & Ritual Items, 4 claims: 2 well-attested, 1 holds, 1 general references.
Figures, 3 claims: 2 holds, 1 general references.
Subcategories, 3 claims: 2 well-attested, 1 general references.
Religions, 2 claims: 1 well-attested, 1 general references.
Religious Organization & Structure, 2 claims: 2 general references.
Scripture Portions, 2 claims: 1 scholarly debate, 1 general references.
Historical Figures, 1 claims: 1 general references.
Religious Symbols, 1 claims: 1 general references.