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Photo of the Day

October 14, 2005

Shinto Shrine Gates, Tokyo, Japan, 1994

Photograph by James L. Stanfield

The gates of a Shinto shrine on the grounds of Tokyo's Tsukiji fish market stand open to receive visitors.

The ancient, native religion of Japan, Shinto is a loosely structured system of beliefs and has no regular weekly service. People can visit shrines at their convenience—some devotees may pay their respects to the shrine every morning. The word "Shinto" is derived from the Chinese words shin tao, the "way of the gods."

(Photograph shot on assignment for, but not published in, "The Great Tokyo Fish Market," November 1995, National Geographic magazine)