Although at base Shinto is a primitive religion, it has existed in Japanese culture for thousands of years and now has very deep roots, becoming sublimated to the point that up until the Meiji period, most professions held as sacred the principle of hard work, just as expressed in the Norito (Shinto prayer), and even apart from the official rituals of Shrine Shinto, there are many work-related ceremonies even today that originally came from Shinto rituals.
根本は原始宗教の体を成していても、数千年のなかで日本文化に根ざし、昇華してきため、明治以前からの多くの生業（職業）は、祝詞にもあるように勤しみ（いそしみ）が神聖視され、神社神道の神事とは別に、民間の中に息づく様々な職業儀式としての神事がある。