Shinto places greater emphasis on this life than on any afterlife. As the historian of religion Joseph Kitagawa noted, "Japanese religion has been singularly preoccupied with "this" world, with its emphasis on finding ways to cohabit with the "kami" and with other human beings". Mythological stories describe yomi-no-kuni as a realm of the dead, while another belief formerly widespread in Japan was that the spirits of the dead resided in the mountains, from where they would descend to take part in agricultural events. A common view among Shinto priests is that the dead continue to inhabit our world and work towards the prosperity of their descendants and the land.