Shintoism
Kikyou is a miko of the Shinto religion. The religion used to be the state religion of Japan until after World War II, when it no longer had a state religion. Some Shinto rituals and other things are still practiced in some parts of Japan, but for the most part they are no longer acknowledged. Forms of fortune telling and the Japanese New Year are practices that still exist. According to my computer dictionary:Shin•to (n.) a Japanese religion dating from the early 8th century and incorporating the worship of ancestors and nature spirits and a belief in sacred power ( kami) in both animate and inanimate things. It was the state religion of Japan until 1945.
One of the main worshipped gods in the Shinto religion is the goddess Amaterasu, who is the goddess of the sun. It is said that she is the ancestor to the imperial family and is the chief deity of the religion.
The Four Affirmations in the Shinto religion are family and tradition, the love of nature, physical cleanliness, and worship and honor given to the kami and spirits. There are also Shinto shrines, which are places of worship and where kami is said to dwell. People visit these shrines to pray for good luck and pay their respects. There is a Shinto shrine in Kaede’s village located where Kikyou’s bones were buried. Kikyou is a miko (closest translation being a shrine maiden), and in the Shinto religion, they support priests during rituals and helps with other things around the shrine. They are generally young women, who are usually daughters of the priests. They have to be unmarried in order to carry this status. Thusly, Kikyou would no longer be the miko if everything went as planned and she lived with Inuyasha once be became human.
Kikyou wears the traditional outfit of a miko both before and after she dies. She has a white kimono with wide and long sleeves worn under a pair of red hakama. She also has white tabi socks with a pair of zori on her feet. White or red ribbons in the hair can be used, and Kikyou has a white one.
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RESOURCES & FURTHER READING
1. Shinto @ Wikipedia
2. Miko @ Wikipedia
3. Shinto Shrines @ Japan Guide
4. Shinto @ Japan Guide
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