The Ryukyuan religion (琉球信仰), Ryūkyū Shintō (琉球神道), Nirai Kanai Shinkō (ニライカナイ信仰), or Utaki Shinkō (御嶽信仰) is the indigenous belief system of the Ryukyu Islands.
Harimizu utaki (Harimizu Shrine), a Ryukyuan shrine in Miyakojima, Okinawa Prefecture.
A haka, or family tomb, of the turtle-back variety.
A model utaki set up near Motobu in Okinawa.
A shisa statue placed on a roof.
Animism is the belief that objects, places, and creatures all possess a distinct spiritual essence. Animism perceives all things—animals, plants, rocks, rivers, weather systems, human handiwork, and in some cases words—as being animated, having agency and free will. Animism is used in anthropology of religion as a term for the belief system of many Indigenous peoples in contrast to the relatively more recent development of organized religions. Animism is a metaphysical belief which focuses on the supernatural universe : specifically, on the concept of the immaterial soul.
Edward Tylor developed animism as an anthropological theory.
Five Ojibwe chiefs in the 19th century. It was anthropological studies of Ojibwe religion that resulted in the development of the "new animism".
Animist altar, Bozo village, Mopti, Bandiagara, Mali, in 1972
Ingrown sculpture of human head in a tree trunk in Laos.