Shinto is the largest religion in Japan, practiced by nearly 80% of the population, yet only a small percentage of these identify themselves as "Shintoists" in surveys.[4][9] This is because "Shinto" has different meanings in Japan: most of the Japanese attend Shinto shrines and beseech kami without belonging to an institutional "Shinto" religion,[10] and since there are no formal rituals to become a member of "folk Shinto", "Shinto membership" is often estimated counting those who join organised Shinto sects.[11] Shinto has 81,000 shrines and 85,000 priests in the country.[9]