Like most books the Sailor Moon series draws its influence from outside sources to create a

compelling story, Naoko Takeuchi used religion as a way to create an exciting story. One of the religions she drew from was Shintoism, being that she herself was a Shinto Shrine Maiden in university it was a topic she knew well (“Naoko Takeuchi,” last modified October 6, 2015, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naoko_Takeuchi). One example of this can be found in the character of Rei Hino, who lives at the Hikawa Shrine with her grandfather, and is the shrine’s Miko. The Hikawa Shrine is actually a real shinto shrine in Tokyo (Thomas 2012:76), and is one way Takeuchi integrates shintoism into the manga. Rei Hino character embodies the image of the Miko, from her Sailor Scout uniform, to her powers, it becomes obvious that Takeuchi drew her influence from Shintoism. A Miko is a “sacred maidens” or “shrine virgins”, they are young unmarried women who take care of and perform ceremonial rites along with priests (Nelson 1996: 155-158). As John K. Nelson explains a Miko ceremonially wears a white kimono, with red pants (1996:158). In her sailor form Sailor Mars’ uniform is a white shirt and red skirt, with red accessories, representing the traditional Miko robes (“Sailor Mars,” accessed September 9, 2015, http://sailormoon.wikia.com/wiki/Sailor_Mars). By drawing her like this Takeuchi is able to create a subconscious connection between Sailor Mars and the Miko she represents. Another element of the Miko ideology that is embodied in Sailor Mars is her planetary powers of fire. In Shintoism priests are able to perform fire exorcisms, where the banish evil spirits through a ritualistic burning, and the shrine Mikos perform a ceremonial dance (“Kagura Dancers at the Hitaki Sai Festival, Fushimi Inari Taisha,” posted Dec 7, 2014, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQqp1YOC9wY; Nelson 1996: 155-158 ).  Sailor Mars has the power to exorcise evil spirits and uses that as her main planetary attack, this can be seen in Act 3 of Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, when Sailor Mars uses her powers of exorcism to destroy Jadeite and save the other Sailor Scouts and kidnapped children. This is also a power she tries to use earlier in the chapter against Usagi when Rei senses an “demonic atmosphere” (Takeuchi Vol.1 2011:92-93) and suspects Usagi (Takeuchi Vol.1 2011:79-121). Throughout the series it becomes obvious that Sailor Mars/Rei Hino has been directly influenced by Shintoism, but that it not the only element in the story that Naoko Takeuchi borrowed from Shintoism.