Yeah, as I understand it (and again, I could be wrong), modern Shinto is a far cry from the old days of an animistic faith where the Emperor was seen as a living god. These days it's more a social custom for the most part, although there are still a decent number of people who actually profess it as their faith. A broad stroke would be to say that most people in Japan are *spiritual* by custom, but not *religious.* The way I heard it described was that a shrine or location isn't dedicated to some "god" but rather just a divine spirit. So the "kami" that inhabits a shrine or particular location is just that--a divine spirit, but not really a "god." It makes more sense then, when you see *kamikaze* (神風) translated as "divine wind." *Kami* (神), meaning divine spirit, *kaze* (風), meaning wind. From there I don't think it's a stretch to see how other faiths can also be Shinto priests. Their job is mainly to be a caretaker, and they might not see it as praying to a shrine's particular kami, but praying to their own deity to use that kami as a tool/emissary/avatar/whatever for interceding on behalf of the people.