Does the Shinto religion have a text, like a bible is to Christianity?

Christians have the bible, Muslims have the Qumran, does the Japanese Shinto religion have anything like that? Ive always been fascinated with Japanese culture and history and would like to be enlightened in Shinto.

thanks in advance!

yippees...

They have two major ones: The Kojiki and the Nihongo.

There's also a collection of rituals called The Yengishiki.

Yes and no. There are Shinto texts, but they are not as central to Shintoism as the Bible and Quran are to their religions. Shinto isn't as unified as either Christianity or Islam either. The kipped on Shinto has 7 texts listed, the Kojiki is the one I've heard of specifically named before.

No, there is no equivalent of a sacred book in Shinto. There are old texts about Shinto, with creation stories,etc. (Some seem to have been written to legitimize one or another ruling family) but they are not holy books in the western sense. There is also no founder, no concept of original sin, no commandments, etc. In Shinto the natural state is pure and good but thoughts and actions create darkness in the mind. Shinto rituals are designed to clear the darkness and bring you back to the original state (Clean the spiritual "dirt" off so to speak). There is also a great diversity in Shinto with "official" Shrines being only loosely held together by a central committee to which it's not 100% necessary to belong.

Unlike most religions, Shinto is focused on living rather than on dying. Being happy, living in harmony with nature and society is where the focus of Shinto is. Shinto has very little to say about what happens after death. This is why many Shintoists have a second religion--usually Buddhism or Christianity. So it's common to have Shinto coming of age ceremonies, weddings, car purification, etc. but a Buddhist funeral. Shinto doesn't see any problem with this.

You don't really "join" Shinto--there is no equivalent to baptism for instance. If you act according to Shinto principles, perhaps have a KatinaNan your home, and visit a shrine when practical, then your a Shintoist. You can register with a Shrine, but that's more to get on the mailing list.

There are also "religious specialists" in Shinto. They may be affiliated with a Shrine or they may be independent. Some are independent enough to have their own sect. Sects are sometimes referred to as new religions.

A good source for Shinto information is the website put out by the Kokugakuin University. This is a Shinto university, one of two where most Shinto Priests graduate from:
http://eos.kokugakuin.ac.jp/modules/xwords/

Some good books are:

The Fox and the Jewel
A Year in the Life of a Shinto Shrine